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Freeland, Oxfordshire

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Freeland
St. Mary the Virgin parish church
Population1,506 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSP4112
Civil parish
  • Freeland
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWitney
Postcode districtOX29
Dialling code01993
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteFreeland Village Website
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire

Freeland is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire.

History

Freeland village began as part of the parish of Eynsham.[2] Its toponym is derived from the common Old English word fyrth, meaning a wood.[3] In 1150 the Abbot of Eynsham granted land called terra de Frithe to one Nicholas of Leigh.[4] "Frith Wood" later evolved into "Thrift Coppice" and by 1241 several people were living there.[2] Freeland developed from a medieval freehold, probably on the site of Elm Farm.[2]

The freehold farm was called Frithlands by the 16th century and had been joined by at least two other cottages before 1650.[2] there were something less than a dozen cottages at Freeland by 1762.[2] The enclosure of the parish of Eynsham was resisted by rioting in the north of the parish around Barnard Gate and Freeland in 1780 but was eventually carried out in 1784.[4]

The Oxfordshire Yeoman, formerly the New Inn

The Roslyn house was established in 1738 and reputed to have been a 19th century pugilists' meeting place called the "Wrostling House".[2] Freeland had several public houses by the later part of the 18th century and one called the Royal Oak was recorded in 1836.[2] The New Inn was built in 1842, sold to Morrells in 1846 and for most of the 19th century was Freeland's only public house.[2] Since 1974 it has been called the Oxfordshire Yeoman.[2] It is now controlled by Greene King Brewery.

Freeland Lodge was built for the Taunton family in 1807.[2] Most of the land on the west side of Wroslyn Road belonged to the family and was made into a park for the Lodge.[2] The Lodge is now Freeland House Nursing Home.[5] The Taunton family had sold the Lodge by 1875–76,[2] when Marion Taunton had St Mary's House built as a home for retired governesses.[6] In 1952 a Church of England convent of the Community of Saint Clare moved to the house and in 1960 a Gothic Revival chapel designed by the architect Henry Gordon was added.[6]

Freeland grew as a ribbon development along the Via Regia between Eynsham and Charlbury.[7] By 1847 its community included seven farmers, two shopkeepers, a mason, a carpenter and the publican of the New Inn.[7] Freeland's population peaked at 232 in 1881 but fell to 160 in 1891, presumably as a result of the agricultural depression.[2] In 1932, when it was transferred from the civil parish of Eynsham to that of Hanborough, Freeland's population was 214.[2] Freeland was made a separate civil parish in 1951, by which time its population had risen to 530.[2] It then rose every decade, reaching 1,374 in 1981[2] and 1,509 in 2001.[1]

Methodist church (formerly Wesleyan chapel)

Chapel, Church and School

The Wesleyan chapel was completed in 1807.[8] It is now Freeland Methodist Church.

The Gothic Revival architect J.L. Pearson designed the Church of England parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin, parsonage and parish school.[2] [6] The Taunton family paid for the church and parsonage to be built in 1869 and the school in 1871.[2]

The church is in high Victorian style with stained glass and decoration by Clayton and Bell and 13th century style paintings of Jesus' Passion and Transfiguration.[6] Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast four bells for St. Mary's in 1896.[9] The same foundry cast a new treble and second bells in 2010, completing the present ring of six.[9] The parish is now part of the Benefice of Hanborough and Freeland.[10]

The school moved to new premises in Parklands in 1964[2] and is now Freeland Church of England Primary School.

Amenities

Freeland's first village hall was a former Army hut opened in about 1920.[2] The games fields were opened in 1958 and a new village hall was completed in the 1960s.[2] The second village hall was demolished in 2010 and a new one built in its place - it was officially opened by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, in 2012. It has a main hall with a kitchen and storage spaces, while the second part of the hall will be a sports changing room and equipment storage, fundraising for the additional work is taking place now.[citation needed]

Freeland has a Football Club[11] and a Cricket Club.[12]

Freeland Football club was founded in 1908. There is a gap in the history of the club, but recent activities are more recorded and are now documented at the club's website.[13] The club's history is in the Witney and District League with at least one team in the league throughout the last 100 years.

In recent years the club has had two teams in the W&D League: Freeland Firsts (W&DFA Premier Division) and Freeland Reserves (W&DFA Second Division). In the 2007-08 a third team has been added: Freeland A's. Freeland FC has undergone even greater expansion for the 2009-10 season, consisting of a Freeland B team and Sunday League side. Freeland Firsts were Premier Division champions in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons. Freeland Reserves were Oxfordshire Senior League Division 3 champions in the 2008-09 season with the First team gaining promotion after finishing second in division 2.

References

  1. ^ a b "Area selected: West Oxfordshire (Non-Metropolitan District)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Crossley & Elrington 1990, pp. 116–117.
  3. ^ Rackham 1976, p. 198.
  4. ^ a b Emery 1974, p. 163.
  5. ^ Minster Care brochure with image of Freeland House
  6. ^ a b c d Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 607.
  7. ^ a b Emery 1974, p. 164.
  8. ^ Date stone on building
  9. ^ a b Davies, Peter (18 October 2010). "Freeland S Mary V". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  10. ^ Archbishops' Council. "Benefice of Hanborough and Freeland". A Church Near You. Church of England. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  11. ^ Freeland Football Club
  12. ^ Freeland Cricket Club
  13. ^ Freeland FC official website

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Freeland, Oxfordshire.
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