Great Coxwell
| Great Coxwell | |
| Berkshire | |
|---|---|
 The Tythe Barn | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU270935 |
| Location: | 51°38’20"N, 1°36’29"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 274 (2001) |
| Post town: | Faringdon |
| Postcode: | SN7 |
| Dialling code: | 01367 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Vale of White Horse |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Wantage |
Great Coxwell is a village in Berkshire two miles southwest of Faringdon close by the Wiltshire border.
The village lies on the Corallian limestone beds on the northern slope of the Vale of White Horse.
History
The Domesday Book of 1086 records the village as belonging to Earl Harold (King Harold II) before the Norman Conquest of England. In 1205 the manor was granted to Beaulieu Abbey, which held it until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1540 the manor was bought by Thomas Morris, whose descendants sold it in 1638 to the Pratt family.
Church
The Church of England parish church of Saint Giles stands in prominently on a ridge at the south end of the village.[1] Parts of the church date date from about 1200.[2] The west tower was added in the 15th century.[3]
The tower has a ring of five bells.[3] Three were cast in 1738: two including the tenor bell by Henry Bagley of Chacombe.[3] Another was cast by James Wells of Aldbourne in 1824, and the tenor bell was cast by Mears and Stainbank in 1911.[3] The bells are currently unringable.[4]
The churchyard is now managed as a wildlife area. It contains over 100 species of wildflower, including the rare wild clary (Salvia verbenacea).[5]
Great Coxwell Barn
On the northern edge of the village is a large 14th century tithe barn, built for Beaulieu Abbey to store the crop of its monastic grange. The barn is now in the care of the National Trust.
Badbury Hill
Badbury Hill is in the north of the parish. There is an Iron Age hill fort on its summit, and there is ancient woodland on its slopes. The hill is in the care of the National Trust.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Great Coxwell) |
References
- ↑ Royal Berkshire History website
- ↑ Pevsner, 1966, page 147
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Page & Ditchfield, 1924, pages 487-489
- ↑ Vale of the White Horse Branch: Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers: Branch Towers
- ↑ Faringdon on line: St Giles Church, Great Coxwell
Sources
- Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds (1924). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4. Victoria County History. pp. 487–489. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62755.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 147–148.