Ducklington

Ducklington
Oxfordshire
Ducklington
Location
Grid reference:	SP357077
Location:	51°46’1"N, 1°29’3"W
Data
Population:	1,581  (2011)
Post town:	Witney
Postcode:	OX29
Dialling code:	01993
Local Government
Council:	West Oxfordshire
Parliamentary constituency:	Witney
Website:	Ducklington Parish Council

Ducklington is a village on the River Windrush a mile south of Witney in the south-west of Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,581.

History

Ducklington is one of the earliest Anglo-Saxon parishes to be recorded in Oxfordshire. In a charter of 958 King Edgar the Peaceful granted at Duclingtun to his Minister, Eanulf. A charter from 1036 also records the name as Duclingtun, and another Anglo-Saxon document, from 1044, records it as Ducelingdun. The Domesday Book of 1086 records the village as Dochelintone and a charter from 1130 records it as Dukelindona.

The name is derived from Old English. The first element may be from the name of a person called Ducca or Duce, and the suffix "-ing" most commonly means "son(s) of" or "people of"; so 'Ducca's clan's village' The fact that the village has a duck pond with a population of ducks is purely incidental.

After the Norman Conquest Ducklington was held by Robert D'Oyly, a Norman nobleman who took part in William I's conquest of England. The Dyve family then held the Lordship of Ducklington throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, living there until early in the reign of Edward III.

Churches

St Bartholomew's church

The Church of England parish church, St Bartholomew, is of the 12th century. The Gothic Revival architect Edward George Bruton restored the building in 1871.

The bell tower has a ring of six bells. William and Henry III Bagley of Chacombe in Northamptonshire cast the second, fourth and fifth bells in 1708. Robert Taylor & Sons cast the tenor bell in 1829, presumably at their then foundry in Oxford. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the treble bell in 1889. The Royal Eijsbouts bell foundry of Asten in the Netherlands cast the third bell in 1988.

The village had a Baptist Chapel until 2016, when it was converted into a private home.

Natural history

Ducklington is notable for the rare fritillary flower (mainly of the snake's head variety), many of which grow in a specially designated meadow just outside the village. Before the Second World War many fritillaries had grown on fields all over the Windrush Valley. However, the national drive for food production during the war meant that most meadows were intensively ploughed, the rivers dredged, and consequently the fritillaries were lost. Only the current fritillary field happened to be left unploughed. The flowers have survived with help from both locals and farmers. Once a year, the local community celebrates Fritillary Sunday when the field, parish church and hall are opened so that the public may walk among and enjoy the flowers.

Society

Ducklington has a Morris dancing side and Mummers performances. It also has its own Morris Dance tradition; its own style of dance that was collected around the beginning of the 19th century. The Ducklington tradition is danced by many sides throughout Britain and the United States.

Ducklington has one public house: The Bell, and a sports and social club. Ducklington has hosted several flower and garden shows.

The former tithe barn is now the village hall, used by village groups including the Parish Council.

Sport

Ducklington Sports and Social Club has several cricket and football teams.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Ducklington)

References

• A History of the County of Oxford - Volume 13 pp 110-150: Ducklington (Victoria County History)
• Ekwall, Eilert, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 4th edition, 1960. ISBN 0198691033

• Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1974 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09639-2