Spelsbury
| Spelsbury | |
| Oxfordshire | |
|---|---|
 Spelsbury | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP349217 |
| Location: | 51°53’35"N, 1°29’34"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 305 (2011, with Dean & Taston) |
| Post town: | Chipping Norton |
| Postcode: | OX7 |
| Dialling code: | 01608 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Oxfordshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Witney |
| Website: | spelsbury.org |
Spelsbury is a village about a mile and a half north of Charlbury and about four miles south-east of Chipping Norton. The village is on a narrow hill between the Coldron and Taston brooks overlooking the River Evenlode and the ancient Wychwood Forest to the south.
The wider parish includes such hamlets of Dean and Taston, and also Ditchley Park. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 305.
History
The name of the village is from the Old English; either for "spying place" "Speol's place". It was first recorded in the Cartularium Saxonicum in 1010 as Speoles byrig. In 1086 the Domesday Book recorded the village as Spelesberie.[1]
Spelsbury has a group of almshouses built in 1688 by John Carry.[2] Coldron Mill, south-west of the village, is on a site where a mill has existed for at least a thousand years.[3] Winterberry Park built in 1725 by Thomas Archer is on the parish borders. In the village a drinking fountain in the shape of a shell commemorates Henry Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon, who died in 1853.[4] The poet John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and his wife Elizabeth Malet lived and are buried in Spelsbury.[5] The actor Sir Ben Kingsley lives in the village.[6]
The parish church, All Saints, was originally Norman with a central tower. In about 1200 transepts were added, but during the 13th century the Early Gothic nave was built on the site of the Norman chancel. The nave is flanked by north and south aisles. The present west doorway in the tower and several of the windows in the aisles are early 14th century.[2] In 1706 the 1st Earl of Lichfield had the bell tower restored. In 1740 the 2nd Earl of Lichfield had the chancel rebuilt. In 1774 the 4th Earl of Lichfield had the nave and aisles remodelled. The chancel was rebuilt again in 1851.[2]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Spelsbury) |
References
- ↑ Corbett, 1962
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 775.
- ↑ Spelsbury in the Domesday Book
- ↑ Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 776.
- ↑ Hudson 2005.
- ↑ Johnston 2009.
- Corbett, E (1962). A History of Spelsbury. Banbury: Cheney and Sons.
- Hudson, Christopher (13 November 2005). "The great debauchee". The Sunday Times. Times Newspapers. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article588410.ece.
- Johnston, Sheila (3 April 2009). "Ben Kingsley interview: dark soul of the knight". The Daily Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/5099945/Ben-Kingsley-interview-dark-soul-of-the-knight.html.
- Mudd, Andrew (1987). "Fieldwalking at Spelsburydown and in the Chadlington Area". Oxoniensia (Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society) LII: 11–22. http://oxoniensia.org/volumes/1987/mudd.pdf.
- Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1974 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09639-2