Great Milton
| Great Milton | |
| Oxfordshire | |
|---|---|
 St Mary the Virgin parish church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP630028 |
| Location: | 51°43’14"N, 1°5’19"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,042 (2011) |
| Post town: | Oxford |
| Postcode: | OX44 |
| Dialling code: | 01844 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Oxfordshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Henley |
| Website: | Great Milton, Oxfordshire |
Great Milton is a village in Oxfordshire, about seven miles east of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,042.
History
The Domesday Book of 1086 records that Remigius de Fécamp, Bishop of Lincoln held a large estate of 31 hides of land at Great Milton.[1] The estate had presumably belonged to the Diocese of Dorchester,[1] of which Remigius had been consecrated bishop in 1070. The see of Dorchester had been absorbed into that of Lincoln in 1072, and Remigius had been translated to Lincoln as bishop of the newly united diocese.
The Domesday Book lists two water mills in the parish.[1] By the time of the Hundred Rolls in 1279 there was a third watermill and in about 1500 there was a fourth mill.[1] There is no known subsequent record of the third and fourth mills, but both of the others seem to have survived until the 17th century and in at least one case the 18th century.[1] By the end of 19th century both mills were disused.[1]
Great Milton had a post mill with four sails. In about 1901 Henry Taunt photographed it, by which time it had lost one pair of sails and appeared derelict.[2]
In 1762 a fire destroyed 16 houses in the village.[3]
By 1822 the parish had at least four public houses: the Bell, the Bull, the King's Head and the Red Lion.[1] The Bell, King's Head and Red Lion had all ceased trading by the 1990s./ In 2013, The Bull was bought by 110 villagers and the chef Raymond Blanc bought it, who turned it into a community pub.[4][5]
Churches
- Church of England: St Mary
- Methodist: Great Milton Methodist Church
The nave and chancel of the Church of England parish church, St Mary, were built shortly after the Norman conquest. The building was damaged by fire in the 13th century. During the 14th century the chancel was enlarged and the north and south aisles were added. At this time the church served a parish including the villages of Chilworth Valery and Chilworth Muzzard, the hamlets of Combe and Little Milton, and the manor of Ascot. In 1850 St Mary's was restored at a cost of £2,000.
In 1552 St Mary's had four bells plus a Sanctus bell, and in 1631 Ellis I Knight of Reading cast a ring of five bells.[1] It now has a ring of eight. Ellis II & Henry III Knight recast what are now the fifth and eighth bells in 1673.[1][6] Thomas Rudhall of Gloucester cast the treble, second and third bells in 1771 and the tenor bell in 1772.[6] In 1848 William Taylor of Loughborough, who at that time also had a foundry at Oxford, cast the sixth bell.[6] In 1825 W & J Taylor of Loughborough also cast the present Sanctus bell.[6]
St Mary's has a church clock that was made in 1699 by Nicholas Harris of Fritwell.[7]
Great Milton Methodist Church was built in 1842 as a Wesleyan chapel.[8] It is a member of the Oxford Methodist Circuit.[9]
About the village
The oldest part of Great Milton Manor House is of the 15th century. The south wing was rebuilt around 1600, and the north wing later in the 17th century. In 1908 the house was doubled in size to designs by the architect Edward Prioleau Warren.[10] In 1984 Raymond Blanc had the house converted into Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons hotel and restaurant. It is a Grade II* listed building.[11]
The Priory is a 16th- and 17th-century Tudor and Jacobean house[12] in Church Road, said to have been built for Herbert Westfaling and later to have been the home of John Thurloe. It is a Grade II* listed building.[13]
Pettits House is an early 17th-century Jacobean house in the High Street. In 1854 a school room and a bell gable were added to the north side to accommodate a National School for the parish. In the 20th century the parish school moved to new premises and the school room was converted into a house. It is a Grade II* listed building.[14]
The Great House was built around 1720.[12] It has a seven-bay front facing the parish church. In 1788 the politician Richard Ryder had a south wing added, almost certainly designed by James Wyatt. It is a Grade II* listed building.[15]
The village has a Church of England Primary School, a public house, The Bull,[16] and a post office and general store. The Manor House is now Raymond Blanc's restaurant and hotel, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons.
Sport
- Hockey: Great Milton Hockey Club, a mixed-sex field hockey team[17]
Tennis courts are available at Great Milton Church of England Primary School.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Great Milton) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Lobel 1962, pp. 117–146
- ↑ Graham 1973, Windmill, Great Milton, 1901.
- ↑ Emery 1974, p. 167.
- ↑ Hughes, Pete (20 March 2018). "Feature: Raymond Blanc's little-known second eatery in Great Milton, The Bull". Oxford Mail (Newsquest). http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/16098561.FEATURE__Raymond_Blanc_s_little_known_second_eatery_in_Great_Milton/.
- ↑ "ABOUT US". https://greatmiltonpub.com/about-us-2/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Great Milton S Mary V". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=Great+Milton&DoveID=GREAT+MILT.
- ↑ Beeson 1989, p. 47.
- ↑ "Welcome!". Great Milton Methodist Church. https://greatmiltonmethodistchurch.wordpress.com/.
- ↑ "Great Milton". Churches. Oxford Methodist Circuit. http://www.oxfordmethodists.org.uk/index.php/great-milton.
- ↑ Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 622.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1369260: The Manor House and garden walls to rear (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 623.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1181043: The Priory and attached steps, walls and gateway (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1047492: Schoolhouse and attached infants school (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1369263: The Great House (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ The Bull
- ↑ Oxfordshire Gladiators' Cup
- Beeson, CFC (1989). Simcock, AV. ed. Clockmaking in Oxfordshire 1400–1850 (3rd ed.). Oxford: Museum of the History of Science, Oxford. pp. 46–47. ISBN 0-903364-06-9.
- Emery, Frank (1974). Hoskins, WG. ed. The Oxfordshire Landscape. The Making of the English Landscape. London: Hodder & Stoughton. pp. 117, 167, 218. ISBN 0-340-04301-6. https://archive.org/details/oxfordshirelands0000emer.
- Graham, Malcolm (1973). Henry Taunt of Oxford: A Victorian Photographer. Headington: Oxford Illustrated Press. ISBN 0-902280-14-7.
- A History of the County of Oxford - Volume 7 pp 117-146: Parishes: Great Milton (Victoria County History)
- Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1974 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09639-2
