Pishill
| Pishill | |
| Oxfordshire | |
|---|---|
 Pishill parish church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU723894 |
| Location: | 51°35’57"N, 0°57’24"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Henley-on-Thames |
| Postcode: | RG9 |
| Dialling code: | 01491 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | South Oxfordshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Henley |
Pishill is a village in the south of Oxfordshire. It is about five miles north of Henley-on-Thames, in the Stonor valley in the Chiltern Hills about 430 feet above sea level. In 1921 the parish had a population of 147.
History
The earliest known records of the name of Pishill are of the 13th-century. The Book of Fees records Pushulle in 1219 and Pushull in 1247. It is derived from the Old English pise hyll, which means 'hill where peas grew'.[1] The dedication of the Church of England parish church is unknown. It was originally an 11th-century Norman building but it was rebuilt in 1854.[2] One of the stained glass windows was made in 1967 by John Piper[2] and Patrick Reyntiens. For many years Piper lived less than two and a half miles away in Fawley Bottom, Buckinghamshire. The window depicts a sword, symbolic of the martyrdom of Paul the Apostle, with an open book in front of it to suggest that the pen is mightier than the sword.[3]
South-west of the parish church is an 18th-century barn that seems to include the remains of an early 14th-century chapel.[4] This may be linked with the D'Oyley family of Oxford, who held the manor of Pishill and in 1406 received a licence to build a chapel at the manor house that used to be in the village.[5] The Stonor family of Stonor Park, just over a mile away, were recusants during and after the Reformation. With the support of the Stonors and priests who stayed with them, a number of Pishill families remained Roman Catholic throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. In 1878 the Church of England incumbent of Pishill reported that a third of the 200 population of his parish were Roman Catholic.[6]
About the village
Pishill has a 17th-century pub, the Crown Inn.[7][8]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Pishill) |
References
- ↑ Ekwall 1960, Pishill
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 731.
- ↑ Anonymous 2012, p. 2.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1059478: Barn south of chapel wells (not included) (Grade II listing)
- ↑ Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 732.
- ↑ Lobel 1964, pp. 98–115.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1194438: The Crown Inn public house (Grade II listing)
- ↑ The Crown Inn
- Anonymous (2012). John Piper and the Church a Stained-Glass Tour of Selected Local Churches. Dorchester-on-Thames: Friends of Dorchester Abbey.
- Ekwall, Eilert, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 4th edition, 1960. ISBN 0198691033
- A History of the County of Oxford - Volume 8 pp 131-138: Parishes: Pishill (Victoria County History)
- Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1974 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09639-2
