Ramsden, Oxfordshire
| Ramsden | |
| Oxfordshire | |
|---|---|
 St James' parish church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SP356152 |
| Location: | 51°50’4"N, 1°29’1"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 342 (2011) |
| Post town: | Chipping Norton |
| Postcode: | OX7 |
| Dialling code: | 01993 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Oxfordshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Witney |
| Website: | www.ramsdenvillage.co.uk |
Ramsden is a village about three and a half miles north of Witney, in the west of Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 342.
This is a linear village, lying east-west along an old road that intersects Akeman Street.
Churches
Ramsden used to be a dependent chapelry of the parish of Shipton-under-Wychwood.[1] In 1848 the Anglican chapel was described as being "of recent date".[1] The architect William Wilkinson designed Ramsden parsonage, which was built in 1862,[2] and is now Ramsden House.[3] In 1872[2] the Church of England chapel was replaced by the present parish church of St James. This was designed by the Gothic Revival architect Arthur Blomfield in an Early Gothic style.[2] Its bell tower has a broach spire and a set of three bells.[2]
Ramsden Methodist chapel in the High Street was built in 1804.[4] It is now a private house.
History
In the western part of the parish, about a mile west of the village and just off the road to Leafield, is a bowl barrow. It is about 72 feet wide and a foot and half high, and is surrounded by the remains of a ditch that would originally have been about six feet wide. The barrow is either of the Bronze Age or late Neolithic, and therefore dating from between 2400 and 1500 BC. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[5]
There is a 440-yard length of @Grim's Ditch on a north-south axis just west of Ramsden village. It may be of the Iron Age or post-Roman period. The course of Akeman Street Roman Road linking Cirencester with London passes through the parish, bisecting the village. It is now part of the Wychwood Way long distance path. The site of a Roman villa or bath house has been found at Brize Lodge Farm, west of the village[6] and just west of the bowl barrow.[5] Artefacts recovered include a bronze figurine of a dove-like bird.[7]
Wychwood Lodge in the High Street was built late in the 16th century and had been extended by the middle of the 17th century. It is built of coursed Cotswold stone rubble with ashlar dressings and has a Stonesfield slate]] roof. The front doorway and the main ground floor fireplace are Tudor. The house is a Grade II* listed building.[8]
A forge was long in operation in Ramsden: it and its attached cottage were built in the middle of the 18th century. The forge is no longer trading, and has been converted into part of the attached cottage.[9]
About the village
Ramsden has a public house, the Royal Oak, that was built in 1660. In 2019 it was purchased by a local resident. It was closed to undergo a complete refurbishment which is now fully open with five bedrooms and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Memorial Hall is Ramsden's village hall. It is converted from a former barn in the High Street and commemorates the men of the parish who died in the First and Second World Wars. There is also a war memorial in the form of a stone obelisk in the centre of the village in front of the Royal Oak.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Ramsden, Oxfordshire) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lewis 1931, pp. 633–638.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 734.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1198683: Ramsden House (Grade II listing)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1198763: Former Methodist Chapel (Grade II listing)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 National Heritage List 1011218: Brize's Lodge Bowl Barrow (Scheduled ancient monument entry)
- ↑ Henig & Chambers 1984, p. 19.
- ↑ Henig & Chambers 1984, pp. 19–21.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1283705: Wychwood Lodge (Grade II* listing)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1367901: The Old Forge (Grade II listing)
- Henig, Martin; Chambers, R.A. (1984). "Two Roman Bronze Birds from Oxfordshire". Oxoniensia (Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society) XLVIII: 19–21. SSN 0308-5562.
- Lewis, Samuel, ed (1931). A Topographical Dictionary of England (Seventh ed.). London: Samuel Lewis. pp. 633–638.
- Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1974 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09639-2page 734
