Chalgrove
Chalgrove | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | Oxford | |
Postcode district | OX44 | |
Dialling code | 01865 | |
Police | Thames Valley | |
Fire | Oxfordshire | |
Ambulance | South Central | |
UK Parliament | ||
Website | Chalgrove Parish Council | |
Chalgrove is a village and
Archaeology
A very rare silver
Manor
The Domesday Book of 1086 records the village as Celgrave.[5] Later spellings include Chealgraue in 1170 and Chalcgrava in 1236. It is derived from the Old English cealc-græf or cealc-grafu, meaning "chalk or limestone pit".[6] The manor house is early 15th-century,[7] making it the second-oldest building in Chalgrove. It stands partly on the site of an earlier building, originally the de Plessis manor and manorial court-house.
The great hall has a medieval oak screen on the ground floor,[7] possibly from the 13th-century house, late 16th century painted grey studding on the first floor[7] and was horizontally subdivided in the 16th century. The hall also has a finely-detailed arch-braced collar roof with double purlins with seating for a smoke louvre.[7] The carpentry in the roof is of exceptional quality and it may be that the carpenters were the same as those who built the Royal Palace at nearby Ewelme around the same time. The north wing has a medieval annexe and garderobe chute outlet. The rear extensions are early 16th century. The south wing parlour has 17th-century painted grained panels.[7] The house was repaired and restored in the 1980s. It is a Grade I listed building.[7]
Parish church
The earliest parts of the
In the 14th century the chancel was decorated with a series of
As well as medieval wall paintings and later stone monuments, St Mary's has a highly unusual painted monument dating from the end of the 17th century.
St Mary's parish has long been linked with that of St Helen's Berrick Salome. In The Departed Village, Moreau writes "so far as records go back it [St Helen's] has never officially been more than a chapelry of Chalgrove and since the Conquest the indications are that it has never had a priest not shared with that parish. Such an arrangement is the more surprising because Berrick and Chalgrove have had no common boundary for the last thousand years",[13] being separated by Berrick Prior (a part of Newington parish). "Moreover, while the incumbent has been only vicar of Chalgrove,"[13] "he is rector of Berrick."[14]
Economic and social history
Chalgrove originated as a
Flooding used to be a problem, with 22 houses seriously flooded in 1879.[citation needed] In the 19th century a sluice was built at the eastern end of the village and from the original Chalgrove Stream, now called the Back Brook, some of the water was diverted to run alongside the current High Street.[citation needed] The artificial loop, called the Front Brook, has become a popular feature. The brook's flow is now much reduced and the risk of flooding has declined. Only a small part of the High Street is now deemed to be at occasional risk.
Rev. RF Laurence (1807–85), who was vicar of Chalgrove and
After a long period of stability, the village's population grew very rapidly from fewer than 1,000 residents in 1961 to just over 3,000 by 1996, mainly due to a new housing estate being developed in the area called Sixpenny Fields between the village core and the more recent bypass, the B480 road. The road into this development is named French Laurence Way after Rev. Laurence. Parts of Chalgrove, and its airfield, featured in the episode Many Happy Returns of the
RAF Chalgrove
In the Second World War the government needed level ground for airfields. The standard three-runway Chalgrove Airfield was built in 1943, and in February 1944 the United States Army Air Forces moved in with a photo-reconnaissance squadron of Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft. Three more squadrons joined in March to bring the station to full strength. These squadrons performed many low-level operations over France to provide valuable information prior to, and shortly after, the Normandy landings in June 1944. In March 1945 the USAAF PR squadrons from nearby RAF Mount Farm moved to Chalgrove with their P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning aircraft. Reconnaissance work continued over peacetime Europe in order to assess damage. The USAAF left at the end of 1945.
After the airfield reverted back to the RAF becoming a satellite of RAF Benson, until an agreement was reached with the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company to use the airfield to test ejection seats. The first live ejection from a Martin-Baker seat, fitted to a Gloster Meteor, was made over Chalgrove airfield in July 1946. Martin-Baker still uses the airfield. It is mostly used for ejection seat testing and very few aircraft now use the airfield.[18] In 2016 the Ministry of Defence transferred ownership of the airfield site to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA),[19] which in 2018 was succeeded by Homes England.
Chalgrove Band
Chalgrove Band
In 2011, the band won promotion to the
Amenities
The village has three
The village has a primary school,[24] with a foundation class for younger children. The local authority provides a bus service for older children to travel to local secondary schools. Monument Park business park,[25] opposite the airfield and away from the main village, hosts a range of businesses. Chalgrove Cricket Club plays in Oxfordshire Cricket Association League Division Six.[26] Chalgrove Cavaliers Football Club[27] organises football for boys and girls between the ages of five and 16. Chalgrove FC is the parish's football club for adults. It played in the Oxfordshire Senior Football League in the 2012–13 season. It has a partnership agreement with the Chalgrove Cavaliers.[citation needed]
Chalgrove has a
Chalgrove Village Hall hosted the annual World
Thames Travel bus route 11 serves Chalgrove six days a week, linking the village with Oxford via Stadhampton, Garsington and Cowley and with Watlington via Cuxham. Buses run almost hourly from Mondays to Saturdays and every few hours on Sundays. [33]
References
- Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
- ^ "Coin unearths new Roman emperor". BBC News. 25 February 2004.
- ^ Smith, Alex (2008). "Chalgrove Manor, Harding's Field, Chalgrove: Oxfordshire Archaeological investigations by Oxford Archaeology". Archaeology Data Service. University of York.
- ^ Page, Atherton & Hardy 2004[page needed]
- ^ "Place: Chalgrove". Open Domesday. University of Hull.
- ^ Ekwall 1960, Chalgrave
- ^ a b c d e f Historic England. "The Manor (Grade I) (1368856)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ a b Historic England. "Church of St Mary (1284879)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ a b Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 526
- ^ Heath-Whyte 2003, p. 9.
- ^ a b c d Heath-Whyte 2003, p. 90
- Central Council for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ a b Moreau 1968, p. 95
- ^ Moreau 1968, p. 96.
- ^ Historic England. "1, The Green (Grade II) (1059744)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Robert French Laurence, priest, social reformer, 23rd April 1885". Diocese of Oxford.
- ^ Brady, Paul; Davy, Rick. "The S75d Milk Float". "Sixes and Sevens" The Unmutual Prisoner Vehicle Guide. Rick Davy.
- ^ "Martin-Baker". martin-baker.com.
- ^ "Chalgrove - release of the land at Chalgrove Airfield". WhatDoTheyKnow. 27 July 2016.
- ^ "Chalgrove Band". Chalgrove Band.
- ^ "THE RED LION CHALGROVE". THE RED LION CHALGROVE.
- ^ Historic England. "The Red Lion Public House (Grade II) (1368832)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ "Watlington & Chalgrove Surgeries – GP Surgery". www.watlington-surgeries.nhs.uk.
- ^ "Home | Chalgrove Community Primary School". www.chalgrove.oxon.sch.uk.
- ^ Monument Park
- ^ "Division 6". Oxfordshire Cricket Association. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ "Chalgrove Cavaliers FC". Pitchero. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ "Chalgrove WI". Oxfordshire County Council. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ "Chalgrove Live Music Festival | August 2019". www.clmfestival.com.
- ^ "Chalgrove Midsummer Ball". Chalgrove Communicating. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
- ^ "2019 World Championship". To the Strongest Forum. 20 June 2018.
- ^ "To the Strongest Forum". To the Strongest Forum. 14 February 2016.
- ^ "11". Timetables & Fares. Thames Travel. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0198691033.
- Gray, Howard L (1959) [1915]. The English Field Systems. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; Merlin Press. pp. 18–23, 124.
- Heath-Whyte, RW (2003). An Illustrated Guide to the Medieval Wall Paintings in the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin at Chalgrove in the County of Oxfordshire. Chalgrove: PCC St Mary's Chalgrove. ISBN 0-9544681-0-4.
- Lewis, Samuel, ed. (1931) [1848]. "Chalgrove (St. Mary)". A Topographical Dictionary of England (Seventh ed.). London: Samuel Lewis. p. 545.
- Long, ET (1972). "Medieval Wall Paintings in Oxfordshire Churches" (PDF). ISSN 0308-5562.
- Moreau, RE (1968). The Departed Village: Berrick Salome at the Turn of the Century. Oxford: ISBN 0-19-211186-8.
- Oakes, Catherine (2009). "Fourteenth-century Ways of Seeing: the Chancel Wall Paintings at Chalgrove, Oxfordshire" (PDF). ISSN 0308-5562.
- Page, Philip; Atherton, Kate; Hardy, Alan (2004). Barentin's Manor: Excavations of the moated manor at Hardings Field, Chalgrove, Oxfordshire 1976–9. Thames Valley Landscape Series. Vol. 24. Oxford: ISBN 0-947816-62-3.
- Sherwood, Jennifer; ISBN 0-14-071045-0.
External links
Media related to Chalgrove at Wikimedia Commons