Souldern
Souldern | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | Bicester | |
Postcode district | OX27 | |
Dialling code | 01869 | |
Police | Thames Valley | |
Fire | Oxfordshire | |
Ambulance | South Central | |
UK Parliament | ||
Website | Souldern Village | |
Souldern is a village and
Souldern's toponym is derived from the Old English Sulh-þorn meaning "Thorn-bush in a gully".[2]
Manor
The
By 1196 Hugh de Say, grandson of Hugh FitzOsbern, had transferred
One part passed to
The Stutsbury and Weedon families were
In 1868,the owner, John Thomas Dolman died and the manor was then lived in by his daughter Mary and her husband Bryan John Stapleton. Mary Stapleton was a keen local historian and the whole family were Catholics. Mary was a friend of William Bernard Ullathorne, the Bishop of Birmingham, and she was generous in the local village. Before 1880 they had decided that the house was not healthy enough, and they had a reduced income, so they moved to another listed building Grove House in Kidlington.[4]
Churches
Church of England
The oldest parts of the
From 1161 until the
The tower has a ring of six bells,[6] including three cast by Henry I Bagley of Chacombe, Northamptonshire in the 1630s.[7]
The
The parish had a
Roman Catholic
John Stutsbury was recorded as a
The manor-house had a Roman Catholic chapel hidden in the attic. There seems to have been no resident priest, so Roman Catholics would have relied on visiting clergy to celebrate
Wesleyan
In 1851 a stone-built Methodist Reform chapel was completed in Souldern.[2] In 1857 most Methodist Reform congregations merged with the Wesleyan Association, but Souldern chapel was one of a minority that rejected the merger and together founded the Wesleyan Reform Union instead.
Economic and social history
Souldern Mill is on Ockley Brook about 1⁄2 mile (800 m) west of the village. The oldest known record of it is from 1279. By the latter part of the 17th century there were two mills, but the second mill did not survive. The mill was independent of Souldern Manor, and being on the county and parish boundary with Aynho it may have served both villages. It may be the mill that was referred to as "Aynho Mill" in 1797. A watermill between the two villages was still working in 1920.[2]
The parish's
Before enclosure much of the parish was arable, but afterwards farmers converted the major part of their land to pasture and meadow, apparently to minimise the amount of
Souldern's economy was unusually diverse for a village. In the 17th century it included two tailors, a weaver and a mercer. At a later date there were three tailors and a milliner. At one time Souldern had three lace-making schools and in 1851 there were more than 30 lace-makers in the parish, but the trade declined towards the end of the 19th century.[2]
Numerous houses in Souldern are built of local pale
There have been two different properties called "Souldern House". The present one is a rectangular early-17th-century house formerly called "Souldern Lodge". In its garden is a gazebo dated 1706. The previous "Souldern House" is now called the Manor House. Until the 1950s it had the date 1665 on a fireplace in one of its rooms. The house was altered in 1850, and again in 1955–56 for Vivian Smith, 1st Baron Bicester.[2]
In 1641 during the English Civil War, Royalists ordered the parish to send carts and provisions to King Charles I at Oxford. In 1643 six regiments of Parliamentarian troops from London were billeted in the parish.[2]
Schools
Souldern's first purpose-built village school was paid for by William and James Minn and opened in 1816. In 1820 Sarah Westcar died, leaving £200 to be invested for the school to pay the salary of a National School master. The School was affiliated to the National Society for Promoting Religious Education by 1847.[2]
The school outgrew its premises, and in 1851 James Minn died leaving land for a new school building and cottages for two teachers. These were completed in 1856. After 1871 the school was enlarged again and a new house added for schoolmaster. In 1930 it was reorganised as a junior school, with senior pupils being sent to Fritwell. By 1951 it was a voluntary controlled school and by 1954 the number of pupils had declined to 17.[2] It has since closed.
St Joseph's Roman Catholic school was built in 1879. It had one teacher, and the number of pupils declined from 18 in 1887 to eight in 1903. It was closed in 1904.[2]
Transport history
The main road between Bicester and Banbury was made into a
The Oxford Canal was built through the western part of the parish in 1787.[10] Souldern Wharf is about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) west of the village.
Building of the
In 1910 the GWR completed a
Amenities
In 1735 Souldern had one licensed
Souldern Football Club plays in the Banbury District and Lord Jersey FA.[13] In 1925 Souldern FC beat Kirtlington FC 1–0 to win the Jersey Cup.[14] The Souldern team included four members of one local family, the Westburys, and it was Bob Westbury who scored the only goal of the match.[15] In 1982 Souldern FC reached the final again but lost 3–1 to Charlton FC.[16]
Notable people
Another member of Souldern's winning 1925 football team was the future Labour politician F.J. Wise[15] (1887–1968). Wise had entered politics by 1931 and was elected MP for King's Lynn in 1945.[15] Wise lost his seat in the 1951 General Election. He was then ennobled in the 1951 Resignation Honours as 1st Baron Wise of King's Lynn.
References
- Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Lobel 1959, pp. 301–312
- ^ Cokayne Complete Peerage,1916, p.377
- required.)
- ^ a b c Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 768–769.
- ^ "Towers: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church Souldern". Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers, Bicester Branch. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
- ^ Baldwin, John (22 February 2005). "Souldern S Mary V". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 19 December 2011.
- ^ Cherwell Valley Benefice: Souldern, Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary Archived 21 July 2012 at archive.today
- ^ a b "Turnpike Trusts in England". Turnpike Roads in England & Wales. Alan Rosevear.
- ^ Compton 1976, p. 37.
- ^ "page 1". Railway Tunnel Lengths website. P Deaves.
- ^ The Fox Inn at Souldern
- ^ "Division Two". Banbury District and Lord Jersey FA. TheFA.com Full-Time. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- ^ "The 1925 Jersey Cup Final". The Jersey Cup. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
- ^ a b c Hitchman 1984, p. 31.
- ^ "The 1982 Jersey Cup Final". The Jersey Cup. Retrieved 25 February 2010.
Sources
- Compton, Hugh J (1976). The Oxford Canal. Newton Abbot: ISBN 0-7153-7238-6.
- Hitchman, Robert A (1984). A Third Journey from the Turnpike. Souldern: Robert A Hitchman. p. 31.
- Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1959). A History of the County of Oxford. Victoria County History. Vol. 6: Ploughley Hundred. London: Oxford University Press for the Institute of Historical Research. pp. 301–312.
- Sherwood, Jennifer; ISBN 0-14-071045-0.