Cuddesdon, standing on the Uplands in the Centre of the Parish, overlooks the surrounding Hamlets & Commands views as far as Brill in the North, the Chilterns in the South-east & Wittenham Clumps. There is evidence of a Roman Villa on the Hill & Roman Pottery has been found in Cuddesdon Wood. The name Cuddesdon, ‘Hill of Cuthwine‘, points to early-Saxon Settlement, which has been confirmed by the finding of an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery & other remains.
Cuddesdon Village, long outgrown by Wheatley, comprises Groups of Cottages of Rubble & Brick, with Thatch, Tile, or Slate Roofs, which Line the Wheatley Road as it curves down the Hill from the Church towards Denton. Some, like the Old Vicarage, are of 18thC date. The Bishop’s Palace & the Theological College (see below) stand at the Crest of the Road before it descends through the Village. The Village Cross, now removed to the Churchyard, once stood near the point where the Road forks to the Church. The latter stands in a Commanding position off the Main Road. The Vicarage lies to the North & Manor Farm to the South. Opposite Manor Farm is another Freehold Farm, Dovehouse Farm, an 18thC Ashlar Building with Tiled Roof & a large walled Garden.
The ‘Bat & Ball‘ Public House (formerly Hall’s Brewery), also an 18thC Building, is on the Southside of the Main Street; it acquired the Licence of the ‘Three Compasses‘, Destroyed in 1929.
The Bishop’s Palace was Built by Bishop John Bancroft (1632-41), the 1st Bishop of Oxford to reside at Cuddesdon, & replaced the Parsonage, described as ‘Old & Mean’. It was completed by 1634 at an alleged cost of £2,400. It was ‘a Fair House of Stone‘, the Gables of which are shown in the background of contemporary Portraits of Bancroft & it had a Chapel & surrounding Garden & Orchard. Archbishop Laud, by whose persuasion it had been Built, visited the Palace in 1636. In 1644, however, it was Scorched by Colonel William Legge, as a precaution against Parliamentary Occupation. In 1652 the Parliamentary Commissioners Sold the Land & Chapel & as only part of the House had survived, no Mansion of any size figures in the Hearth Tax Return of 1665. In 1679 Bishop Fell undertook complete Restoration, after it had been estimated that £1,997 was needed for Repairs. The Contractor, Richard Frogley of Holywell, & the Stone-mason, Thomas Wood of Oxford, had a dispute about the Work & the evidence produced in Court gives details of the Construction & reveals that Burford Stone was used in part. Only a Fireplace now remains of the 1st Palace; the 2nd was described by Bishop Wilberforce in 1845 as ‘an old H-shaped House, a rambling sort of Country-Gentleman’s House’. It is strange that an Alehouse existed in the Palace Grounds up to Wilberforce’s time, he himself, as a Visitor, having been woken by ‘a chorus of Yells, Howls, Shouts, etc, like a Perfect Jacquerie’ (Peasant Revolt) & told that it was probably ‘the Garsington men going Home from Drinking in our Ale House’. Wilberforce enlarged the House, adding a Vestibule in front of the North-west Door & a Gothic Chapel. The latter was Designed by B Ferrey & dedicated in 1846 to St Peter & St Paul. Four Stained-Glass windows by T Willement containing the Arms of the Prince Consort & Wilberforce, were given by Queen Victoria, her Consort & the 2–Archbishops. The Palace ceased to be occupied by the Bishop in 1937; between 1939 & 1945 it was occupied by Queen Anne’s Bounty & between 1946 & 1949 by the Society of the Salutation of Mary the Virgin.
The Theological College, Built by G E Street to House a Diocesan Training College planned by Bishop Wilberforce, was Opened in 1854. The Building is an example of the neo-Gothic Style, with a Decorated Chapel.
The present Manor Farm stands on the Site of the former Manor-house. It contains some traces of 16th & 17thC Work & there are late-17thC Arches in the Stable. There are no traces of the 15thC Building which stood on the same Site & was connected with the Churchyard by steps. It had a ‘Chekkaer‘ & a Chapel. During the Civil War the House was Scorched by Royalist Troops & Views of the Manor in 1804 suggest that at this date it was a Ruin.
Farmhouse & Attached Farm Building: now part of House. Late-16thC, altered 18th & early-19thC. Timber-framing & squared coursed Limestone Rubble with Ashlar Dressings; old plain-Tile Roof with Brick Ridge-stacks. L-Plan. 2-Storeys. Irregular 4-window Front with flush 4-panel Door to right of Centre with 3-light Casement to right, pair of 4-pane Sashes to left & 12-pane Sash to extreme left; 4-No. 2-light Casements over. Wall is of 18-19thC Rubble with Timber Lintels. Left Gable Wall of late-16thC Stonework with Ashlar Dressings has projecting Quoined Stack with 2-Brick Diagonal Shafts and blocked Ovolo-moulded Stone-mullioned windows: 2-light at Ground & 1st-Floors and a single light in the Gable. Right Gable Wall is of 18thC banded rubble & Ashlar. Rear is Rubble with flat Stone Arches at Ground-floor with Flemish-bond Brickwork above, probably replacing close-Studding of which 2-Posts remain. 2-Bay Rear Wing returns to right, continuous with 2-Bay Farm Building. Range is Weatherboarded to right & end but left Wall has exposed Timber-framing: House Wing with close Studding over a 1-Storey Rubble Base & Farm Building with Framing in Panels with Curved Braces, now on a Storey-height Rubble Base but formerly a Panel lower.
Interior: Moulded-Stone Tudor Arched Fireplace & remains of a 2nd in 16thC Gable Wall, also Large 17thC Open Fireplace with Bread-oven. Trusses to Main Range rise from Posts with some Arched Braces to Tie-beams. Rear Wing has exposed Roof Structure with Curved Wind-braces to single-Row of Butt Purlins & Arched Braces to Tie-beams. End Frames of Wing & Farm Building are adjacent & Mortices suggest a slightly later date for the latter. Front Wall of Main Range is certainly re-Built & possibly replaced full-height Framing. The Farm was a 15th & 16thC Benefaction to Queens College Oxford, the Former Owners.
There is an 18thC Watermill standing on the River Thame, which once belonged to Cuddesdon Manor. It is known that Abingdon Abbey had a Mill here, which it Lost during the Danish Invasions, but afterwards recovered. The Mill was the cause of much Strife with the Bishop of Lincoln’s Tenants at Great Milton, who threatened to Destroy the Weir in 1066, but were Foiled by Abbot Ealdred, supposedly with the aid of the Miraculous Bones of St Vincent. Later they or their Descendants twice Destroyed the Mill Inclosure & in 1108 the Bishop made them Repair it. In 1279 the Mill Weir was called ‘Cliffware‘ & in 1397/98 the Sacristan of Abingdon Abbey had 13s-4d from the Mill. Its Farm was worth £5 in 1539.
A 2nd Mill, on the Stream called ‘Cumbe Brok‘, is mentioned in 1279. It is not clear whether it was this Mill or the Mill on the River Thame which was Granted to Robert Browne in 1545. In Elizabeth I’s Reign his Mill had passed from George Bartlett to John Barston, whose Family came to own both the Mills. From Richard Barston (1613) they Descended to his son Thomas, who was dead by 1624, and in a Document of 1678 are referred to as ‘Down‘ & ‘Overshot‘. They were Owned by William Broadwater in 1705. The River Thame Mill, rebuilt about 1800, is still workable, but has been inactive since about 1935 and serves as a Store.
A Fishery, or perhaps originally 2 as in 1086, went with the Cuddesdon Mill. Domesday Book records that 2–Fisheries & the Mill rendered 12s yearly to Abingdon Abbey. One of these Fisheries stretched from the River Thame Mill to the Weir in Wheatley Meadow; in the modern Period its Ownership generally followed that of the Manor. It now belongs to the present Lord, Magdalen College.
Manor: In 956 Land Assessed at 20-Hides in Cuddesden & its Hamlets was Granted by Edwy to Earl Aelfhere, who in turn Bestowed it on Abingdon Abbey. The Abbey remained Lord of this Estate until the Dissolution, except for Chippinghurst, assessed at 3-Hides, which had been Lost by 1086. Wheatley & Denton, although possessed by Abingdon throughout the Medieval Period, came to Rank as separate Manors, but Cuddesdon proper remained the most valuable Manor, judging by the Assessment of 1538/39. In the early-Middle-Ages Abingdon administered its Manor through a Steward & assigned the Profits to specific uses at the Abbey; to the Altar, for instance, to the Cook &, especially from the early-13thC onwards, to Wine for Festivals. In 1375/76 & 1383/84 it received as much as £66 & £86. There is no evidence whether the Demesne was Leased or not during the later-Medieval Period, but the Manor-House was Leased in 1421. In 1526 the King Granted the Manor to Wolsey’s College at Oxford, but it is possible that the Abbey never in fact Lost it, for in 1537 the Abbot wrote that he had offered to a Mr Aisheton the Farm of Cuddesdon for £29-14s-4d a year. It was then & had been in the hands of Edward, son of Sir Richard Fowler, ‘who lives Honestly upon it to keep a Good House’. The Rent represented the ‘Farm‘ of the Demesne Land, Rents from Free & Customary Tenants bringing in another £14-5s-0d to the Abbey.
By 1546 the Manor was in the hands of the Crown & being Farmed by John Egerley, Royal Bailiff of ‘Cuddesdon Lordship‘. Soon after it came into the hands of Robert Lyde or Joyner of Dorchester. In a Chancery Suit heard some time between 1558 & 1579, Lyde was declared to have been Seised before his death of the Manor & 500-acres of Pasture & Meadow; these were later alleged to be worth £200 a year. Robert made his Will in 1557, leaving the Manor, with various Annuities, chargeable on the Estate, to a younger son Richard. Robert’s brother-in-law, Luke Bewforrest & John Smyth were made Executors & were to occupy Cuddesdon Farm for 6-yrs. It seems that the Estate went through many hands in the following years. Thomas Kennyngton or Barnarde of Iffley & Bartholomew Benford (a Yeoman of Stanton St John & a brother-in-law of Richard Joyner the Legatee) occupied the Premises for 6-yrs, alleging that they did so under Letters Patent. They further stated that Robert Joyner, having fallen sick, had given the Property to Sir Francis Englefield & Christopher Smith as Overseers. This probably explains a Royal Grant in 1558 of the Manor-House, Lands, Stock & Grain, to these 2-Persons. The yearly value was then estimated at £12-13s-4d.
Richard Joyner became involved in a Lawsuit against Bewforrest over the ‘Site’ of Cuddesdon. His brother Robert Joyner also went to Law over the Estate & 5 other Relatives contested their Legacies. Richard died in 1613 Seised of ‘a Site & Capital Messuage’ & about 620-acres of Land, leaving the Property, apparently Mortgaged, to his son Richard. He seems to have foreseen difficulties, for in his Will (Proved 1614) he left his elder son Francis a Legacy of £30, which was to cease should he molest Richard in any way over the Lands Granted to him. This son Francis went to Law over his Exclusion & the Court Ruled that he should have Cuddesdon Manor & his brother Richard an Annuity. The whole History of the Manor in these years continued to be inextricably confused. Francis at one stage had Possession of a 3rd of the Manor, but in the end the Joyner Brothers Sold the Property for £6,000 to William Child, a Public Notary of London, who had Married into their Family. At this time the Manor was valued at £10 a year, the Manor-house at £5, 6-Messuages & 10-Cottages at £4 & Cuddesdon Coombe (i.e. the Wood) at 13s-4d.
William Child died Seised of the Manor in 1637/38; his son John Inherited, but conveyed it to his brother-in-law Thomas Gardiner, Recorder of London & Solicitor General to Charles I. Thomas was described by Clarendon as ‘a man of Gravity & Quickness that had somewhat of Authority & Gracefulness in his Person & Presence’. He was Knighted in 1641 & had his Goods seized by Parliament in 1643. He compounded with the Parliamentarians in 1646 for a Fine of £942-13s-4d & died in 1652. In his Will (1648), he referred to his Possessions as ‘that Temporal Estate which is left me in these Troublesome & Distracted Times, whereby it hath been Broken & Wasted in exceeding Great Measure’ & left his Lands at Cuddesdon, Denton & Wheatley to Hugh Audley, his Colleague of the Inner Temple, to be Sold to discharge Debts. Audley must eventually have Sold the Manor some time after 1667 to Sebastian Smythe, DD, a Bristol man & a Canon of Christ Church. He died in 1674, having Settled the Manor in 1667 on his Lawyer son Sebastian on his marriage to Grace Astyn. The young man was Knighted in 1685 & became a Bencher of the Inner Temple in 1697. A ‘great Lover of Money’, according to Antiquarian Thomas Hearne, he died in 1733, being succeeded at Cuddesdon by his son Sebastian, who died in 1752. The latter’s Heir was his daughter, Barbara, who died unmarried in 1787 at the age of 76. She had lived like her Ancestors at Cuddesdon & was Buried there. Her Monument records ‘a life spent in the most unremitting attention to every Religious, Moral & Social Duty’.
The Manor then passed to Sir John Whalley Gardiner, Lord of Tackley & a grandson of Grace Smythe, sister of Sebastian (III) Smythe & her husband, Dr Bernard Gardiner. Sir John incorporated Smythe into his name by Royal Licence in 1787; he is chiefly remembered for ‘drinking to death 5-Aldermen & Oxford Tailors-3‘. He enlarged the Cuddesdon Estate & was succeeded by his son, Sir James, at whose death in 1805 the Manor passed to Sir Oswald Mosley, brother-in-law of Sir James. A period of dispersal of the Estate followed. The Mortgagees & Trustees of Sir James Whalley-Smythe-Gardiner, 3rd Baronet, Sold Cuddesdon & Denton Manors to Lord Macclesfield in 1848. Magdalen College were Lords of the Manor in 1901, the size of the Estate then being 1,348-acres.
Economic & Social History: The Domesday Survey Records under Abingdon Abbey’s Cuddesdon Estate of 18-Plough-Lands a Community of 8-Serfs, working on the Demesne, 24-Villeins & 12-Bordars, who Farmed the remaining Land. This Community almost certainly included the Population of the Abbey’s Hamlets of Denton & Wheatley, not at that time separate Manors & it seems likely that the 8-Serfs on the Demesne were the only recorded Inhabitants of Cuddesdon. By 1279, however, the Land at Denton & Wheatley had been split among Free Tenants, leaving the Demesne at Cuddesdon still Farmed by Tenants in Servitude. At this date the 1st clear evidence of the Population of Cuddesdon Township (as opposed to the whole Estate) gives us a Community of 24-villeins & 13-cottars. These figures suggest that there had been a considerable expansion of Population since 1086. The Assessments of 1316 & 1327, listing respectively 20 & 28 Taxpayers at Cuddesdon, confirm the impression. The comparatively small variations in Assessments (the richer Inhabitants being Taxed at between 4s-6d & 7s) indicate that there was little disparity in Wealth among the Taxpayers. In 1377, 89-Persons over 14 were listed for the Poll Tax.
Next to nothing is known of the Life of this Community in the later-Middle-Ages. In the 16thC there were Freeholders as well as Customary Tenants, but it seems unlikely that the long Period of Disputed Ownership of the Manor in the later-16th & early-17thC & the Civil War, conduced to Prosperity. The Hearth Tax Return of 1665 records only 9-Householders, 2 with 4 or more Hearths (including the probable Tenant of the Manor House), 2 with 2-Hearths & the remainder with 1 & therefore all apparently of modest means. Concentration on Sheep-farming (see below) probably accounts for Cuddesdon’s decline in Population. Later Population figures show a rise from 244 in 1801 to 401 in 1871 & a subsequent decline to 301 in 1901. The Population in 1951 was 312.
Though so depopulated Cuddesdon preserved its Independence of Wheatley. It had, for instance, a separate Poor-rate in the 18thC. The total expended in 1776 was £49-7s-5d, rising by 1803 to £195-10s-3d, which represented the low rate of 2s-6d in the £1. All the Recipients received Outdoor Relief; 20-people were relieved occasionally & 16-children were taught in a School of Industry. The Minutes of the Select Vestry from 1829 to 1839 have survived & show that, as in Wheatley, a Labour Rate had been adopted and that no person could get relief unless he or she had previously applied to the Local Farmers for Work. In 1832 the Overseers tried to encourage Emigration by distributing Pamphlets & in 1839 £60 was raised to help the Poor to Emigrate.
Until recently the Villagers have always got their Living from the Land. A few, no doubt, had other occupations; there is a record of a Maltster in 1705 & of the Stone Family which Sold Tobacco to the neighbourhood about the same date. In 1853 there were 2-Bakers, a Butcher & a Carrier. But as late as 1900 most of the men were past or present Employees of the 2-Local Farmers. Those who were not found work at Denton House, at the Palace or the College. More recently, many people have been Employed in Industrial Work at Cowley. In 1953 there were 2-Shopkeepers.
Cuddesdon’s Land has always been used for Agriculture. Its Down-like Uplands have an easily tilled Sandy Soil, with medium Loam in places, while the Lower Land near the River has always been good Pasture & Meadow. Nothing is known of its Medieval Economy, but a Royal Grant of 1557/58 throws some light on later Practice. It lists the Manor’s growing Crops as follows: 18-acres sown with wheat, 2 with oats, 9 with rye, 60 with barley, 11 with pulse. The Stock comprised 16-cows, 1-bull, 16-pigs, 1-boar & 5-carthorses.
On account of the suitability of the Soil, Sheep-farming was combined with Tillage at an early-stage. There is evidence of Inclosure for Pasture in 1517 when William Cotesmore is recorded as Holding 60 Inclosed acres called ‘Grovelese‘ & in 1503 Robert Bolt was Leasing 80-acres, formerly under the Plough, which he had Inclosed with Hedges & Ditches for Pasture, allowing the Messuage to fall in Ruin & so displacing a Plough & 4-people. In 1639, an extent of the Manor included 2-Closes called Great & Little Stowell Field (estimated at 140-acres), a Pasture called Sheephouse Close with Barn & Sheepfold (estimated at 70-acres) & several other Pastures & Meadows. In 1642 there were Closes of 56, 47, 40 & 134-acres called Downefield, Middle Mead, Uttelton Bottom & Uttelton Fields with Upper Combe, which still belong to Manor Farm, though Upper Combe is now divided. By the late-18thC almost all the Fields of Cuddesdon & Chippinghurst must have been Inclosed. There is no record of any Parliamentary Award & Agriculturist Arthur Young in 1807 refers to Cuddesdon as Inclosed. Some 52-acres were Inclosed under the Denton Award of 1848, 36-acres being allotted to the Lord of the Manor, the Earl of Macclesfield & about 15 to the Bishop of Oxford.
Cuddesdon Tithe Award of 1841
Agriculturist Arthur Young also noted the keeping of Sheep at Cuddesdon, reporting that they used to be all Wiltshires, but that many Farmers had changed to a cross between Leicester & Cotswold. By 1854 John Chillingworth of Cuddesdon Manor House was keeping ‘Down Cotswolds‘. He was a well-known Farmer who later moved to Chippinghurst, which became the Centre of a Group of his Farms, which were organised on very economical lines, Labour being switched from one to the other as needed. His successor, William Chillingworth, had a Flock of some 500-sheep in 1870, when Oxfordshire Rams & Ewes from Cuddesdon were shown at the Royal Oxford Show. More recently Hampshire Down sheep have been Bred & at present both Cuddesdon’s Farmers buy Kent Lambs in August to Sell in Oxford the following May.
Dairy Farming has also been important; it has been assisted by the Soil, which allows of Double cropping. The ‘catch-cropping‘ of G Palmer, for instance, was well-known in the 20thC. At the end of the 18thC Arthur Young noted ‘2-complete Dairies‘ on the good Dairy Land of Cuddesdon & some years later Gale, another progressive Farmer, had a Herd of improved Shorthorns.
Church: The Advowson of Cuddesdon was obtained by Abingdon Abbey during the time of Abbot Faritius (1100-17). In 1231 the Abbey was Granted Papal Permission to appropriate the Church for the support of their Infirmary, on condition that they paid a Pension to the Rector & Endowed a Vicarage. The Revenue of the Parish was to be divided, the Abbey getting the Rectory House & the Tithes on Corn. The Vicar was to get the other Tithes, except those from the Mill & the Abbey’s Demesne. He was to have the proceeds from the Altar, a ½-Hide of Land at Denton & the right to keep 4-Boars & 2-Stallions with the Abbey Beasts. He was to Serve the Church himself, provide Books & Lights for it & pay any other Minister, including probably a Chaplain for Wheatley. His House stood opposite the Graveyard and next to a Croft, across which the Monks were to have a right of way to carry their corn.
Probably because of Ancient Rights in the Parish St Frideswide’s in 1122 was Granted by Henry I part of the Tithes in Denton & Chippinghurst, with 3-acres of Land in Cuddesdon. This Grant was confirmed by a Court of Inquiry in 1324.
Cuddesdon Tithe Award Map of 1841
Denton Tithe Award Map of 1843
Chippinghurst Tithe Award Map of 1850
Abingdon kept Cuddesdon Church until the Dissolution. It was one of the most valuable Churches in the Deanery, being worth £20 in 1254 & £26-13s-4d in 1291. 16thC Accounts do not give its value.
Although the Vicarage had been Endowed by 1238 with £13-6s-8d, it never seems to have been worth that sum in the early-Middle-Ages. In 1254 it was assessed at £4 & in 1291 at £5-6s-8d, but in 1535 it was worth £17-0s-4d. By 1520 the Vicar was non-Resident, the Chancel was out of Repair & Vestments & Surplices were lacking. In 1526 the Vicar, Master Richard Stoke, was receiving £16-13s-4d, but from this, among other expenses, he had to pay a Curate £6 & a Pension of £6-13s-4d to Master Stephen Brawderibe, a retired Vicar. Stoke was a prominent Fellow of Magdalen, who in 1527 closely contested the Presidency. In 1540 he was still non-Resident & was disregarding the Royal Order to distribute a 1/40th of his Benefice to the Poor.
Vicarage:- now part of College. 1853/54, Enlarged 1859/60. By G E Street. Squared coursed Limestone rubble with Ashlar Dressings; plain-tile Roof with Octagonal-shafted Stone Stacks. Complex Plan based on 2-Parallel Ranges. Gothic style. 2-Storeys. Entrance Front has Timber lean-to Porch over Central Arched Doorway with a Gabled 2-light mullioned window above. To right, two 2-light windows with dividing Stone Colonettes & at 1st-Floor a 3-light Mullion & Transom window below a large Gable. The Gable Wall to left has an off-centre Triplet of Arched windows: Lancets flanking a 3-light traceried window surmounted by a Gablet & Cross. To right are Service Ranges. The Rear has a central projecting Gable with a 4-light Mullion & Transom window below a Canted recessed Bay window.
Interior: Reported as. having a Gothic Fireplace & a Wooden Screen pierced with Quatrefoils. Not inspected. Formerly the House of the Principal of Cuddesdon (now Ripon) Theological College who is also Vicar of Cuddesdon.
At the Dissolution the Rectory came to the Crown, which Leased it out; in 1539, for example, the Tithes of Cuddesdon, Denton, Wheatley & Chippinghurst were Granted to Sir John Brome of Holton. During Elizabeth I’s Reign Richard Nevill had a 21-yr Lease of all Buildings, Orchard, Glebe & Tithes for £17-13s-4d. A Grant of 1585 was to Barentyne Molyns & otherAdvowson, which was excluded from a Grant of the Manor in 1558 until in 1589 the Queen made a New Endowment of the See of Oxford & Granted it & the Rectory to the Bishop. When John Bancroft became Bishop in 1632, he had permission to hold Cures to the value of £40 & when Cuddesdon fell vacant he held it in commendam. It was on the Glebe that he Built the 1st Bishop’s Palace & in 1637 he was given permission by the King to appropriate the Vicarage to the See. The result was that the Vicarage & Rectory were United. The Bishop was technically Vicar & the Church was served by a Curate chosen by him. Except during the Commonwealth, this arrangement lasted until 1852, when the Vicarage was separated from the See by Act of Parliament. Bancroft’s successor, however, Bishop Skinner, was Sequestrated from the Vicarage in 1646 & replaced by W Beecher, who had him Cited for Depredations on the Vicarage & for retaining the Tithes. The Advowson still belonged to the Bishop in 1953 & it is customary for the Vice-principal of the Theological College to be Vicar. In 1953 the net value of the Vicarage was £207.
The Bishop was entitled to all the Tithes. By 1791 a modus was being paid in lieu of them, 20-people contributing a total of £116 for 6-months. In 1840 the Tithes were commuted for £325, including Tithe on nearly 30-acres of Glebe. When the Vicarage was separated from the See in 1852, Bishop Grosseteste’s original Ordination of the Vicarage was referred to in order to divide the charge on the Tithes; it was found that the Rector was entitled to Tithes of corn & grain only, amounting to £145, and the Vicar to the others, worth £175. Certain Properties, including the Vent Farm, the ‘King’s Arms‘, & the Mill, evidently those Free from Tithes in the 13thC, were still Tithe Free.
Cuddesdon Tithe Award Map 1848
Since Cuddesdon was the Home of the Bishop, the Church was often the Scene of unusual activity. During the 18thC there were 8-Communion Services a year instead of the usual 4. Ordinations were held & Confirmations for neighbouring Parishes; in 1778, for example, 300 were Confirmed in Cuddesdon Church & 360 in 1798. Probably the most distinguished Curate was William Thomson, who was Officiating in about 1846 in the time of Bishop Wilberforce; a well-known Theologian, he later became Archbishop of York.
The Church of All Saints is Cruciform, with Chancel, Nave, side Aisles, Transepts & Central Tower. The original Church must have been Built before 1117, when Abbot Faritius, who gave it to Abingdon Abbey, died. It was re-Built on a Cruciform Plan about 1180. There is good Romanesque Carving on the West & South Doorways, with Lozenge moulding & Tooth Ornament. Of the same Period are the Tower Arches, the West Buttresses, the Walls of the North Transept (with 1-small round-headed window), the Stair Turret at the North-west angle of the Tower & the opening to the Rood Loft. The Nave Aisles were added in the mid-13thC, the North Aisle being rougher work than the South & 3-small Lancet windows on the South side belong to this Period. In the 14thC most of the Aisle windows were replaced, the Walls were raised & the South Porch added. The Clerestory, the West windows & the window in the North Wall on the North Transept were added just before the Chancel was re-Built in the late-14th or early-15thC, perhaps in 1375/76, when the Accounts of Abingdon Abbey include a payment of 50s for Wheatley Stone super cancellam de cuddesdon. Traces of Painting, possibly Medieval, remain on the Tower Piers.
By 1520 the Chancel was in need of Repair & in 1630, in spite of Episcopal Patronage, the Body of the Church & the Seats were noted as in great Decay. Bartholomew Day, a local Craftsman, undertook Repairs; & the upper part of the Tower, the South Transept, the Oak Roof of the Nave & other Woodwork are of this date. During the 18thC many minor Repairs & Improvements were carried out. A New Clock was made (1776) & Mr Bush of Oxford supplied a new Weather-vane in 1789. In 1842 major Restoration work began under G E Street, the Diocesan Architect. The Groining of the Crossing was restored, the West Gallery & the Plaster Ceiling of the Chancel removed, & the Roof repaired. The ‘4-clumsy windows’ in the Chancel were replaced; Stalls, a Stone Pulpit, Reredos & New Glass in the Choir were added. A New Pulpit of Oak was installed in 1896, Executed by C E Kempe & Carved by Miss Stubbs, the Bishop’s Daughter. Hardman made the West window (Christ in Majesty) from Street’s Design. Electric light was installed in 1895-96 & the High Altar was reconstructed in 1931 by H S Rogers, Architect, of Oxford. Chancel Screen, Gates, & Nave Altar commemorate Vice-Principal J Russell (d.1937). Recent Stained Glass displays Episcopal Coats of Arms & there are Memorial Windows to Bishop Mackarness (d.1889), Bishop Stubbs (d.1901), & Joseph Moore, Vicar of Buckland (Berks) (d.1876).
The Inventory of 1553 shows a rich variety of Vestments which did not long survive. Perhaps there was also a minor Possession of interest, for in 1529 William Bayley, who left ‘his beste goode‘ as Mortuary, following the Custom of the Parish, Bequeathed 20d ‘to buy a Pursse to carry the Blessed Sacrament to Visitacions within the Parish’. The earliest Plate dates from 1771. There are 6–Bells mostly dating from the 17th & 18thCs & a Sanctus. The 2nd, 3rd & 4th are by Henry Knight of Reading. A former 5th was dated 1677 & a former Tenor 1709.
The Surviving Registers start in 1541 & included Wheatley until its Separation from the Parish in the 19thC. From 1628 Wheatley Christenings were entered separately.
Old Wheatley & Coombe: It is possible that Coombe Wood & Coombe Brook in Cuddesdon gave their name to the Lost Village of Coombe, but Coombe is a Common name & the place is more likely to have taken its name from the Coomb East of the River Thame & South of the Oxford-Tetsworth Road, which lies in Great Milton Parish. It is more probable that the considerable Ruins noted in 1566 & called ‘Old Wheatley‘ were those of an early-Upland Settlement, such as Old Horspath, of which Wheatley in the Valley was an Offshoot, than of Coombe. Old Wheatley was perhaps near the Sites of the Roman Villa & the Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, for an Estate Map of 1593-Marks ‘Old Whateley Close’ & ‘Old Whatley Botome’ as half-way down the Hill between Coombe Wood & Wheatley. Coombe is not named in Domesday, but the History of the d’Ivry Fees shows that a part of the Lands of the later Manors of Coombe were included in an Estate assessed at 7½-Hides Held by Hugh of Roger d’Ivry. This part was probably that later associated with Chilworth Valery Manor. There is no mention of the other part of the Coombe Lands which are later Found joined to Chilworth Musard Manor. In 1627 & perhaps from earliest times these Hamlets were in Great Milton Parish & not in Cuddesdon, though for Administrative purposes they were attached to Bullingdon Hundred. They contributed to 14th & 15thC Tax Levies in the Hundred & it is probable that their Decline did not take place until the latter-Half of the 15thC. They continued to be Assessed for Taxation throughout the Century, but do not appear on the Lay Subsidy Lists of Henry VIII’s Reign. It was reported in 1517 that in 1499 Sir Thomas Danvers had Held 100-acres of Arable & 240-acres of Pasture in Coombe & Chilworth & that he had then Inclosed the Arable & converted it to Pasture. This Inclosure may well have been the last of a Series by which sheep-farming was substituted for Arable Farming & the Villagers of the 3-Settlements were deprived of their Livelihood.
The Vent: – The Vent Estate, to the North of Wheatley, was a detached piece of the Ancient Parish of Cuddesdon. It once formed the Northern Salient of the original Abingdon Abbey Property & may have been a Forest-clearing as the name suggests. It now consists of Vent Farm, the King’s Arms Inn & some Cottages lying at the North-eastern tip of Forest Hill Village. In 1611 its Green, ‘le Vent Greene‘, was described as being in Cuddesdon & it was later debated whether the Forest Hill Boundary went through Vent Farm. In 1878 Vent Farm (92-a) & Pilfrance (10-a) were transferred to Holton Parish, with part of Holton Wood. The rest of the Property – the Inn, a Bakehouse, a Blacksmith’s Shop, & 4-Cottages – was transferred to Forest Hill.
The nearness of the Vent to the Saxon Straete to Worcester may have led to early-Settlement. It stood at the intersection of this Road & Polecat End Lane in Holton. ‘La Vente’ is mentioned in the Hundred Rolls as a Close of 28-acres, a Licence of Henry III, presumably to Inclose, being quoted. A Roger de Vente had Land in Forest Hill in Henry III’s Reign, but a continuous record of Tenants cannot be Established. By the 15thC the Estate was called a Manor & was Leased in 1467 by the Abbot of Abingdon to Thomas atte Welle of Cuddesdon. In 1529 William Wildgoose Leased it with the Tithes for 39-yrs for £4-5s-8d & in 1542 it was Granted to Robert Kyrkham with Leave to Alienate. In this Grant it is called a Farm & it seems very likely that it was never an Independent Manor. By 1579 Nicholas Brome had Possession & the Estate was Held by the Brome Family of Holton & then by the Whorwoods of Holton in the 17thC. It continued to form part of the Holton Estate until the Sale of this Property in 1913, when the Vent, then some 197-acres, was acquired by Brigadier General A D Miller of Shotover.
Shotover House & Park: Built on or near the Site of the Ranger’s Lodge (i.e. Ranger of the Royal Forest) for Sir James Tyrrell between 1714 & 1718. His son, General James Tyrrell, according to his Epitaph in Oakley Church in 1742 ‘lest after the Hardships of War his Leisure should be mispent, this remarkable lover & cultivator of all elegant things pressed on with the completion of his House & Gardens at Shotover’. The Architect is unknown though it seems possible that William Townesend of Oxford who worked with Nicholas Hawksmoor at Queen’s College may have been responsible for the Design. Shotover is a tall, narrow house Built of Local Stone & with a Slate Roof. The Exterior of the house has been judged ‘Dull’ apart from the Loggia on the Garden side with decorated Plaster Vaults & Shell Niches in the side walls. Inside there is a lavish Plasterwork Decoration in the Hall & a Marble Fireplace designed by William Kent in the Saloon. Perhaps the most outstanding feature of Shotover is the rare survival of a Naturalistic Garden, begun about 1718 & completed in the 1730s. Most of the original Layout still remains. There are long Avenues, Cross-walks & a Gothic Temple closing a Vista of Formal Gardens, with Lakes, Lawns & Woods. William Kent, who has been called the ‘father of Modern Gardening’, Designed the Domed Octagonal Temple & the Obelisk & may have planned part of the Gardens, which attempt to make a break with Geometrical Formality & to introduce a more Romantic relaxation.
Aston Rowant & Chilterns Spring Line Villages 