Ascott-under-Wychwood is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Evenlode valley about south of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 560.

Toponym

The village is one of three named after the historic forest of Wychwood; the others being Shipton-under-Wychwood and Milton-under-Wychwood. “Ascott” is derived from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''ēast'' (east) and ''cot'' (cottage).

Manor and castle

Ascot d'Oilly Castle was built in about 1129–50 and a stone tower was added to it in the 13th century. The castle bailey is now occupied by the manor house, which is mainly 16th and 17th century but contains some 13th century buttressed and other stonework.

Parish church

Holy Trinity Church of England parish church was built in about 1200 in a transitional style from Norman to Early English. Surviving transitional work includes the south porch, and the four-bay arcade between the nave and the north

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

arch and the lancet windows along the side of the north aisle are Early English. Most of the present windows in the nave and chancel were inserted in the 14th and 15th centuries, including the Decorated Gothic east windows of the chancel and north aisle and the

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

south windows of the chancel and west window of the aisle. Also Perpendicular Gothic are the chancel piscina and

sedilia In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, typically made of stone, located on the liturgical south side of the altar—often within the chancel—intended for use by the officiating priest, deacon, an ...

, the octagonal baptismal font and a small chapel next to the chancel. The upper stages of the

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

were built in the 15th century. The building was restored in 1857–59 under the direction of the Oxford Diocesan architect G.E. Street. Holy Trinity is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The tower has a ring of six bells. Five of these including the tenor bell were cast in 1744 by Henry III Bagley of Chacombe, Northamptonshire, who at the time also had a bell-foundry at Witney. The treble was cast in 1905 by Mears and Stainbank of the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

. There is also a Sanctus bell cast in 1797 by Thomas I Mears. In 2001 the Church of England Benefice of Ascott-under-Wychwood, Chadlington and Spelsbury merged with that of Enstone and Heythrop to form the Chase Benefice.

Economic and social history

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway was built in 1845 and opened Ascott-under-Wychwood railway station to serve the village. The OW&WR is now the Cotswold Line and the station is served by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

trains. The village school was designed by the architect Clapton Rolfe and built in 1871. In 1873 a farmer dismissed several men of Ascott-under-Wychwood because they had formed a branch of the National Union of Agricultural Workers. He hired labourers from the village of Ramsden to work as strikebreakers but a group of women from Ascott-under-Wychwood tried to dissuade the Ramsden labourers from working. Sixteen of the women were arrested, tried by magistrates in Chipping Norton and given short sentences of imprisonment in Oxford Castle. Their convictions were met with rioting in Chipping Norton, questions in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and a royal pardon from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. The 16 are commemorated as the Ascott Martyrs. In 1874 at least four of the women emigrated with their families to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, where they now have numerous descendants. In 1973 on the centenary of the women's ordeal a commemorative bench was erected in the village.

Amenities

Ascott-under-Wychwood has a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, The Swan. It was closed in 2010 but was re-opened in June 2013. It also has a community shop, which was opened in 2003.Ascott Village Shop
/ref> An art gallery and craft shop opened in 2022 owned by the Japanese artist Motoko Aritake-Wild. https://www.forgeatwychwood.co.uk The village has two schools, which are both privately funded
Ascott-under-Wychwood Pre-school
which provides pre-school learning for children aged 2–5 years an
Windrush Valley Private School
which provides learning and education for children aged 3–11 years. The village has a cricket club, which plays on Memorial playing field, with a team in the Cherwell League on Saturdays, and friendly matches on Sundays.

References

15. Cricket club website https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/ascottunderwychwoodcricketclub/

Sources

External links

Ascott-under-Wychwood Community Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ascott-Under-Wychwood Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Cotswolds Villages in Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire District