Bodicote is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

about south of the centre of

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,126.

History

Bodicote was made a separate civil and

Church of England parish The parish with its parish church(es) is the basic territorial unit of the Church of England. The parish has its roots in the Roman Catholic Church and survived the English Reformation largely untouched. Each is within one of 42 dioceses: divide ...

in 1855. Until then it was part of the parish of

Adderbury Adderbury is a winding linear village and rural civil parish about south of Banbury in northern Oxfordshire, England. The settlement has five sections: the new Milton Road housing Development & West Adderbury towards the southwest; East Adde ...

. The

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 records a windmill that stood next to the grove at the top of Bodicote. Sor Brook, which forms the boundary between Adderbury and Bodicote parishes, has a

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the productio ...

. Bodicote House is a large Georgian house with a number of

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

additions. It is now the main office for

Cherwell District Council Cherwell may refer to: Geography * Cherwell, Queensland, a locality in the Fraser Coast Region, Australia * Cherwell District, an administrative district in Oxfordshire, England * River Cherwell, in Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, England Pe ...

Churches

Church of England

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of Saint

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

was a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately b ...

of St Mary the Virgin, Adderbury until 1855. Its

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

arch is 13th-century. The building has north and south aisles linked to the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

by 14th century arcades of three

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

each. There used to be a bell tower over the north aisle. In 1844 the architects John Plowman and H.J. Underwood effected an almost complete rebuilding of St John's that included demolishing the old tower and replacing it with the current west tower. The church is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

. The tower has a

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

of eight bells, all from 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 bell ...

. Thomas II Mears cast a ring of five bells (the present fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and tenor bells) in 1843. The present treble, second and third bells were cast and hung in 1974, increasing the ring to eight. The tower has an iron-framed

turret clock A turret clock or tower clock is a clock designed to be mounted high in the wall of a building, usually in a clock tower, in public buildings such as churches, university buildings, and town halls. As a public amenity to enable the community t ...

that was made by John Wise of London in 1700. The clock was renewed and modified in 1843, probably by Thomas Strange of Banbury.

Methodist

Bodicote

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

church was built in 1845.

Amenities

Bodicote has a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

primary school. The village has two

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s: the Horse and Jockey and the Plough. It has also the Spice Room Indian restaurant, which used to be the Baker's Arms pub. It was built in 1702 and latterly was controlled by

Mitchells & Butlers Mitchells & Butlers plc (also referred to as "M&B") runs circa 1,784 managed pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The company's headquarters are in Birmingham, England. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange an ...

brewery. There is a

SPAR SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well ...

store and sub-

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

in Molyneux Drive. Bodicote has also a hairdressing salon. Bodicote Cricket Club plays in the South Northants Cricket League. Every year since 2000 a group of local volunteers has organised the Bodfest village festival on King's Field. The festival typically takes place in late July and early August and includes live bands, a pig roast and a barn dance. A plastic duck race and raffle are held each spring on the Sor Brook to raise funds for the festival.

Expansion

In the early 2000s the District Council's planning department put forward in its Local Plan plans to build the new Longford Park housing estate, east of Bodicote village and south of the Cherwell Heights housing estate of Banbury. In February 2006

approved the plans to meet a housing target despite a 20,000 signature petition against it. About 1,070 houses are being built along with local shops, a public house, church, restaurant, primary school and other local services. Currently in November 2022 there is only a Primary School and a Community Centre in the building originally earmarked for a doctors’ surgery.

Public transport

Stagecoach in Oxfordshire Stagecoach in Oxfordshire is the trading name of Thames Transit Ltd. It is a bus operator serving the county of Oxfordshire, England. Since 1997 has been a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, and since February 2021 it has been part of Stagecoach ...

bus route B3 runs half-hourly, Mondays to Saturdays, between Bodicote village and Hardwick Hill via Banbury town centre. There is no evening, Sunday or

bank holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or he ...

service. Stagecoach in Oxfordshire route S4 serves the A4260 main road along the eastern edge of Bodicote village. It runs hourly, Mondays to Fridays, between Banbury and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

Notable people

Arthur Cobb Arthur Rhodes Cobb (12 March 1864 – 6 November 1886) was an English first-class cricketer. The son of Timothy Cobb and his wife, Ellen Cobb (née Newbery), he was born at Cotefield House at Bodicote, Oxfordshire in March 1864. He was educat ...

(1864–1886), cricketer * Diana Darvey Actress (Benny Hill, Carry On)

References

Sources

* * *

External links

Bodicote Parish CouncilBodicote Church
* {{authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire