South Moreton 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 ...

South Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a p ...

, England, about east of

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, located south of Oxford, east of Wantage and north west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. Historically part of Berkshire, the town is noted ...

, west of Wallingford, and south of Abingdon. It is only separated by the

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, ...

cutting from its twin village of

North Moreton North Moreton is a village and civil parish about east of Didcot. It was part of Wallingford Rural District in Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to the new South Oxfordshire District of Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census rec ...

, a quarter of a mile to the north. Mortune took its name in 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

from the houses on the ridge above the moor of Hakka's Brook (now known as the Hagbourne or Hadden Marsh), and was part of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

until the 1974 boundary changes. The 2011 census recorded the parish population as 420.

Manors

The

of 1086 refers to ''Moretune''. Its meaning is not entirely clear but four of the five

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

s are identifiable. Saunderville is still called The Manor. It is a

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

ed manor house with horses grazing in the railed paddocks, seen to advantage from the railway. Huse or Bray is a recently renovated low building nearby, with a paddock in front, at the T-junction at the east end of the village. The only trace of Adresham is the terrace on which it once stood, opposite the village school. There is a 1950s house on the site. Fulscot is west of the village, and is still a farm. It seems likely that the fifth manor on the Moreton ridge was in North Moreton. At the time of the ( 58 Geo. 3. c. ''18'' ), the main landlord was Henry

Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham, (31 August 1819 – 13 September 1907), was a British banker, businessman and Conservative Party politician. Life Aldenham was the son of George Henry Gibbs, whose father Antony Gibbs was a brother of Si ...

and many of the inclosures were allotted to him. Eventually a London butcher called Hedges used Rich's Sidings of the new

( west by Didcot railway station) to supply much of the London meat trade. Hedges amassed a fortune and much local land, including the inclosures at Hall Farm and Fulscot Manor, both of which are still owned and farmed by his descendants.

Church and Chapel

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 ...

of Saint

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

at Bethesda, with its possibly

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

doorway, stands by ancient earthworks at the southwestern edge of the village, by a ford on the former pilgrim route from the Downs to Dorchester. The church holds services only on major feast days and a few other occasions. Weddings, funerals and baptisms are also held by arrangement. The parish is part of the Churn

Benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

, along with the neighbouring parishes of

Aston Tirrold Aston Tirrold is a village and civil parish at the foot of the Berkshire Downs about southeast of Didcot. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's populatio ...

Aston Upthorpe Aston Upthorpe is a village and civil parish about southeast of Didcot in South Oxfordshire. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The motion picture National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985 ...

Blewbury Blewbury is a village and civil parish at the foot of the Berkshire Downs section of the North Wessex Downs about south of Didcot, south of Oxford and west of London. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it t ...

, Hagbourne, and Upton. In a central position on the High Street, South Moreton has a

Strict Baptist Reformed Baptists, also called Particular Baptists, or Calvinist Baptists, are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation belief teached by John Calvin). The name "Reformed Baptist" dates from the latter part of the 20th century ...

chapel which has three services a week.

Character and amenities

There are a few large old houses on the High Street, some newer cottages at the east of the village, modern social housing to the west, and some 17th-century cottages between, many thatched. The largest house in South Moreton is The Hall, very close to the Huse. It is the last working farm in the village. Much

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 literatur ...

history of the village is recorded in ''The Rector's Book'', handwritten around 1905 from memories extending to 1845. It is now deposited in the Berkshire County Archives in Reading. South Moreton has a school, a community-owned pub, a church and a chapel.

School

South Moreton School, from the former village school, is a county

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. with an attached pre-School. South Moreton High Street

Community pub

The Crown Inn is the only surviving public house in the village. Formerly owned by

Wadworth Brewery Wadworth is a brewery company founded in 1875 in Devizes, Wiltshire, England, best known for their 6X beer brand. History Wadworth & Co. was founded in 1875 when Henry Wadworth purchased the Northgate Brewery in Devizes. It was not long before ...

, it was saved from demolition and redevelopment in the late 2010s by the South Moreton Community Benefit Society who lobbied the district council to designate the building as an

Asset of Community Value In England, an asset of community value (ACV) is land or property of importance to a local community which is subject to additional protection from development under the Localism Act 2011. Voluntary and community organisations, parish councils, ...

and reject a planning application to convert it to housing. The society fundraised to buy the pub, and reopened it in May 2019 as a community pub. At the time of the building of the Great Western Railway, the fit young "navvies" (originally "navigators") offered cash for lodgings, so many more of the village cottages were opened as public houses. The only one which still bears its name from that time is The Anchor on the road to the Astons, now extensively rebuilt.

Transport

Thames Travel Thames Travel is a bus operator serving the southern part of the English county of Oxfordshire. It is based in Didcot and is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group's Oxford Bus Company operation alongside Pearces Coaches, also of Oxfordshire, Carou ...

route 94 provides a term-time weekday service to South Moreton, linking the village with Didcot and

Didcot Parkway railway station Didcot Parkway is a railway station serving Didcot, a town in Oxfordshire, England. The station was opened as Didcot on 12 June 1844 and was renamed ''Didcot Parkway'' on 29 July 1985 by British Rail, to reflect its role as a park and ride rail ...

. Didcot Parkway, provides rail services to the rest of the country and has frequent 40-minute train services to and from London Paddington. Cholsey railway station is equally close and is served by the line between , and .

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

South Moreton Village website
{{authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire