Steeple Barton is a

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 ...

and scattered settlement on the

River Dorn The River Dorn is a river in Oxfordshire, England, that is a tributary of the River Glyme. The river rises from the limestone uplands of north Oxfordshire, about east of Chipping Norton , and flows southeast past Little Tew; through Sandford St. ...

West Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire is a local government district in northwest Oxfordshire, England, including towns such as Woodstock, Burford, Chipping Norton, Charlbury, Carterton and Witney, where the council is based. Area The area is mainly rural downla ...

, about east of

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cotswolds in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 201 ...

, a similar distance west of

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England, north-west of Oxford. The town is a notable tourist attraction due to the Bicester Village shopping centre. The historical town centre � ...

and south of

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

. Most of the parish's population lives in the village of Middle Barton, about northwest of the settlement of Steeple Barton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,523. Much of the parish's eastern boundary is formed by the former turnpike between

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and Banbury, now classified the A4260 road. The minor road between Middle Barton and

Kiddington Kiddington is a village in the civil parish of Kiddington with Asterleigh, in the West Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The village is on the River Glyme, just north of the A44 road between Woodstock and Chipping ...

forms part of the western boundary. Field boundaries form most of the rest of the boundaries of the parish.

Archaeology

Near Barton Lodge are two Hoar Stones that are the remains of

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

chamber tomb A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave (burial), grave. Built from Rock (geology), rock or som ...

Manor

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 ...

of 1086 records that a manor of 10 hides at Barton was one of many English manors under the

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

overlordship of

Odo Odo is a name typically associated with historical figures from the Middle Ages and before. Odo is etymologically related to the names Otho and Otto, and to the French name Odon and modern version Eudes, and to the Italian names Ottone and Udo; a ...

Bishop of Bayeux The Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is a ...

. Late in the 12th century Thomas St John had a set of

fish pond A fish pond or fishpond is a controlled pond, small artificial lake or retention basin that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, for recreational fishing, or for ornamental purposes. Fish ponds are a classical g ...

s made that were fed by the River Dorn. Their remains are visible about north of the parish church. The former

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 ...

at Sesswell's Barton was built in about 1570 for John Dormer and altered for the

recusant Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

Ralph Sheldon in 1678–79. The house was remodelled between 1849 and about 1862 to

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture, also known as mock Tudor in the UK, first manifested in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture, in rea ...

designs by the architect SS Teulon. In about 1860 it was renamed Barton Abbey on the false assumption that the Augustinian

Osney Abbey Osney Abbey or Oseney Abbey, later Osney Cathedral, was a house of Augustinians, Augustinian canons at Osney in Oxfordshire. The site is south of the modern Botley Road, down Mill Street, Oxford, Mill Street by Osney Cemetery, next to the rail ...

had a cell here. The house was altered again in either the 1890s or the early years of the 20th century. Philip Constable of

Everingham Everingham is a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is west of Market Weighton town centre and south of Pocklington town centre. The village lies in a civil parish also officially called "Everingham" by the Office for Natio ...

, Yorkshire was a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

who was connected with Steeple Barton and was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1642. After the Parliamentarians won the war, they deprived him of all his estates. He died in 1644 and is buried in the south aisle of St Mary's parish church. Like the Sheldons, later members of the Constable family were recusants, including Humphrey Constable who was reported as such in 1663 and 1682 and Michael Constable who was reported in 1706.

Parish church

SteepleBarton StMary theVirgin drawing southeast

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 ...

Saint Mary the Virgin Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

had been built by 1190, by which time it had been given to Osney Abbey. Little of the original building is recognisable except the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

. The south

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, ...

was added in the 14th century. Its surviving original features include the south porch and five-

bay 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, ci ...

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

, both of which are

Decorated Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

. 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 ...

west tower was added in the 15th century. 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 ...

was rebuilt and 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-type ...

and south aisle drastically restored in 1850–51 under the direction of the Gothic Revival architect J.C. Buckler. The tower has a

ring (The) Ring(s) 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 Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

of five bells. Richard Keene of

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

cast the treble and second bells in 1698. Charles and George Mears 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 ...

cast the remainder including the tenor bell in 1851. St Mary's Vicarage was designed by SS Teulon and built in 1856. St Mary's was a dependent chapelry of

Sandford St. Martin Sandford St Martin is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Oxfordshire about east of Chipping Norton and about south of Banbury. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 209. Ge ...

until the 16th century. In 1960 St Mary's

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 ...

was merged with that of Westcott Barton, and in 1977 this united benefice was combined with the parishes of

Duns Tew Duns Tew is an English village and civil parish about south of Banbury in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 478. With nearby Great Tew and Little Tew, Duns Tew is one of the three villages known collectively as ...

and Sandford St Martin. In March 2015 the benefice was merged with that of

Over Worton Over Worton is a Hamlet (place), hamlet in the civil parish of Worton (civil parish), Oxfordshire, Worton, in the West Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England, about south of Banbury and east of Chipping Norton. In 1931 the ...

and

Nether Worton Nether Worton is a Hamlet (place), hamlet in the civil parish of Worton (civil parish), Oxfordshire, Worton, in the West Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is about south of Banbury and east of Chipping Norton. In ...

to form the Benefice of Westcote Barton with Steeple Barton, Duns Tew and Sandford St Martin and Over with Nether Worton, also called the Barton Benefice.

Social and economic history

Anne Greene Anne Greene (1659 or ) was an English domestic servant who was accused of committing infanticide in 1650. She is known for surviving her attempted execution by hanging, being revived by physicians from the University of Oxford. Early life Gr ...

was born in the parish in 1628 and later became a domestic servant at the manor house in the neighbouring parish of

. In 1650 she was convicted of

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...

on apparently doubtful evidence, was hanged at

Oxford Castle Oxford Castle is a large, partly ruined medieval castle on the western side of central Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. Most of the original moated, wooden motte and bailey castle was replaced in stone in the late 12th or early 13th century and ...

but survived and was pardoned. The agricultural lands of Steeple Barton and Westcott Barton were worked as a single unit. An

open field system The open-field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acr ...

of farming prevailed in the two parishes until an

inclosure act The inclosure acts created legal property rights to land previously held in common in England and Wales, particularly open fields and common land. Between 1604 and 1914 over 5,200 individual acts enclosing public land were passed, affecting 28,0 ...

for their

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

s, the ( 35 Geo. 3. c. ''19'' ), was implemented in 1796. The main road between Bicester and

Enstone Enstone is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in England, about east of Chipping Norton and north-west of Oxford city. The civil parish, one of Oxfordshire's largest, consists of the villages of Church Enstone and Neat Ensto ...

traverses the parish east–west. It was turnpiked in 1793, disturnpiked in 1876 and is now classified the B4030 road.

Sport and leisure

Steeple Barton parish has a

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

club, Middle Barton F.C., that was founded in 1928. Its home ground is at Middle Barton Sports and Social Club on Worton Road. The parish also has a tennis club, a bowls club and a drama group.

Notable people

scullery maid In great houses, scullery maids were the lowest-ranked and often the youngest of the female domestic servants and acted as assistants to a kitchen maid. Description The scullery maid reported (through the kitchen maid) to the cook or chef. Alo ...

who survived her own hanging in 1650 * W.G. Hoskins, author of ''

The Making of the English Landscape ''The Making of the English Landscape'' is a 1954 book by the English local historian William George Hoskins. The book is also the introductory volume in a series of the same name which deals with the English Landscape county by county. It i ...

'', lived in Steeple Barton

References

Sources and further reading

* * * *

External links

Steeple Barton Parish CouncilMiddle Barton Football Club
{{Authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire West Oxfordshire District