Tubney is a small village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of Fyfield and Tubney, in the

Vale of White Horse The Vale of White Horse is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It Historic counties of England, was historically part of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Hors ...

district, in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England (in

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 1974). It lies about 3 miles (5 km) west of

Abingdon-on-Thames Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Thames in the Vale of the White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England. The Historic counties of England, historic county town of Berksh ...

, just south of the

A420 road The A420 is a road between Bristol and Oxford in England. Between Swindon and Oxford it is a primary route. Route Since the opening of the M4 motorway in the 1970s, the road has been in two sections. The first section begins on Old Market ...

from

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 ...

Faringdon Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. Its views extend to the River Thames in the north and the highest ground visib ...

, southwest of Oxford. In 1951 the parish had a population of 215.

History

Tubney was first mentioned in 955, when it was included in land granted to

Abingdon Abbey Abingdon Abbey (formally Abbey of Saint Mary) was a Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Abingdon-on-Thames in the modern county of Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. Situated near to the River Thames, it was founded in 675 AD and was ...

. The abbey retained the overlordship of the manor throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. In 1479, the manor was granted to

William Waynflete William Waynflete (11 August 1486), born William Patten, was Headmaster of Winchester College (1429–1441), Provost of Eton College (1442–1447), Bishop of Winchester (1447–1486) and Lord Chancellor of England (1456–1460). He founded Mag ...

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

, for the foundation of

Magdalen College Magdalen College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and one of the strongest academically, se ...

, his new college at

. The college has retained the manor ever since. The medieval settlement was over a mile northeast of the modern village, near the village of Appleton. The medieval settlement was deserted by the 16th century. The site is marked by the remains of a medieval moat at Tubney Manor Farm. Nothing remains of the medieval church, although its graveyard could still be seen in the early 20th century. Although there was no parish church, the parish had a parson, to whom Magdalen College was paying a stipend of £44 a year in the 17th century. In the 18th century it was reported that the incumbents were inducted under a hawthorn bush. The modern site of Tubney was settled from the 17th century. Tubney became a

in 1866. On 1 April 1952 the parish was merged with Fyfield to create the civil parish of "Fyfield and Tubney".

Notable buildings

Tubney House, a 17th-century

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, H ...

, is now the headquarters of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), part of the Department of Zoology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. A new church, designed by A. W. N. Pugin and dedicated to St Lawrence of Rome, was consecrated in 1847, with a font given by

Queen Adelaide Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (Adelaide Amelia Louise Theresa Caroline; 13 August 1792 – 2 December 1849) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Queen of Hanover from 26 June 1830 to 20 June 1837 as the wife of King W ...

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Oxfordshire Former civil parishes in Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse