Work in Progress

This volume will cover a swathe of west Oxfordshire rural parishes from Chastleton on the west (projecting into Gloucestershire) through to Spelsbury, Enstone, and Kiddington on the east. To their north lies the market town of Chipping Norton (covered in VCH Oxfordshire XXI, published in 2024), while to the south lay Wychwood forest (covered in VCH Oxfordshire XIX, published 2019).

The parishes occupy a typical Cotswold landscape of undulating hills cut by stream and river valleys, supporting the mixed sheep-corn farming characteristic of the area. Several contain large landscaped parks focused on grand country houses, notably at Chastleton, Cornwell, Sarsden, Kiddington, and Ditchley (straddling the Spelsbury-Enstone boundary). Chipping Norton and other nearby towns provided a ready market, and several places had early links with Wychwood, some of them formerly including detached woodland there, and enjoying associated common rights. Landscaping at Sarsden was associated with Humphry Repton and his son George, while at nearby Cornwell the architect Clough Williams-Ellis (of Portmeirion fame) 'reconditioned' the village 'virtually as a stage set' in 1938-9. Chadlington, formerly a detached chapelry of Charlbury, gave its name to the triple hundred within which the parishes lay.

Subject to continued funding, we hope to have the volume in draft by late 2025 for publication in 2026 or 2027, leaving just one volume needed to complete the VCH Oxfordshire series.

 

Places included: Chadlington; Chilson (with Shorthampton and Walcot); Chastleton; Churchill; Cornwell; Enstone (with Cleveley, Gagingwell, Lidstone, Radford); Kiddington (with Asterleigh); Kingham; Sarsden; Spelsbury (with Ditchley).

VCH Oxfordshire - Progress Map

VCH Oxfordshire - progress to 2023 PDF 428.13 KB

Chastleton

Chastleton - Landscape, Settlement and Buildings, by Simon Draper PDF 1 MB
Chastleton - Landownership, by Simon Draper PDF 1.22 MB
Chastleton - Economic History, by Simon Draper PDF 588.06 KB
Chastleton - Social History, by Simon Draper PDF 798.78 KB
Chastleton - Religious History, by Simon Draper PDF 1.25 MB
Chastleton - Local Government, by Simon Draper PDF 147.25 KB

Churchill

Churchill - Landscape, Settlement and Buildings by Mark Page PDF 1.02 MB
Churchill - Landownership by Mark Page PDF 332 KB
Churchill - Economic History by Mark Page PDF 1.03 MB
Churchill - Social History by Mark Page PDF 952.42 KB
Churchill - Religious History by Mark Page PDF 1.53 MB
Churchill - Local Government by Mark Page PDF 136.77 KB

Cornwell

Cornwell - Introduction, by Simon Draper PDF 1.09 MB
Cornwell - Landownership, by Simon Draper PDF 602.08 KB
Cornwell - Economic History, by Simon Draper PDF 829.53 KB
Cornwell - Social History, by Simon Draper PDF 654.25 KB
Cornwell - Religious History, by Simon Draper PDF 1.02 MB
Cornwell - Local Government, by Simon Draper PDF 113.03 KB

Enstone

Enstone - Landscape, Settlement and Buildings, by Stephen Mileson PDF 1023.88 KB
Enstone - Landownership, by Stephen Mileson PDF 624.88 KB
Enstone - Economic History, by Stephen Mileson PDF 1.06 MB
Enstone - Social History, by Stephen Mileson PDF 950.67 KB
Enstone - Religious History, by Stephen Mileson PDF 1.08 MB
Enstone - Local Government, by Stephen Mileson PDF 207.85 KB

Kiddington with Asterleigh

Kiddington with Asterleigh - Introduction - Landscape and Settlement by Simon Townley PDF 1.22 MB
Kiddington with Asterleigh - Landownership by Simon Townley PDF 517.89 KB
Kiddington with Asterleigh - Economic History by Simon Townley PDF 548.24 KB
Kiddington with Asterleigh - Social History by Simon Townley PDF 544 KB
Kiddington with Asterleigh - Religious History by Simon Townley PDF 801.25 KB
Kiddington with Asterleigh - Local Government by Simon Townley PDF 133.87 KB

Sarsden

Sarsden - Landscape, Settlement, and Buildings PDF 1.09 MB
Sarsden - Landownership PDF 340.76 KB
Sarsden - Economic History PDF 593.39 KB
Sarsden - Social History PDF 378.23 KB
Sarsden - Religious History PDF 559.49 KB
Sarsden - Local Government PDF 125.21 KB

Spelsbury

Spelsbury - Landscape, Settlement and Buildings, by Stephen Mileson PDF 962.77 KB
Spelsbury - Landownership, by Stephen Mileson PDF 821.85 KB
Spelsbury - Economic History, by Stephen Mileson PDF 685.22 KB
Spelsbury - Social History, by Stephen Mileson PDF 923.41 KB
Spelsbury - Religious History, by Stephen Mileson PDF 706.95 KB
Spelsbury - Local Government, by Stephen Mileson PDF 160.5 KB