Little Faringdon

Little Faringdon is a village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Lechlade in neighbouring Gloucestershire. The 2001 Census recorded its population as 63.[1]

Little Faringdon

St Margaret's parish church
Little Faringdon
Location within Oxfordshire
Population63 (2001 Census)
OS grid referenceSP2201
Civil parish
  • Little Faringdon
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLechlade
Postcode districtGL7
Dialling code01367
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament

Manor

In the late Anglo-Saxon era Little Faringdon was part of a large estate that included Faringdon (formally Great Faringdon), from which it took its name. The manor was one of several in the area granted to the Cistercian Beaulieu Abbey as part of its Faringdon estate by a charter of 1204 or 1205.[2] Beaulieu held its estates until it had to surrender them to the Crown in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538.

The manor was then held by the Bourchier and Perrott families. In about 1860 it was sold to Charles Ponsonby, 2nd Baron de Mauley, whose descendants hold it today.[3]

Until the 20th century Little Faringdon was an estate village. In 1910 the lord of the manor owned almost all the houses.[4]

Local government

Little Faringdon was historically a township of the parish of Langford, which until the 13th century was in Oxfordshire. For the next six centuries it was an exclave of Berkshire, until the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 returned it to Oxfordshire. In 1864 Little Faringdon was made a separate ecclesiastical parish and in 1866 a separate civil parish.[4] Since the 1974 boundary changes it has been part of West Oxfordshire District.

The parish has a parish meeting, but no parish council.[5]

Parish church

The parish church is Norman, built in the 12th century as a dependent chapelry of Langford.[6] It has Norman lancet windows in the chancel.[7] In about 1200 the church was enlarged with the addition of a north aisle.[7] The arcade between the nave and north aisle is in a transitional style between Norman and Early English Gothic.[8] In the 14th century the porch and south door were added.[9] A south aisle seems to have been added at about the same time but has since been lost.[9] In about 1500 two Perpendicular Gothic clerestory windows were added to south side of the nave. The west window of the nave is also a late Medieval Perpendicular Gothic addition.[9]

The church became the parish church when Little Faringdon became a separate parish in 1864. The vicarage to the south of the church was designed by the Gothic Revival architect William Butterfield and completed in 1867.[9]

The church's original dedication is unknown. In 2000 it was dedicated to St Margaret of England. The church is a Grade II* listed building.[10] The parish is now part of the Benefice of Shill Valley and Broadshire, which includes also the parishes of Alvescot, Black Bourton, Broadwell, Broughton Poggs, Filkins, Holwell, Kelmscott, Kencot, Langford, Shilton and Westwell.[11]

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References
St Margaret's parish church: Norman arcade of south aisle
  1. "Area selected: West Oxfordshire (Non-Metropolitan District)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2010. In the 2011 census the population was not separately counted, but included with the neighbouring parish of Kelmscott."Area: Kelmscott (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  2. Page & Ditchfield 1907, pp. 81–82.
  3. "Texts in Progress: Manors and Estates" (PDF). Victoria County History of Oxfordshire.
  4. "Texts in Progress: Topography, Population and Settlement" (PDF). Victoria County History of Oxfordshire.
  5. "Town and parish council contact details" (PDF). West Oxfordshire District Council. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  6. "Texts in Progress: Religious History" (PDF). Victoria County History of Oxfordshire.
  7. Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 684.
  8. Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, pp. 684–685.
  9. Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 685.
  10. Historic England. "Little Faringdon Church (Dedication Unknown) (1283247)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  11. Archbishops' Council (2010). "Benefice of Shill Valley and Broadshire". Church of England. Archived from the original on 26 December 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2013.

Sources
St Margaret's parish church: Perpendicular Gothic piscina

Media related to Little Faringdon at Wikimedia Commons

  • St Margaret's parish church: paired lancet windows in Norman opening
  • St Margaret's parish church: west arch of south arcade, with corbelled respond on west side
  • St Margaret's parish church: blocked Norman north doorway in north aisle
  • St Margaret's parish church: monument to Margaret Vizard, died 1833
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