Godstow, Oxfordshire

Historical Description

Godstow, a place in Wolvercott parish, Oxfordshire, on the river Isis, 3½ miles NNW of Oxford. A nunnery was founded here in 1138 by Editha, wife of Sir W. Launcelne, and is now represented by only some low walls and crumbling windows, overgrown with ivy. The " Fair Rosamond " was educated in this nunnery, was first met here by Henry I., and was buried beneath the high altar. Hence says an old ballad-" Her body then they did entombe,
When life was fled away,
At Godstowe, near to Oxforde towne,
As may be seen this daye."

Church Records

Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Oxfordshire Family History Society and Oxfordshire History Centre, have images of the Parish Registers for Oxfordshire online.

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Oxfordshire is available online

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Oxfordshire newspapers online:

• Oxford Journal
• Banbury Advertiser
• Banbury Guardian
• Oxford University and City Herald
• Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette
• Faringdon Advertiser and Vale of the White Horse Gazette
• Oxford Times
• Banbury Beacon
• Ossett Observer

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Oxfordshire, 1566, 1574 &1634 are available on the Heraldry page.