Bletchington or Bletchingdon, Oxfordshire

Historical Description

Bletchington or Bletchingdon, a parish in Oxfordshire. The parish lies near Akeman Street, the Oxford Canal, the river Cherwell, and is 6 miles SW by W of Bicester. It has a station about 1½ mile W of the village on the G.W.R., and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Oxford. Acreage, 2654; population, 649. Bletchington Park is the seat of Viscount Valentia; was partly rebuilt near the end of last century; and occupies the site of a house which was held for the king, and surrendered to the Parliament, in the Civil War. A striped marble is found here, which has been used in ornamental architecture. The church is a building of stone, chiefly in the Perpendicular style. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £279 with residence. Patron, Queen's College, Oxford. Dr Fairclough was a native. There is a Primitive Methodist chapel, and there are some endowed almshouses, and a farmhouse with medallion of Cromwell, at which he is said to have slept on the night before the battle of Bletchington.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

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.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Bletchington or Bletchingdon from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Blechingdon (St. Giles))

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.