Hook Norton, Oxfordshire

Historical Description

Hook Norton, a village and a parish in Oxfordshire. The village stands' on a branch of the river Swere, 2 miles E from the boundary with Warwickshire, and 5 NE from Chipping Norton, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Banbury, and a station on the G.W.R. Florence of Worcester calls it Eegia Villa, " a royal town or village." The parish comprises 5495 acres; population, 1265. The manor was given by William the Conqueror to Robert de Oily, and was held in 1285 by Ela, Countess of Warwick, on the tenure of " carving before the king, and to have the knife with which she carved." Remains of an ancient British camp are near Hook Norton Lodge. A battle between the Danes and the English was fought at or very near Hook Norton in 917. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £207 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Oxford. The church is ancient but good, shows interesting features, has an imposing tower, underwent repair in 1845 at a cost of £2500, and contains a curious font of the 12th century. There are Baptist, Wesleyan, and Primitive Methodist chapels. Brewing and lime-burning are carried on. There are some small charities. The hamlet of Sonthrop is included in this parish.

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 Hook Norton from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Norton, Hook (St. Peter))

Land and Property

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

Maps

Online maps of Hook Norton are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

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.