Somerton, Oxfordshire

Historical Description

Somerton, a parish in Oxfordshire, on the Oxford branch of the G.W.R., on which it has a station, 4 miles SE of Deddington. It has a post and money order office under Banbury; telegraph office, Fritwell. Acreage, 1977; population, 289. The manor belonged formerly to the Arsics, the Greys, the D' Eyncourts, and others, and belongs now to the Earl of Jersey. The Oxford Canal passes through the parish. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; gross value, £260 with residence. The church is a building of stone in mixed styles, ancient and good, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, N porch, and an embattled western tower. It contains some interesting tombs and memorials. Archbishop Juxon was rector.

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 Somerton from the following:

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

Land and Property

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

Maps

Online maps of Somerton 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.