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Headington (St. Andrew)

HEADINGTON (St. Andrew), a parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Bullingdon, county of Oxford, 1½ mile (E. N. E.) from Oxford; containing 1668 inhabitants. The parish comprises by computation 2000 acres, of which the greater portion is rich grazing-land; the soil is various, in some parts clay, and in others a sandy loam, producing good crops of grain, and the meadows on the banks of the Cherwell are luxuriantly rich. The substratum abounds with freestone of excellent quality, which has been extensively quarried, and has furnished materials for the erection of most of the colleges and other public buildings of Oxford. There are also beds of clay, and great quantities of bricks are manufactured. A spacious and wellconducted lunatic asylum has been established here, which is supported by subscription, and by fees paid by patients of a higher class, for whom superior accommodations are provided, and by others of inferior rank, to whom the terms of admission are rendered more moderate by a liberal appropriation of the profits arising from the wealthier patients. This benevolent institution originated with the governors of the Radcliffe Infirmary, and is under the patronage of the heads of houses in the university, and the nobility and gentry of the county. The living is a vicarage not in charge; net income, £118; patron, the Rev. T. H. Whorwood; impropriators, certain trustees. The church is an ancient structure, consisting of a nave and chancel, separated by a fine Norman arch: in the churchyard is a cross, enriched with tracery. An additional church has been commenced at Headington-Quarry. A school is endowed with the interest of £400, the gift of Mrs. Catherine Mather in 1805. A field, called Court Close, is said to be the site of one of the palaces of King Ethelred; a gateway and some walls were in existence till within the last 60 years. The poorlaw union of Headington comprises 22 parishes or places, 21 being in the county of Oxford, and one in that of Buckingham, and contains a population of 14,091: the workhouse was erected in 1834.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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