Heyford, Warren, or Upper (St. Mary)

HEYFORD, WARREN, or UPPER (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bicester, hundred of Ploughley, county of Oxford, 7 miles (N. E. by N.) from Woodstock; containing 337 inhabitants. Warine Fitzgerald was owner of the parish about the year 1200, whence the name Warren-Heyford. His descendant, Sir Robert L'Isle, sold the manor and the patronage of the living, in 1380, to William of Wykeham, who settled them as part of the endowment of New College, Oxford, by which establishment they are still retained. The parish is situated east of the river Cherwell, and comprises 1608a. 3r. 39p., including 35 acres of small occupations, roads, water, and waste: the soil is chiefly a productive loam, under which lies a good vein of limestone; and there are some rich meadows in the valley of the Cherwell, which river turns a corn-mill. An inclosure act was passed in 1841. The Oxford and Birmingham canal intersects the parish, and the Oxford and Rugby railway crosses the north-eastern part. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 16. 0½.; net income, £537; patron, the Warden and Fellows of New College. The church has a tower strengthened by buttresses, on which are the arms of William of Wykeham, and consists of a modern nave and a chancel, with part of a south aisle to the latter, forming the sepulchral chapel of the family of Myrry, who occupied the ancient manorhouse near the church. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. About twenty acres of ground are allotted to trustees for the benefit of the poor, and are under spade husbandry; about four acres are recreation ground. In the eastern part of the parish are the remains of an encampment.