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Situated about three miles from the town of Banbury on the A361 route to the
heart of the Cotswolds, Bloxham is one of the principal ironstone villages of
North Oxfordshire. The main road has not always followed its present route, but
formerly passed along Old Bridge Road, where the village war memorial now
stands, to the Elephant and Castle public house, where the old coaching arch
still forms the entrance to the present day car park.
Since the early 1960's there has been substantial growth to accommodate
newcomers who work in Banbury, Oxford and other towns farther afield. However,
in times past there were several farms, a brickyard, sawyard and blacksmith’s
forge to provide local employment. Ironstone was mined by men who were paid 7d
per ton and the record is said to stand at 14 tons hewn in four hours. The ore
was then pushed in trucks along to the village railway station, once said to be
one of the prettiest in Oxford. In the 1990s the latest company to occupy
premises on the A361 alongside the Sor Brook is Jaguar Sport, who will produce
the latest ‘state of the art’ sports car there.
A village with a range of schools, shops and other services vital to modern day
living naturally attracts growth. However, the heart of the old village,
designated as a conservation area, with picturesque cottages set in narrow
lanes, remains unspoilt by the development of new estates on the perimeter. St
Mary’s church dominates the village and its spire, said to have been
commissioned by Cardinal Wolsey, soars to a height of 198 ft.
To the south of the church is a small thatched building known as the Court
House. Built in 1689 on the site of the former Town House, it now serves as a
village hall. The building is owned by the Bloxham Feoffees who for centuries
have been the custodians and administrators of various village charities. In the
past this body of men has been responsible for roads, bridges, street lighting,
drainage and even the winding of the church clock. The Local Government Act of
1894 saw the creation of the parish council which assumed some of the Feoffees’
responsibilities, but they still retain an income to be distributed to those in
need. The undercroft of the Court House is home to the Bloxham Village Museum,
which is open on Sunday afternoons from April to October.
The village school was formerly housed in what is now part of the Old School and
Manor Hotel and one parish councillor can recall when coal fires burned in the
school room and Horlicks and milk was served to pupils at break time. Children
from the nearby hamlets of Milton and Milcombe walked to school whilst older
pupils going to Banbury were provided with bicycles by the education authority —
a healthier variation on the modern bus pass. Now a fleet of coaches ferries
children daily to the Warriner School from villages in an extensive catchment
area.
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