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Great Coxwell lies two miles south-west of Faringdon, and before the boundary
reorganisation in 1974 was in the county of Berkshire.
Evidence of Mesolithic, Neolithic, Iron Age and Romano-British occupation has
been found in the form of flints and pottery sherds (broken pieces) scattered in
and around the village.
Most of the surrounding farm land is owned by the National Trust, as are the
Great Barn and Court House, which are also maintained by the Trust.
A Neolithic site was recently found near the Iron Age hill fort of Badbury Hill,
part of which is planted by the Forestry Commission. There are lovely walks
around it, and a new route encompasses the Great Barn, Court House and thence
the village.
The Great Barn and parts of the Court House are all that remain of the 13th
century Grange, once part of Beaulieu Abbey. The Great Barn, built about 1250,
is 152 ft long, 44 ft wide and 48 ft high, and is described in a leaflet
available on site. It is an impressive building and is open to the public at all
times, although the nearby Court House is not. A sit-down lunch for over 250
people was held in the barn in celebration of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in
1977.
The main village, most of it a conservation area, stretches to the south of the
barn for about one mile down the main street, once called Horsleaze Lane.
The older properties are built mainly of corallian limestone rubble (the local
stone, quarried from behind the village) and there are some 19th century
brick-built cottages. The original roofing was of Cotswold tiles or thatch, in
later years replaced by slate, corrugated iron or modern clay tiles. The
majority of new building is post-1960.
Little more than 50 years ago the village had a church, chapel, school, public
house, reading room, shops, a butcher, a seamstress, farmers and a laundress.
Now only the church, parish reading room (opened 12th December 1901) and a small
part-time sub-post office remain. The school closed in 1965, the Royal Oak
public house in the early 1960s and the last shop in 1987.
The small 12th century church of St Giles, with a 14th century tower, is plain
and simple inside but has atmosphere and feels well cared for. Note the brasses
of the Mores (Morys) family, circa 1509 and the kneelers, all worked by village
ladies in the early 1970s. The church registers from 1557 are now in the county
archives at Reading but copies remain with the vicar. The churchyard is not now
used for burials and a survey during the summer of 1989 identified over 75
different species of wild flowers and grasses. If seen in June or July it gives
the impression of a pre-war meadow. From the south side of the churchyard there
is a distant view of the Uffington White Horse.
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