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Long Wittenham, a Thameside village of a thousand people, sits on a quiet yet
historic site. Archaeological remains ranging from a mammoths tooth to an Iron
Age shield, from a Viking age bracelet to a Roman brooch, have been found in the
parish, in addition to a complete Iron Age village and a large Saxon cemetery.
It takes its name from Witta, presumably a minor Saxon chief, who settled here
with his people in the 5th century. The village cross, the base of which dates
from the 7th century, by tradition marks the spot where St Birinus preached and
converted the pagan Saxons to Christianity.
Walter Giffard, the 3rd Earl of Buckingham, rebuilt the church in 1120. Giffard
built his church of white stone from Caen, in the Norman style; it was enlarged
towards the end of the 12th century by the addition of the south aisle. The lead
font, one of the few extant in England, was installed about the same time. The
end of the 13th century saw the carving of the smallest effigy in England; that
of a Crusader knight. This was possibly commissioned by Joan of Acre, second
daughter of King Edward I, in memory of her husband Gilbert de Clare Gilbert
the Red Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, who had died in 1295.
There is a legend that during the Civil War Cromwell sat under the mulberry tree
in the Old Farmhouse (the tree still stands); what is true is that the
churchwardens, fearing that Cromwells soldiers would melt down the lead font
for bullets, surrounded it with a wooden packing case. There it remained hidden
for 200 years, when it was rediscovered and restored in 1839. The wood from the
case was used to build the small table which now sits just inside the church.
From 1322 Exeter College, Oxford had the right to name the vicar of St Marys
church, which included the right to gather the tithes. From 1554 the lord of the
manor was St Johns College, Oxford. Over the succeeding centuries more and more
of the parish was purchased by the college, and certainly it is only in the
second half of the 20th century that the majority of the residents of the parish
have owned their own homes.
The two colleges, and other large landowners, forced the enclosure of the parish
in 180912, and the remainder of the century saw the agricultural labourers
suffering chronic poverty. Respite was apparently found in the pubs, the church
and importantly, the Primitive Methodist chapel, founded sometime before 1829.
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