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The name Wootton derives from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning the township in the
wood Wood-tun. The origin of the village goes back nearly 1,000 years, when a
group of Saxon farmers made a clearing in the woodlands below Boars Hill, which
in those days covered all the lower slopes of the hill and much of the valley
below.
Until the 20th century, practically everyone in Wootton and Boars Hill made a
living from the fields which stretched from the parish boundary with Dry
Sandford to the foot of Boars Hill ridge. The heathland on the top of the ridge
was used for grazing sheep. Hay could not be grown satisfactorily in Wootton,
and had to be grown and fetched from meadowland near Donnington Bridge, and
carted up Hinksey Hill to Wootton. At the time of Domesday (1086) the population
was small, no more than 20 men and their families; even in the mid 19th century
it was only 300400.
There was no church in Wootton until the 14th century, when a chapel of ease to
the mother church at Cumnor was built. This chapel, and the parish of Wootton
and Boars Hill, remained dependent on Cumnor for practical purposes (eg burials)
until 1735, and the old track northwards over the fields of Wootton to Cumnor
(now a bridle path) is evidence of the route by which the people of Wootton once
had to carry their dead to Cumnor. It was not until 1885 that Wootton became a
separate parish.
During the 16th and 17th centuries there was a village pound for stray animals,
near the present day Waterworks Crossroads, and Whitecross may have been named
after the 16th century village constable, Thomas White. This was the era of
prosperity for the yeoman farmers of the village the families of Mayo,
Richards, Bond, Badcock, Broughton and Busfield. The community was largely self
supporting, growing their own food, making cloth from their sheep and the flax
cultivated in Flexfield, and brewing their own ale in the farmhouses. The
smithy was near the village green.
The turn of the 20th century saw great changes on Boars Hill, when many large
houses and gardens were built. Residents like Sir Arthur Evans, the
archaeologist, and Lord Berkeley transformed the appearance of Boars Hill with
their tree planting and development.
Sir Arthur Evans became interested in the local Scout troop and in 1914 built a
Scout hall within his 100 acre Youlbury estate, 70 of which were used for
scouting purposes. The army and airforce used the estate during the Second World
War and in 1947 the Scout HQ bought 36 acres.
The 1920's and 1930's saw the most startling changes in the village. Abingdon
airfield became operational in September 1932, and this, together with the
beginnings of the Amey Group development and the expanding motor car industry in
Oxford led to a rapid increase in the population, resulting in new housing and
shops on the southern and western edges of Wootton Village.
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