Piddington
Church of St Nicholas, Piddington, Oxfordshire, in about 1900
Gravestones shown include those of Alfred & Ann Walker,
William & Sarah Parrott,
and another Mrs Sarah Parrott (wife of Edwin Parrott)
Kelly’s Directory for 1891 describes Piddington thus:
Piddington is a parish and village at the foot of Muswell Hill, on the borders of Bucks, about 5½ miles south-east from Bicester, the nearest railway station, and 12 north-east from Oxford, in the Mid division of the county, hundred of Bullingdon, petty sessional division of Ploughley, union and county court district of Bicester, rural deanery of Bicester, archdeaconry and diocese of Oxford.
The church of St. Nicholas is an edifice of stone, chiefly in the Decorated style, and consists of chancel, nave, south aisle and an embattled western tower containing 3 bells: the chancel has two very rich sedilia, and some remains of a canopy of similar character over the door, with highly wrought crockets and finials: on the north side is an elegant nice with figures of angels: the nave is separated from the aisle by an arcade of four arches on octagonal columns; the font is of the same form, and cup-shaped; the tower is Late and poor Perpendicular: there is a brass (loose) to Catherine, wife of Gilbert Hussay, of Oundle, 1613: the church plate includes a paten given in 1640 by William Ward, of Piddington, and a chalice and paten given by Jane White in 1683; there are 150 sittings. The register dates from the year 1653. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value from tithe rent-charge £300, with residence, in the gift of the parishioners, and held since 1878 by the Rev. Thomas Ivens.
C. Aubrey Aubrey esq. is lord of the manor; Earl Temple, Herbert Walsh esq. and Mrs. Snell and the trustees of the late Sir Henry Page Turner bart. are the principal landowners. The soil is principally clay; subsoil, clay. The land is pasture and arable. The area is 2,322 acres; rateable value, £2,540; the population in 1881 was 281.
Parish Clerk, Thomas Reynolds.
Letters through Thame arrive at 11 a.m. The nearest money order and telegraph office is at Brill
Wall Letter Box cleared at 3.25 pm.; Sundays 1 p.m.
National Schools, built in 1863, for 100 children; average attendance, 45: Walter Barrington, master
Carriers to: Bicester — Charles Heritage, Tues. & Fri; Oxford — John Stevens, Wed.
Andrew Mrs
Brown Mrs Elizabeth
Brown Thomas
Ivens Rev. Thomas [vicar]
Tredwell MrsCommercial
Brown Arthur & Charles, farmers
Busby James, carter
Burnell Thomas, farmer, Muswell Hill
Cave Harry, farmer
Chester William, baker
East Thomas, farmer, Chilling place
Freeman Richard (Mrs), farmer, Cowley’s farm
Gibbons John, farmer
Griffin Thomas, farmer
Gun Benjamin, beer retailer
Gun, John, shoe maker
Holt Thomas, farmer, Corball farm
May Thomas, farmer, Gravel Pit farm
Munday James, Seven Stars P.H.
Parrott Edwin, farmer
Sirett George, blacksmith & White Swan P.H.
Southam Mary Ann (Mrs.), farmer
Stevens John, shopkeeper
Sulston Andrew, farmer, Cowley’s farm
Sulston John, wheelwright
Walker Alfred, farmer
