Wardington
The above postcard of Wardington in the early 1900s was kindly supplied by Fred Copeland. The building on the left is the Hare & Hounds pub, while the thatcher at work on the right is Thomas Watts (born in 1861 and the great-grandfather of Fred’s wife).
Kelly’s Directory for 1891 describes Wardington thus:
Wardington is a parish, on the borders of Northamptonshire, 4½ miles north-north-east from Banbury, 2 miles from Cropredy station on the Oxford and Birmingham line of the Great Western railway, 28 north-east from Oxford and 12 south-west from Daventry, in the Northern division of the county, hundred, union and county court district of Banbury, Banbury and Bloxham petty sessional division, rural deanery of Deddington, and archdeaconry and diocese of Oxford.
The church of St. Mary Magdalene is a small but ancient and very plain building of stone, mostly of the Early English and Decorated periods, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, lady-chapel, vestry, south porch and a Perpendicular embattled western tower containing a fine peal of 6 bells and a set of chimes which play every three hours: the east widow of the chancel, which is good Early Decorated work, has been filled with very fine painted glass, by the Rev. E.H. Chamberlain, as a memorial: and there is a smaller memorial window on the north side of the chancel, which retains its piscina and a locker: the nave is of the 13th century, and has five small and low Early English arches on each side on round columns; the clerestory and roof are of the 15th century: in the south porch is a stoup; the font is octagonal, and dates from 1566: there are about 250 sittings.
The registers date from the year 1633, and one of the older volumes contains three memoranda of persons who were touched by King James II, at Banbury in 1689, for the distemper called “the King’s evil”; there is also this entry in another volume: “Anno Domini 1644, 30th June, buried in ye parish church of Wardington, in ye county of Oxon, John Burrell, Cornet to Colonel Richard Neville, which Mr. Burrell was slain the day before in a smart battaile against ye rebels. Ita testor Henr: Deane Capt: Regim:”. A line has been drawn through “in a smart battaile against ye rebels”, and in another hand, not indicating much education, but the contrary, “against the Parliament” is substituted, so making the entry run thus:- “which Mr. Burrell was slain the day before against the Parliament”. The battle here alluded to was that of Cropredy Bridge, fought on this side of the river Cherwell, in which the king himself was present; the battle issued in the surrender of Banbury to the king. The register book in which this entry of Mr. Burrell’s burial is contained is thrice headed on different pages of the book, “Anno regni, Elizabethe, 45”. “This register book beginneth in one heading, but beginneth in the other two, the firste daye of Januarye, 1603, and conteinethe the names of all such as are buryed withine the parish of Wardenton, or in the two other headings, all such as are baptised or marryedd within the churche of Wardenton”. The register book contains 6 entries of baptisms during the reign of Elizabeth, between the 1st of January, when the register commences, and the 24th of March, the date of the Queen’s decease.
The living is a vicarage, tithe rent-charge £13, with 84 acres of glebe, value £61, gross yearly value £250, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Oxford, and held since 1877 by the Rev. Dale John Welburn, of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. The old vicarage house, a mere cottage, was sold within the last 100 years, and the sum realized was laid out in obtaining some accession of ground to the vicarage house of Cropredy, of which parish Wardington was at that time a chapelry; and it was not until Wardington became a separate incumbency that the old house was replaced by the present vicarage.
There is a small Wesleyan chapel holding 100 persons.
There are various charities producing £6 10s. yearly for educational purposes and £7 10s. for distribution in money.
Richard Aubrey Cartwright esq. is lord of the manor. The principal landowners are R.A. Cartwright esq. D.L., J.P. of Edgcote House, the Rev. Thomas Chamberlain, John Edward Taylor Loveday esq. J.P., F.S.A., and the trustees of the late Col. Cartwright.
The soil is red loam; subsoil, clay and sandstone. The crops are general, with a larger proportion of pasture land than arable. The area is 2,572 acres; rateable value, £5,054; the population in 1881, including Wardington, Williamscote, and Coton, was 623.
Williamscote and Coton are hamlets in the parish of Wardington, on the borders of Northamptonshire. Both these hamlets share in the distributed charities of Wardington; Coton only in the educational charities; and Williamscote has also a yearly sum of £1 for distribution.
Parish Clerk, William Bonham
Post & M.O.O., S.B. & Annuity & Insurance Office: Ezer Walton, postmaster. Letters arrive from Banbury at 7.30am & 3pm; dispatched at 11am & 5.10pm. The nearest telegraph office is at Cropredy station
Wall Letter Box, Williamscote, cleared at 11.20am. & 5.20pm.
National School (mixed), erected, with master’s residence, in 1862, for 160 children; average attendance, 80; Ezer Walton, master; Miss Ellen McCormack, mistress
Carriers from Wardington to Banbury: Samuel Lines, to “Catherine Wheel”; John Mainwood, to “Leathern Bottle”, & George Davis, to “Angel”, Mon., Thurs., & Sat.
Wardington
Campbell Mrs. Douglas, Wardington house
Cartwright Aubrey Thomas Carter J.P.
Fisher William
Gunn Thomas Butler
Huntriss Charles
Judge Mrs
Loveday George J.P., Manor house
Rygate Reginald
Welburn Rev. Dale John [vicar]Commercial
Alcock John, baker
Basely William Bull, farmer
Bonham William, carpenter
Busby Robert, tailor
Cherry John, farmer, Fern hill
Coleman George, beer retailer
Cooknell Owen, coal dealer
Cooknell Samuel, hawker
Cowley Edwin, butcher
Davis George, carrier
Davis William, blacksmith
Eldridge John, farmer
Gasson William, farmer
Godfrey Henry, grocer
Haycock Edward, tailor
Job William, shoe maker
Jones Edwin, farmer, Hangland farm
Judge William Phillips, farmer
Letts Lavinia (Mrs.), baker & beer retailer
Lines Samuel, wheelwright & carrier
Lymath Emma (Mrs.), blacksmith
Mainwood David, saddler
Mainwood John, carrier
Miller Robert, Hare & Hounds P.H.
Peckover William, farmer
Prickett John, baker
Root Stephen, Wheatsheaf P.H.
Sabin James, farmer
Sabin James Eagles, farmer
Smith George, stone mason
Stacy Jonathan, farmer
Tebbey John, boot & shoe maker
Wilkins Walter, mason
Wilson Richard, carpenter & land surveyorWilliamscote & Coton
Boddington William, farmer, Williamscote
Campion Thomas, farmer, Coton
Eaves, George & Son, rope makers, Williamscote
Lord Robert, farmer, Williamscote