Chesterton, Oxfordshire
| Chesterton | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's parish church |
|
 Chesterton
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| Chesterton shown within Oxfordshire | |
| Area | 13.20 km2 (5.10 sq mi) |
| Population | 850 (2011 Census) |
| • Density | 64/km2 (170/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SP5621 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bicester |
| Postcode district | OX26 |
| Dialling code | 01869 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Chesterton is a village and civil parish on Gagle Brook, a tributary of the Langford Brook in north Oxfordshire. The village is about 1 1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) southwest of the market town of Bicester. The village has sometimes been called Great Chesterton to distinguish it from the hamlet of Little Chesterton, about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) to the south in the same parish. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 850.
About 1 3⁄4 miles (2.8 km) west of the village, by the crossroads of Akeman Street and the former Oxford – Brackley main road (now the B430) is a prehistoric tumulus.
Chesterton village is on the course of Akeman Street, the Roman road between Watling Street and Cirencester, about 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of Alchester Roman Town. The road forms part of the southwest boundary of the parish. When the M40 motorway was extended from Wheatley to Birmingham in 1988–91, the motorway cut through Akeman Street about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) west of the village. The Roman layers of the road were exposed about 2.6 feet (0.8 m) below Akeman Street's modern surface. The Romans had metalled the road with brashy subsoil quarried from roadside ditches, had subsequently patched the surface, and finally resurfaced the road over a layer of 8 inches (0.2 metres) of soil and detritus.
Just before the Norman conquest the manor of Chesterton was held by Wigod, a Saxon thegn who was a kinsman of King Edward the Confessor. The Domesday Book records that by 1086 it was held by Miles Crispin, the son-in-law of Robert D'Oyly. Crispin had connections with Wallingford Castle, and Chesterton remained part of the feudal Honour of Wallingford until the 13th century. In 1272 it was sold to Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall who founded Ashridge Priory in Hertfordshire in 1283 and granted the manor of Chesterton to the priory in 1285. Ashridge Priory was suppressed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and in 1540 Sir Thomas Pope bought the manor of Chesterton.
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Wikipedia