Ewelme
| Ewelme | |
|---|---|
 Ewelme village seen from the south |
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 Ewelme
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| Ewelme shown within Oxfordshire | |
| Area | 11.50 km2 (4.44 sq mi) |
| Population | 1,048 (2011 Census) |
| • Density | 91/km2 (240/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SU6491 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Wallingford |
| Postcode district | OX10 |
| Dialling code | 01491 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Ewelme community website |
Ewelme is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, 2.5 miles (4 km) north-east of the market town of Wallingford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,048.
To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield, the north-eastern corner of which is within the parish boundary.
The solid geology is chalk overlying gault clay. The drift geology includes some gravel.
The toponym is derived from Ae-whylme, Old English for "waters whelming". It refers to the spring just north of the village, which forms the King's Pool that feeds the Ewelme Brook. The brook flows past Fifield Manor and then through nearby Benson before joining the River Thames. It formed the basis of Ewelme's watercress beds, which provided much local employment until well into the 20th Century. Before inclosure in 1863, there was no clear boundary between the parishes of Ewelme, Benson and Berrick Salome where they shared large open fields. Ewelme Parish was within the Hundred of Benson in 1086, later renamed the Hundred of Ewelme.
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk and his wife Alice de la Pole established the school and cloistered almshouses from their profits from the East Anglian wool trade in 1437. Alice was the daughter of Thomas Chaucer, Speaker of the House of Commons and granddaughter of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer. As lords of the manor, she and her father had both lived at Ewelme Palace which once stood in the village. The author Cynthia Harnett featured the school and church prominently in her children's novel The Writing on the Hearth. The action in the book is set around the time the school was built. Ewelme School is said to be the oldest school building in the UK still in use as a local authority school.
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