Freeland, Oxfordshire
| Freeland | |
|---|---|
 St Mary the Virgin parish church |
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 Freeland
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| Freeland shown within Oxfordshire | |
| Population | 1,560 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SP4112 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Witney |
| Postcode district | OX29 |
| Dialling code | 01993 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Freeland Village Website |
Freeland is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 1,560.
Freeland village began as part of the parish of Eynsham. Its toponym is derived from the common Old English word fyrth, meaning a wood. In 1150 the Abbot of Eynsham granted land called terra de Frithe to one Nicholas of Leigh. "Frith Wood" later evolved into "Thrift Coppice" and by 1241 several people were living there. Freeland developed from a medieval freehold, probably on the site of Elm Farm.
The freehold farm was called Frithlands by the 16th century and had been joined by at least two other cottages before 1650. there were something less than a dozen cottages at Freeland by 1762. The enclosure of the parish of Eynsham was resisted by rioting in the north of the parish around Barnard Gate and Freeland in 1780 but was eventually carried out in 1784.
The Roslyn house was established in 1738 and reputed to have been a 19th-century pugilists' meeting place called the "Wrostling House". Freeland had several public houses by the later part of the 18th century and one called the Royal Oak was recorded in 1836. The New Inn was built by William Merry in 1842, sold to Morrells in 1846 and for most of the 19th century was Freeland's only public house. Since 1974 it has been called the Oxfordshire Yeoman. It is now controlled by Greene King Brewery. It is the only public house in Freeland.
Freeland Lodge was built for the Taunton family in 1807. Most of the land on the west side of Wroslyn Road belonged to the family and was made into a park for the Lodge. The Lodge is now Freeland House Nursing Home. The Taunton family had sold the Lodge by 1875–76, when Marion Taunton had St Mary's House built as a home for retired governesses. In 1952 a Church of England convent of the Community of Saint Clare moved to the house and in 1960 a Gothic Revival chapel designed by the architect Henry Gordon was added.
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Wikipedia