Shirburn
Coordinates: 51°39′36″N 0°59′28″W / 51.660°N 0.991°W
| Shirburn | |
_All_Saints_Church_-_geograph.org.uk_-_69744.jpg) All Saints' parish church |
|
 Shirburn
Shirburn shown within Oxfordshire |
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| Population | 103 (2001 census)[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SU6995 |
| Civil parish | Shirburn |
| District | South Oxfordshire |
| Shire county | Oxfordshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Henley-on-Thames |
| Postcode district | OX39 |
| Dialling code | 01844 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Henley |
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Shirburn is a village and civil parish about 6 miles (10 km) south of Thame in Oxfordshire. The eastern part of the parish is in the Chiltern Hills.
Manor
Shirburn is a spring line settlement at the foot of the Chiltern escarpment. The Domesday Book of 1086 records that the manor of Shirburn was divided equally between Robert D'Oyly and his brother in arms Roger d'Ivry.[2]
The building of Shirburn Castle was licensed in 1377.[3][4] Shirburn Castle became a centre of Recusancy throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.[2]
Parish church
Shirburn had a parish church by the 12th century. Between 1146 and 1163 the church seems to have been given to Dorchester Abbey.[2] The oldest part of the present Church of England parish church of All Saints is the bell tower, which seems to be Norman except for the upper stage, which is 18th-century.[2] In the 13th century the north and south aisles and arcades were added to the nave.[2] In 1876 the architect T.H. Wyatt restored the building at the expense of the Earl of Macclesfield.[3] In 1943 All Saints' parish was combined with that of St. Mary's, Pyrton. The combined parish is now part of the Benefice of Icknield.[5] All Saints' church was made redundant in 1995 and now belongs to the Churches Conservation Trust.[5]
A parish school had been established by 1808. By 1871 it was described as occupying a cottage that had been converted into a schoolhouse. In 1946 it was reorganised as a junior school, and older pupils went to school in Chinnor. In 1950 Shirburn school was closed.[2]
In 1869-72 the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway was built through the parish. Its terminus was 0.5 miles (800 m) south of Shirburn in the parish of Watlington. The Great Western Railway took over the line in 1883. British Railways withdrew passenger services in 1957 and closed the line to freight traffic in 1961.[6]
References
- ^ "Area: Shirburn CP (Parish): Parish Headcounts". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Lobel 1969, pp. 178–198.
- ^ a b Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 761.
- ^ ecastles.co.uk: Shirburn Castle
- ^ a b The Benefice of Icknield: All Saints Church, Shirburn
- ^ Oppitz 2000, p. 22.
Sources
- Lobel, Mary D, ed. (1969). A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 8: Lewknor and Pyrton Hundreds. Victoria County History. pp. 178–198.
- Oppitz, Leslie (2000). Lost Railways of the Chilterns. Newbury: Countryside Books. pp. 20–23. ISBN 1-85306-643-5.
- Sherwood, Jennifer; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974). Oxfordshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 761–763. ISBN 0-14-071045-0.
External links
Media related to Shirburn at Wikimedia Commons
