DUNS TEW
Duns Tew parish lies just south of Deddington
and 16 miles (26 km.) north of Oxford. The
parish is almost square, and comprises c. 1,750 a.
(708 ha.), (fn. 1) bridging the junction of the north
Oxfordshire claylands and the limestone belt to
the south. The northern boundary is formed by a
brook, and the eastern boundary with North
Aston partly follows the Oxford-Banbury road
(an ancient ridgeway) and a small stream known
in the 13th century as Merewellake; (fn. 2) part of the
southern boundary with Steeple Barton follows
Cockley Brook. Otherwise the eastern and
southern boundaries, together with the whole of
the western boundary with Worton, follow field
boundaries. By 1229, though there was uncertainty whether tithe from an area near the
boundary should be paid to Duns Tew or North
Aston, the line between the two parishes was
accepted and known. (fn. 3)
The centre and south-east parts of the parish
are fairly level, the ground falling only from c.
150 m. in the south-east to c. 140 m. at the village
near the centre. To the north and south-west the
ground descends to c. 90 m. and c. 120 m.
respectively at the watercourses marking the
parish boundaries there; the fall to the north is
interrupted by the ridge on which Hill Farm
stands. The North Aston fault runs south-west to
north-east, passing through the village and
separating the oolitic limestone and sands in the
south from the lias clay and marlstone of the
north. (fn. 4) Springs are especially numerous on
the clays, and, known as 'wells', they have, with
the streams or 'lakes' flowing from them, greatly
influenced field names.
The village is connected by lanes with Over
Worton, Ilbury in Deddington, North Aston,
Middle Aston, and Steeple Barton. The road
west was known in the 15th century and probably
earlier as Churchway, perhaps implying the
earlier dependence of Duns Tew on a mother
church at Great Tew. It was also known as
Chipping Norton way. (fn. 5) Ilbury Lane, mentioned
in the 17th century, crossed the parish boundary
at Ilbury Bridge. (fn. 6) The Barton road, also known
as Woodway, was probably part of a way into
Wychwood forest; before inclosure in 1794 it ran
for most of the way west of its present course.
Witney way, a bridleway, runs south-west from
the White Horse in the village, crossing Cockley
Brook by a small bridge, perhaps formerly a ford,
at a place known as Witney stone. It ran on to join
a network of roads at Cuckold's Holt, and
perhaps with Horseway, which ran north-east
from the village to the Oxford-Banbury road,
carrying traffic between Deddington and other
markets. Cow Lane, beginning c. 200 yd. west of
Horseway, was used to drive cattle to pasture on
Down End common; it is discernible as a broad
grassy track below the modern Hill Farm Lane.
Two roads known as the Woodstock ways
branched south from Woodway, presumably to
join bridleways through Steeple Barton to
Wootton and Woodstock. (fn. 7) Both roads were
suppressed at inclosure, as was Mill way, which
ran north of the Middle Aston road, apparently
to join the road past Grange Farm, in Middle
Aston, to Somerton. A carrier operated from the
village in the later 17th century, and by the 19th
there were regular services to local towns and
further afield. (fn. 8) The nearest railway station was
at Somerton, opened in 1855. (fn. 9)
A prehistoric double-ditched enclosure, visible
from the air, lies south-east of the village towards
the boundary with North Aston and Middle
Aston. (fn. 10) Romano-British finds south-west of
Ilbury Bridge were probably connected with
Ilbury Camp just to the north, and no evidence of
settlement in Duns Tew in that period has been
found. (fn. 11) A 9th-century brooch found in the
village is the earliest evidence of Anglo-Saxon
settlement. (fn. 12) The name Tew has been tentatively
interpreted as referring to a ridge, though what
ridge is uncertain, and Duns is thought to be
from an Anglo-Saxon called Dunn, presumably a
landholder and possibly post-Conquest since the
compound name has not been found before the
13th century. (fn. 13)
Duns Tew, 1722
Twenty-five people were recorded in Duns
Tew in 1086, on four estates. (fn. 14) In 1279 the
tenants, not all of them living at Duns Tew,
numbered 53. (fn. 15) As elsewhere in the region,
population fell in the 14th century; at the time of
the Black Death the corn belonging to one estate
was left standing in the fields, and the land was
long left untilled. (fn. 16) A recovery in the later 14th
century is suggested by the 91 adults who were
assessed in 1377 for the poll tax. (fn. 17) Indicators of
population in the 17th century are conflicting: in
1642 the Protestation Oath was taken by 77
people over 18, but the hearth tax of 1662 listed
only 14 households. (fn. 18) It is likely that the latter
figure omits many households excluded by
poverty, and the higher total is supported by the
269 conformists and nonconformists returned in
1676. (fn. 19) The population seems to have remained
fairly stable in the 18th century, increasing,
according to the incumbents' estimates, only
from c. 50 to c. 60 families. (fn. 20) There were 318
people in 1801, rising rapidly by 1821 to 460, a
level retained until 1851 when there began a
prolonged decline which reduced the population
to 188 in 1921. The decline was reversed after the
Second World War as new families began to
move into the village, and the population rose by
1951 to 273 and by 1971 to 393, the highest level
for a century. (fn. 21)
Indications of a small deserted settlement were
discovered in 1981 c. 400 yd. south-east of Hill
Farm, beside the stream where the medieval mill
stood. On clay and in a sheltered position, the site
contrasts with that of Duns Tew village. There is
no suggestion in surviving records of a second
township in the parish. The site is at the southern
edge of an early inclosure of c. 100 a., which is
less likely to have been a separate small area
of open-field land belonging to a deserted
village than a simple inclosure of common. (fn. 22) The
medieval fields of Duns Tew as recorded from
the early 14th century seem clearly to have
centred on the present village, and either the
abandoned settlement had no fields of its own or
they had been absorbed when Duns Tew's fields
were laid out and divided into a West end and a
Down end. (fn. 23) The establishment of two separate
sets of fields in the parish was reflected in the
village itself, which was similarly divided between
west and east. The line of division probably ran
along the western side of the Great Orchard west
of Duns Tew Manor, turning east along the
village street and then south out of the village.
Separate officials were appointed for each side of
the township, and in 1661 the inhabitants of the
west end were ordered to drain the village street
there. (fn. 24) Each end had its own pound, one just
south of the village, the other north of the
junction of Churchway and Ilbury Lane. (fn. 25)
Duns Tew village stands on the northern edge
of the limestone belt, and commands sweeping
views northwards across the claylands to Deddington. Its high and exposed position was made
habitable by an abundance of water from springs
and wells. Houses were built in the Middle Ages
east and west of the church on both sides of the
road passing through the village, and north down
Cow Lane, but there was very little building to
the south. Later contraction left several empty
house plots among the houses, especially in Cow
Lane. The older buildings are of local ironstone
and limestone with thatch or stone slate roofs.
Some, such as the modern Post Office stores, preserve the better cottages and homesteads of the
17th century. They are to be found mainly on the
south side of the village street and in Hill Farm
Lane, formerly Cow Lane. Ridge House, south
of the street and south-east of the church, was
formerly smaller and was lengthened in the 18th
century, a process matched in other houses such
as the large two-storeyed house opposite and the
three-storeyed house of ashlar and rubble (nos.
32 and 33) east of the White Horse. The most
important 17th-century house in the village, the
former Raves manor house west of Duns Tew
Manor, is described below. (fn. 26) The ownership of
Duns Tew by the Dashwood family from the
early 18th century was marked by several periods
of building and renovation of a high standard.
Manor Farm, for instance, towards the west end
of the village, and Manor House Farm, further
east, are tall, unpretentious farmhouses opening
directly on the village street. Daisy Hill Farm,
south-east of Manor House Farm, is also of the
18th century, although its stables and outbuildings were much altered when adapted as a holiday
centre. Many 18th-century cottages such as the
row opposite the village hall, formerly the school,
retained their thatched roofs until the later 20th
century. (fn. 27) Datestones bear witness to the amount
of work carried out in the 1860s by Sir George
Dashwood and by Sir Henry William Dashwood.
The principal additions to the village in the 19th
century were Priory Court, formerly the vicarage,
and the school, dated 1874. (fn. 28) The Old Forge, with
stone mullioned windows and dripmoulds in
17th-century fashion, is a notable example of the
quality of much 19th-century work in the village.
Many cottages and houses have been extensively
renovated since the Second World War. Several
council houses were built in the mid 20th century
south of the North Aston road and opposite the
Old Forge, and Dashwood Rise, a private housing
estate, was begun in the 1960s. There has been
infilling in the village centre and Hill Farm Lane.
A small triangular green stands in the middle
of the road junction south of the church. It bore
an elm tree until 1981. In 1794 there was a
building, of unknown function and since removed, just to the north-east. The entrance to
Duns Tew Manor was then directly opposite the
green, but by 1881 the drive had been moved
further west to pass by the side of the dovecot. (fn. 29)
There were still six farmhouses in the village in
1981, Malthouse and Glebe Farms in the east,
Daisy Hill, Manor House, Manor, and Spring
Farms in the west. Hill Farm was the earliest
outlying farm. (fn. 30) A farmhouse was probably built
between 1688 and 1720 (fn. 31) and may be that incorporated in farm buildings east of the present
house, which was designed c. 1865, perhaps by
William Wilkinson, the architect of Priory Court.
The farm buildings incorporate the remains of an
earlier house. Other outlying farms were built
after the inclosure of 1794. There were buildings
at Lower Farm and Common Barn, east and west
respectively of Ilbury Lane, by 1815. (fn. 32) The
present house at Common Barn Farm was
originally two cottages, dated hwd 1864, for Sir
Henry William Dashwood, and similar cottages,
dated gd 1860, for Sir George Dashwood, were
built at Lower Farm. The farmhouse at Lower
Farm appears to be of the early 19th century and
the date 1898 which it bears presumably refers to
a rebuilding. There are extensive stone-built
farm buildings of unusual quality nearby. Blue
Barn, formerly known as Tewley Barn, was built
by 1815, but the farmhouse is of later date.
Mention was made c. 1720 of 'old Dean, the
alehouse man', but the site of his house is
unknown. (fn. 33) In the later 18th century there were
two inns, the Cross, named after the family which
kept it, and the White Horse. The site of the
Cross, which seems to have given up its licence in
the late 18th century or early 19th, has not been
discovered. (fn. 34) The White Horse, south of the
village street opposite Manor House Farm, is an
18th-century building with later additions. It
remained a public house in 1981.
A payment of 3 qr. of maslin was in the mid
17th century made from the rectory barn on the
day of the annual perambulation of the parish
to the inhabitants of certain homesteads and
cottages, to the farmers of two of the three
demesne farms, and to some freeholders. It was
not primarily a gift to the poor, inhabitants of
newly built cottages were not eligible, and Sir
Thomas Read, lord of the manor, arranged with
some of his farmers to return their share on the
spot, but some recipients did give their corn to
the poor. Payment was stopped by Sir John Read
in 1679, but the custom was upheld in a Chancery
suit brought by the churchwardens, and it was
still in use in the mid 19th century. (fn. 35)
In 1584 the churchwardens were cited to the
archdeacon's court for allowing a play or interlude in the church, (fn. 36) and in 1620 there was
mention of a place called 'the dancings' on the
West End common, (fn. 37) but no other reference to
early village sports and entertainments has been
found. In the 1970s Ridge House was owned by
a well known maker of lutes and harpsichords
whose influence led to the holding in the parish
church of a series of concerts by musicians of
international reputation. (fn. 38)
Manors and Other Estates.
Four of
the nine estates described in 1086 as lying in Tew
can be ascribed to Duns Tew. (fn. 39) The two largest
were held by Eurwin, of Robert d'Oilly (7 hides)
and Robert of Stafford (3½ hides). By 1166 the
d'Oilly land, too, may have been held of the
barony of Stafford, Eurwin's successors holding
their land as 2 knights' fees, one direct from the
Stafford barony, the other from Stafford through
Henry d'Oilly as mesne lord. The Stafford
overlordship is last mentioned in 1242. (fn. 40) The
d'Oilly lordship descended with their other
estates to the de Plessis family. Duns Tew was
held of Hugh de Plessis at his death in 1363, but
by 1526 it was said merely to be held 'of the heirs
of Hugh de Plessis'. (fn. 41) Eurwin's successor as
demesne tenant of both DUNS TEW estates was
a family called of Tew, of which an account is
given elsewhere. (fn. 42) Duns Tew was the centre of
their landed interest until 1284 when Hugh
of Tew was succeeded by three daughters between whom the manor was partitioned. One
daughter, Maud, married Hugh of Hinton, and
in 1316 William of Hinton was said to be one of
the lords of Duns Tew. (fn. 43) In 1323 John son of
John of Hinton sold the share to Robert Arden of
Drayton (d. 1331). (fn. 44) Robert's son Giles (d. 1376)
was predeceased by his son, also Giles, and his
estates passed to the younger Giles's daughters
Margaret and Joan; Duns Tew was taken by
Margaret. She later married Lewis Greville,
and the manor remained in the possession of
the Greville family until 1521, when Edward
Greville sold it to John Audlett. (fn. 45) On his death in
1536 Audlett was succeeded by Thomas Read
(d. 1556), probably his wife's relative. (fn. 46)
Emma, another daughter of Hugh of Tew,
married Richard (d. 1287 x 1291) son of Roger of
Lyons. (fn. 47) Thomas of Lyons held the share by
1299; he was still alive in 1321 but in 1340 his son
Thomas sold the estate to Sir John Lyons of
Warkworth (Northants.), of the senior line of the
family. (fn. 48) In 1348 Sir John settled it on his wife
and son John. (fn. 49) John apparently died without
issue after 1383 and was succeeded by his nephew
Sir John Chetwode (d. 1412), whose son Sir
Thomas died childless between 1446 and 1456
and was succeeded by his sister Elizabeth (d.
1475), wife of Sir Thomas Woodhill. (fn. 50) Their
descendant Agnes, only daughter of Anthony
Woodhill (d. 1542), married Richard Chetwode
of Chetwode (Bucks.). Their son Richard sold
the estate in 1598 to Thomas Read (d. 1604), son
of the Thomas mentioned above. (fn. 51) The Reads'
chief landed interest lay in Berkshire, and
Thomas's son Sir Thomas settled the Duns Tew
estate in 1639 on his second son John. (fn. 52) John's
grandson Sir John Read (d. 1711) left four sisters
as heirs; it was agreed in 1719 that Duns Tew
should go to the eldest, Dorothea, wife of
Robert fifth son of Sir Robert Dashwood of
Northbrook. (fn. 53)
Hugh of Tew's third daughter, William,
married Ralph of Sutton, son of Ralph of Astrop.
By 1321 their third share of the manor was in the
hands of Walter Bicester, who sold it soon after,
probably to Hugh Raves, grandfather of Hugh
Raves, the owner in 1350. (fn. 54) George Raves (d. by
1560), taxed at Duns Tew in 1524 and 1544, and
implicated in the Oxfordshire rising of 1549, was
presumably the owner of the third share at that
time. (fn. 55) He was succeeded by his son Richard
(d. 1596) and Richard's son George (d. 1613),
whose son William died in 1631, leaving five
sisters as heirs. (fn. 56) The landed estate of the Raves
third of the manor comprised 6 yardlands, and it
is likely that the family held only the demesne
land of the Sutton inheritance; the descent of the
remainder is set out below. The 6 yardlands had
been attached to two houses, Farm House (4
yardlands) and Over House (2 yardlands), to
facilitate the provision of dower. The Farm
House estate was divided between Anne and Jane
Raves, the Over House estate passing to a third
sister Elizabeth. (fn. 57) Elizabeth's 2 yardlands were
probably those bought in 1676 by Sir John
Read. (fn. 58) The Farm House estate was reunited in
1659 when Anne's husband Richard Burrows of
Arlescote (Warws.) bought Jane's share. In 1666
he settled all 4 yardlands on his son Raves, who
settled them in 1698 on his son John. (fn. 59) In 1716
John gave 1 yardland to his sister Joan, who sold
it in 1729 to Henry Bennett, a Deddington
mercer. Bennett settled it in 1745 on his daughter
Sarah and her husband William Taylor of
Radford. William and his son John sold it in 1779
to John Preedy (d. 1800) of Duns Tew, from
whose executors it was purchased in 1814 by Sir
Henry Dashwood. (fn. 60) John Burrows sold a further
1¾ yardlands in 1729 to Robert Dashwood, and in
1736 his daughter and heir Sarah sold the remaining 1¼ yardlands with the third of the manor to
Dorothea Dashwood. (fn. 61) The manor was therefore
reunited in the ownership of the Dashwood
family which retained the lordship until the
estate was broken up in 1948. (fn. 62)
From the early 18th century to the early 19th
the manor house was let to the Chamberlain
family, related to the Dashwoods by marriage. (fn. 63)
In the 19th century it was sometimes used by the
eldest sons of the Dashwood family before succeeding to the principal estates. (fn. 64) Duns Tew
Manor stands north of the parish church. An
earlier house, presumably that of the Read family
in the 17th century, formerly occupied the site. A
new house, built c. 1710 by Robert Dashwood
'for a hunting seat', (fn. 65) may originally have stood
slightly forward of the earlier building, part of
which it later incorporated. A tall, two-storeyed,
five-bayed, ironstone building, the house was
remodelled in the 19th century when a lower
two-storeyed wing of four bays was added on the
east in place of a small detached building. The
new wing is faced in stone, but the side and rear
elevations are of brick. In the later 19th century a
large brick extension was built northwards from
the east end. (fn. 66) The manor house of the Raves
manor stands c. 50 yd. west of Duns Tew Manor.
Dated RB 1694, for Raves Burrows, it is a twostoreyed house of coursed ironstone rubble with
decorative limestone bands and stone mullioned
windows. A small dovecot has been built between
two first-floor windows on the west front. There
was presumably a third manor house, but its site
is unknown. It may have stood a little further
west in that part of the Duns Tew Manor
grounds known in the 18th century as the Great
Orchard. The foundations of a building are
reputed to have been found there. (fn. 67) A 17thcentury dovecot stands west of the drive to the
other two manor houses. There are the remains
of four substantial fishponds north-east of Duns
Tew Manor.
An estate comprising 6 messuages, 1 cottage,
and 7 yardlands, possibly the former villein
holdings of the third of the manor inherited by
Hugh of Tew's daughter William, was in the
possession of Sir Richard Adderbury (d. c. 1400).
It passed thereafter with his manor of Glympton
until conveyed in 1478 by John Langston to his
son Richard, on whose death in 1525 the estate
was said to be held of the heirs of Hugh de Plessis,
i.e. of the d'Oilly fee. Richard's son John (d. 1558)
left the estate to the Denton family, and
Edmund Denton sold it to Thomas Read in 1582,
since when it has descended with the manor. (fn. 68)
Three hides held in 1086 by Gilbert Maminot,
bishop of Lisieux, were incorporated in the 12th
century, with an estate of 5 hides at Dunthrop, in
the barony of Tarrant Keynston. The Duns Tew
estate seems, like Dunthrop, to have been granted
to Bruern abbey by the family called of Dunthrop
in the early 13th century. It was held of Michael
of Dunthrop and later of Bruern by Stephen of
Duns Tew, also called Stephen Runcin, as 3/8
knight's fee. By 1225 Stephen had been succeeded
by his son Roger, and in 1279 the estate was
held of Bruern by Thomas Runcin, presumably
Roger's son. (fn. 69) A Thomas Runcin held it in 1307,
and Richard Runcin in 1316 and 1327. (fn. 70) Ralph
Runcin was said in 1346 to hold ¼ knight's fee in
Duns Tew, and the fee was mentioned again in
1428, but by then the connexion with the family
had become tenuous and no further mention has
been found. (fn. 71)
One hide in Duns Tew was held in 1086
by Wadard as tenant of Odo, bishop of Bayeux. (fn. 72)
It was granted shortly after with other of
Odo's lands to Manasser Arsic and, with land at
Sesswell's Barton, formed 1 knight's fee of the
honor of Arsic. The Arsic overlordship of the
Duns Tew estate was not recorded after 1279 but
it may have followed the descent of Sesswell's
Barton. For most of the 12th century Duns Tew
passed with Sesswell's Barton, held by a family
taking its name from that place, but the tenure
became increasingly complex. By the early 13th
century Ralph (d. by 1216), a younger son of
Humphrey of Barton, held Duns Tew, apparently
of the senior branch. The land itself seems by
then to have been in the hands of free tenants, for
a rent of 5s. in Duns Tew held by Ralph at his
death was almost identical with a rent of 5s. 2d.
paid by four tenants holding the land in 1279.
There was a dispute over the rents in 1241
between Ralph's daughter Mabel and Richard of
Shethendon or Schevendon; she was still pursuing her claim in 1247, against Richard son of Otes
of Barton, head of the senior line of the family.
The 5s. 2d. rent was paid in 1279 to a member of
the junior line, John son of William of Barton,
but the land was said to be held of Richard of
Shethendon. (fn. 73) A yardland of the estate was held
by John Edmund of Duns Tew at his death in
1380; the lord of the fee was then said to be
Richard Adderbury. (fn. 74) It presumably passed
thereafter with other Adderbury land in the
parish to the Read family. (fn. 75)
In 1251 Henry III granted to Andrew Turbut
for a rent of 2s. an estate of ½ hide in Duns Tew,
held by serjeanty of a service in Woodstock park.
The serjeanty had been recovered from Hugh of
Tew, who had acquired it without licence. (fn. 76) It
was not mentioned in Domesday Book, perhaps
because it was accidentally omitted or was incorporated in the account of a royal manor, but
its inclusion with Duns Tew would bring the
hidage of 1086 from 14½ to 15 hides, corresponding with the 60 yardlands traditionally reckoned
to lie in the parish. By 1279 the estate had become
subinfeudated, held by John son of David from
William Lea, who paid a nominal rent to William
Turbut. (fn. 77) The superior lordships seem later to
have fallen into desuetude and the Davy family
held in chief until 1330 when Agnes widow of
John Davy sold part to Robert Arden. (fn. 78) More
land seems to have been alienated to the Ardens
in the later 14th century, and by 1380 the Davys'
successor, perhaps heir, the John Edmund mentioned above, held only 10 a. in chief. (fn. 79) In 1636 a
messuage and 2 yardlands held by Richard Raves
as of the manor of Woodstock by payment of 2s.
was almost certainly the serjeanty estate, although
whether the 2 yardlands were the original ones
may be doubted. (fn. 80) No later reference has been
found.
One yardland of the Runcin fee was acquired
in 1225 by Oseney abbey, passing in 1542 to
Christ Church, Oxford. (fn. 81) At inclosure in 1794
Christ Church was awarded 14½ a. in the northeast corner of the parish, adjacent to the college's
land in Deddington. (fn. 82) The Duns Tew land
formed part of the sale by the college in 1954 to
Ivor Guest, Viscount Wimborne. (fn. 83)
Rectorial tithes were held, with the church, by
Merton priory from the mid 12th century. Twothirds of Hugh of Tew's demesne tithes, however, were given or confirmed about the same
time by Robert d'Oilly to Oseney abbey. In 1443
the abbey surrendered the tithes to Merton for a
pension of 26s. 8d. a year, but by 1535 that, too,
was paid to Merton. (fn. 84) Rectorial tithes included
tithes on hay taken from Bestmoor in North
Aston, even though hay tithes within Duns Tew
were taken by the vicar. (fn. 85) Rectorial tithes passed
with the advowson until they were extinguished
at inclosure in 1794, Sir Henry Dashwood receiving 137 a. in compensation. (fn. 86)
Economic History.
There were until
inclosure in 1794 two separate sets of fields in
Duns Tew, east and west of the village. Known as
Down End field and West End field respectively,
each was divided into a north side and a south
side to give a normal two-field rotation. The
antiquity of the arrangement is unknown; it was
in use by 1436 when a yardland owned by Oseney
abbey lay entirely in the West end, and it may by
then have been long established, for there were
references in the early 14th century to the east
field and to rights of pasture in Dunham marsh,
later Down End common. (fn. 87) Tenements lay in
one or other of the ends, each of which had its
own pasture and meadows, and there were
separate common herds of cattle and sheep. (fn. 88)
The village itself was divided. (fn. 89) The symmetry of
the division suggests that it was the result of
deliberate planning. The boundary in the south
between Down End and West End followed the
irregular line often found where two sets of open
fields meet, but in the north it was marked by a
series of straight lines. In Down End the north
and south sides were divided by the North Aston
road, in West End by the southern edge of West
End common. By the 17th century the use of the
two ends was synchronized, both north sides
being the corn field in even years. (fn. 90) In 1652
West End field comprised c. 360 statute acres on
the north side and c. 290 a. on the south. Down
End field seems to have been more evenly
divided, probably with c. 310 a. on each side. (fn. 91)
West End common comprised 118 a. adjoining
Over Worton in 1722, Down End common 56 a.
north of Bury field. (fn. 92) Down End common, however, may once have contained c. 100 a. more;
Hilly close, 36 a. inclosed in the early 16th
century, and 5 closes comprising 66 a. in the area
later called Little fields were probably inclosed
from the common. By c. 1675 they formed a
single farm, later Hill farm. (fn. 93) Each set of fields
therefore comprised at their fullest extent c. 780
a., excluding village closes and meadows. There
were said in the late 17th century to be 30
yardlands of arable in each end. (fn. 94) Theoretically
there were c. 20 a. available for each yardland, but
yardlands seem to have been of unequal size,
ranging in 1722, for example, from 13 a. to 27 a. (fn. 95)
A yardland given in 1225 to Oseney abbey was
said by a jury in 1436 to be 24¼ a., by a terrier in
1622 to be 17¾ a., and in 1722 to be 23 statute
acres. (fn. 96)
The demesne of Eurwin's manor in 1086
amounted to 3 ploughlands, and his successors'
demesne seems to have been all or largely in
Down End field, where the effects of the estate's
partition in the late 13th century could be seen
until the 18th. The name Bury field, meaning
demesne land, given in 1722 to two adjacent
furlongs in the north, seems usually to have
applied to all the land north of the manor house,
bounded on the north by Down End common, on
the east by Cow Lane, and on the west by West
End field. In the early 18th century the land
showed signs of a division into two-thirds and
one-third, reflecting ownership of the manorial
estate by the Dashwood and Burrows families.
Another block of demesne lay south of the North
Aston road. (fn. 97)
There were two lot meadows in the west end,
Brook Mead (c. 15 a.) along the northern boundary
stream, and Ladbrook Mead (c. 10 a.) along
Cockley Brook in the south. There were also
pieces of grass such as Ploughland Marsh and
West Marsh in the north, and Small Mead in the
south, which were lot meadow when they lay in
the corn field and were left for common grazing
when in the fallow field. (fn. 98) Lot meadow was
divided into 14 sets containing groups of 30
'yards', the share of 1 yardland being 1 'yard' in
each group. (fn. 99) In 1722 there were c. 45 a. of
meadow in the west end, so that a 'yard' then
comprised c. 1½ a. (fn. 100) In Down End field Upper
and Lower Capney Mead, each c. 6¼ a., lay along
the northern brook. There may have been another
4 a. there and 2 a. at the junction of the brook and
the mill stream. By 1722 almost all of it was
inclosed, but a reference c. 1655 to a 2-yardland
holding with a yard in each Capney mead suggests
that there had been lot meadow. (fn. 101) Duns Tew
shared with North Aston a meadow in the latter
parish known as Bestmoor, which contained hay
for 63 yardlands, 42 of them in Duns Tew. In
1086 Eurwin's two Duns Tew holdings had a
much larger amount of meadow (44 a. in all) than
did the other two manors (10 a. in all), a discrepancy perhaps accounted for by Bestmoor;
Eurwin's assessment at 10½ hides corresponded
exactly with the share for 42 yardlands in Bestmoor assigned to Duns Tew. (fn. 102) The right to take
hay from Bestmoor continued until all mowing
rights were bought up in 1864 by the lord of
North Aston manor. (fn. 103)
The inclosure of c. 100 a. of the north side of
Down End field to form Hill farm has been
mentioned above. In 1652 an agreement was
reached for the inclosure of the whole of West
End field, and similar arrangements were probably made for Down End field. (fn. 104) It is not known
why the inclosure was not carried through, but it
was presumably its failure which prompted Sir
John Read, the leading landowner in the parish,
to take all his land into his own hands and to work
it through bailiffs. (fn. 105) It was perhaps then that
hedges were put around much of the former
demesne land, renamed New Grounds and later
Home Ground, south of the North Aston road.
Although Read's estate was relatively compact
and was farmed directly, it remained subject to
the usual regulations of open field husbandry.
When tenant farms were reinstated in the late
17th century there was no move towards inclosure. The map of 1722 indicates a determination to share the land among tenants strip by
strip, although in Down End field the strips were
probably larger than before. (fn. 106)
It was said c. 1720 that the parish was 'almost
all three crops ground, but very little one crop
ground', (fn. 107) and the evolution to four quarters in
each field was probably complete soon after. In
1794 the quarters in Down End were Bury field
and Hill in the north, Tuley Tree and Ridges in
the south; in West End they were Tomwell and
an unnamed quarter in the north, Whittington
and Sands in the south. (fn. 108) There was a regular
hitch taken out of the fallow field by c. 1550, and
the manor court made detailed orders specifying
the furlongs to be sown and those to be grazed.
Bury field, for instance, in one year was arable
until Lammas when the cattle, which had previously been kept on leys and greensward east of
Cow Lane, were moved in. (fn. 109) Stints for sheep and
cattle were sometimes higher on the more suitable
clay land of the West end, and rights of common
could be let for more. In the late 16th century and
early 17th the allowance was often 4 cattle to the
yardland in West End and 3 in Down End; up to
40 sheep were kept in both ends. As elsewhere,
however, the stint was reduced in the later 17th
century and the 18th, when it was frequently 3
and 2 cattle respectively and only 22 sheep. (fn. 110)
In 1086 two estates at Duns Tew had declined
in value since 1066 and were deficient in ploughs
and peasantry, while two had increased in value.
Eurwin's 7-hide estate was fully exploited, with
3 ploughteams and 3 serfs on the demesne and
another 4 ploughteams worked by 8 villeins and 3
bordars. The estate's value had risen from £7 to
£9. His 3½-hide estate, however, had fallen in
value from 60s. to 30s. There was land for 2
ploughs, but there were no demesne ploughteams
or servants, and 1 villein and 2 bordars had only
half a ploughteam. The bishop of Lisieux's
estate, 3 hides, had land for 4 ploughs. There
were 1 ploughteam and 2 serfs on the demesne,
and another ploughteam worked by 5 villeins.
The estate's value had increased from 40s. to 60s.
Wadard's single hide had land for 1 plough, but
no ploughteams were at work there and there was
only 1 villein. The value had fallen from 20s. to
12s. (fn. 111) It seems likely that only the easier land was
being fully cultivated. Later growth resulted in
the creation of numerous relatively small free
tenements, so that by 1279 there were 23 freeholders, excluding manorial lords, with holdings
ranging from 2 a. to 2 yardlands. The former
Lisieux estate, held of Bruern abbey in 1279 by
Thomas Runcin, had 15 tenants, all free, among
whom there were 1 holder of 1½ yardland, 5 of 1
yardland, and 3 of ½ yardland; 6 smallholders
shared 20½ a., possibly the result of the dispersal
of a yardland. A member of the Runcin family
was tenant of ½ yardland, and, although it is not
clear in the Hundred Roll, Thomas Runcin
presumably retained some land, for his descendants were taxed at Duns Tew in the early 14th
century. (fn. 112) Of Thomas's tenants of a yardland in
1279, 8 held directly of him, all but one at
nominal rents; 1 held through a mesne lord who
received a higher rent. The former Wadard estate
was held in 1279 by 4 free tenants with 1 yardland
each. The serjeanty estate, 2 yardlands, was not
mentioned in 1086, and in 1279 was in the hands
of John son of David without tenants. Eurwin's
successors, the Tew family, therefore had the
only estate on which there were unfree tenants.
Hugh of Tew retained the 3 demesne ploughlands
of 1086. The number of villeins had more than
doubled to 18, each holding 1 yardland. They
paid 3s. rent, were liable to work 5 days a week
from June to September, and owed ploughing
services 3 times a year, harrowing once, and a
carrying service weekly; they gave eggs and malt,
and each paid 1s. 6d. for Hugh's scutage. Two
classes of cottagers held of him. Six paid 16d.
rent, or 12d. if they performed miscellaneous
services, including reaping, carrying water, and
digging and strewing lime. (fn. 113) Five held at will,
paying rents of 2s. to 5s. All the cottagers possibly
held 1 a. each. Hugh's free tenants comprised 5
yardlanders, a half-yardlander, and the miller.
Two yardlanders paid 10s. rent, the miller 20s.,
and the other rents were nominal. (fn. 114)
In the long term there seems to have been a
decline in the number of freeholders in the
parish. William Spicer, holder of 1 yardland of
Hugh of Tew and of ½ yardland of Thomas
Runcin, was an eminent Oxford citizen who also
held land nearby at Steeple Barton. (fn. 115) His son
Richard sold his Oxford, property in 1290 to
Nicholas of Oxford, probably a member of the
prominent Goldsmith family, and by 1307
Nicholas had also succeeded at Duns Tew. His
son John conveyed 2½ yardlands in Duns Tew to
Robert Arden, owner of a third of the manor. (fn. 116)
A house in Duns Tew was still known in 1557 as
Goldsmith's Place. (fn. 117) Some land is known to have
passed in the 14th century into the hands of
manorial lords or absentees who seem to have
leased it to local tenants. Each of the three
demesne ploughlands appears to have survived as
a holding after the partition of 1284. The Arden
share, for instance, seems to have been held in the
14th century by farmers working in partnership. (fn. 118)
The share of the demesne acquired by Hugh
Raves c. 1321 remained intact in the 16th century,
as did the two-thirds acquired in the late 16th
century and early 17th by the Read family. In
1617 it was said that view of frankpledge was held
by three farms in turn, representing the manorial
demesne; they were the Raves farm, and those of
the Chandler and Thorpe families, held of
Thomas Read. (fn. 119)
For the subsidy of 1307 32 people were assessed
in Duns Tew. John of Hinton was assessed at
5s. 6½d., Nicholas Goldsmith at 2s. 6¾d., Thomas
of Lyons at 2s. 1½d., and the others at between 4d.
and 1s. 10d. The average valuation of movable
goods was c. 36s., putting Duns Tew in the
middle rank of parishes in the area. The distribution of wealth was broadly similar in 1316 and
1327. (fn. 120) A hint of the devastation wrought by the
Black Death was given in 1376 when it was
recalled that the farmers of the Arden land had
died in 'the first pestilence'. (fn. 121) By the later 14th
century, however, the community had substantially recovered. (fn. 122)
In 1525 a leading group of three men, farmers
of the manorial demesne, between them owned
c. 45 per cent of the taxable goods in the parish:
John Chauntrell (£42), Nicholas Andrews (£20),
and John Joyner (£16). Fourteen husbandmen
owned goods valued at between £2 and £10, and
16 men were assessed on wages. The pattern was
similar in 1544, when the leading figures were
John Chandler, Richard Thorpe, and George
Raves. (fn. 123) On the Chetwode third of the manor
tenancies seem to have been converted c. 1559 to
21-year leases, (fn. 124) but copyholds persisted on the
other estates. Courts held in 1585 for the two
shares of the manor owned by Thomas Read
were attended by 21 tenants, and there were at
that time 3 freeholders. By 1622, when the whole
manor was in the Reads' possession, there were
at least 8 freeholders. Other copyholds were
converted to leaseholds, and the last recorded
renewal of copyholds took place in 1622. Copyholds between 1585 and 1617 included two
holdings of 3 yardlands, two of 2½, one of 2, one of
1, and two of ½ yardland. Subletting for up to 6
years was allowed; widows lost their estate if they
were named as a life in the copy. (fn. 125) Freeholders
played an important part in the parish. Robert
Paine (d. 1593), born in Middle Aston but taxed
in Duns Tew in 1544 and 1568, (fn. 126) bought land in
Duns Tew in 1577, (fn. 127) and in 1585 he took a
copyhold of 2½ yardlands for 2 lives. In 1587 he
was presented in the manor court for numerous
offences, including non-residence, and in 1588 he
surrendered the copyhold. (fn. 128) It seems likely that
Paine had quarrelled with Thomas Read, and
there is no indication that he or his son Richard
Paine returned to Duns Tew before the latter
sold his land in 1626 to the Raves and Castle
families. (fn. 129) Christopher Castle (d. 1575) was taxed
on £8 of goods in 1544, £10 in 1547, and £13 in
1559. (fn. 130) In 1541 he bought 2½ yardlands from
Richard Fox of Middle Aston, and in 1561 he was
sued by Anne Read for appropriating manorial
land. (fn. 131) Three of his sons succeeded him in Duns
Tew and the family continued to hold land in the
parish into the 18th century. (fn. 132) The junior line of
the Raves family (fn. 133) related by marriage to the
Castle family, was also prominent in the parish.
Richard Raves (d. 1636) held 4 yardlands which
eventually passed to his granddaughter Anne,
wife of Sir Robert Jason. Sir Robert's son Robert
sold the land in 1735 to Dorothea Dashwood. (fn. 134)
William Raves at his death in 1631 had, besides
his own 6 yardlands, land on lease from the
Reads; he owned 400 sheep and crops to the value
of £120. (fn. 135) The average value of six surviving
probate inventories of members of the Raves and
Castle families between 1600 and 1670 was £380,
whereas the inventories that have survived for
17 members of other families in the same period
had an average value of £73, with only three
inventories of more than £100. (fn. 136) Nearly all
freehold land passed through the hands of the
Raves and Castle families in the 17th century.
The existence of such an independent element
presumably limited the influence of the Reads
and perhaps frustrated the attempted inclosure of
1652 mentioned above. In the later 17th century,
however, inheritance by daughters in both the
Raves and Castle families took their lands to
outsiders such as the Jasons, the Allens of
Blackthorn, and the Brangwins of Middle Barton.
By 1720 most of the land was let to tenants. (fn. 137)
The Reads' inclosed land north of the village
was farmed by a bailiff in the 1560s and 1570s,
when 120–200 sheep and 10–15 cows were kept. (fn. 138)
By 1617 the manorial demesne was being cultivated directly by Sir Thomas Read. In 1633 it
was agreed that he should keep 160 sheep in
Down End field and have all the corn field to
himself until the harvest was in, probably meaning that his flocks could graze on leys in the
field. (fn. 139) After 1652 Sir John Read took into his
own hands all his tenants' 41¾ yardlands in the
open fields, and his inclosed farm, and worked
them through a steward. (fn. 140) There had been 14
tenants in West End in 1652, 4 smallholders, 7
yardlanders, and 3 with 2–4 yardlands. (fn. 141) There
were probably fewer in Down End, but the new
policy entailed the removal or reduction to
labourer's status of up to a dozen families.
Approximately half the families named as tenants
in 1652 remained in 1722, mostly as cottagers. (fn. 142)
The hearth tax returns of 1662 indicate that there
was already an exceptional number of families
too poor to pay. The houses paying tax were the
manor house (12 hearths), four freeholders'
houses and the vicarage (3–4 hearths), and eight
houses with 1 or 2 hearths. (fn. 143) For each house
taxed in Duns Tew in 1662 there had been 5.5
adult males listed in 1642; the average for 22
neighbouring villages was 2.6. (fn. 144) Duns Tew was
described c. 1685 as a town of 50 families
'whereof not above 10 contribute to the relief of
the poor'. (fn. 145) It was a community increasing in
numbers, perhaps, but polarized between
extremes of wealth and poverty. Read's experiment ended at or shortly before his death in 1694,
and by 1700 all the land was on lease. (fn. 146) Relatively
standardized open-field farms were established
on the resumption of tenant farming, the four in
Down End each comprising c. 95 a. of arable,
c. 25 a. of leys, and c. 8 a. of closes; closes round
the village homesteads were supplemented by
those near the manor house. Meadow rights in
Bestmoor, in North Aston parish, were divided
among the Down End farms, to compensate for
their comparative lack of grass. In West End
there were two farms each comprising c. 75 a. of
arable, c. 40 a. of leys, c. 7 a. of meadow, and 2 a.
of closes; a third farm was slightly smaller and a
fourth, possibly split off from it, only 33 a. The
inclosed farm, of 114 a., remained separate,
although held by one of the open-field tenants. (fn. 147)
The rents of the new farms were reckoned c. 1720
to be too low, perhaps reflecting the depression of
the late 17th century, and the rent of an average
farm had been raised by 1735 from c. £60 to
c. £80. (fn. 148)
The inclosure of the parish in 1794 involved c.
1,500 a., of which 1,155 a. went to Sir Henry
Dashwood and 179 a. to the vicar for glebe and
tithe. The other recipients were Lady Elizabeth
Dashwood (50 a.), Christopher Doyley (70 a.), as
heir to 3 yardlands formerly Castle's and Allen's,
Joseph Preedy (35 a.), John Preedy (30 a.),
Thomas Lee (14 a.), and Christ Church, Oxford
(15 a.). The poor of the parish were allotted 5 a.
on the eastern edge of the parish, south of the
North Aston road. (fn. 149) Doyley's land was bought by
Dashwood in 1807, and John Preedy's in 1814; (fn. 150)
by 1825 only c. 250 a. in the parish lay outside the
Dashwood estate. (fn. 151) The glebe farm stretched
south-eastwards from the vicarage, and the Christ
Church land was in the north-east corner of the
parish, adjoining the college's estate in Deddington. The land allotted at inclosure to Joseph
Preedy lay south of the road to Middle Aston,
where he farmed on a large scale. It was known as
Tewley Barn farm in the early 19th century, and
later as Blue Barn farm. The Dashwood estate
was in the hands of six tenants in the early
19th century, presumably occupying the six
farms of the later 19th century, listed in 1926 as
Hill farm (360 a.), Daisy Hill farm (212 a.),
Lower farm (190 a.), Malthouse farm (160 a.),
Manor farm (153 a.), and Common Barn farm
(119 a.). In 1926 there was also a farm of 86 a. run
from the manor house by a bailiff, and c. 110 a.
were separately leased. (fn. 152) Manor, Daisy Hill, and
Malthouse farms seem always to have been based
on farmhouses in the village, with their land
radiating out behind them; the other three were
spread across the north half of the parish. Farm
tenants changed fairly frequently but one or two
families were established in the parish for much
of the 19th century, notably the Timms family
at Hill farm, and the Matthews and Roberts
families, possibly at Glebe farm and Malthouse
farm respectively. (fn. 153) The major change in the
20th century was the break-up of the Dashwood
estate in 1948. A sale planned in 1926 seems not
to have been effected, but in 1948 the freeholds of
most farms in the parish were bought by their
tenants. (fn. 154)
Wheat and barley were the chief crops grown
in the later 19th century and the 20th, and oats,
beans, peas, and root crops were also grown. In
1869 the proportion of land that was permanent
grass, 31 per cent, reflects the parish's position
between the heavy pasture lands to the north and
the lighter arable soils to the south; 12 cattle
and 102 sheep per 100 a. were kept. By 1911
the amount of permanent grass had risen to
59 per cent, due mainly to greater emphasis
on dairy farming. (fn. 155) In the later 20th century
farming remained mixed, but the proportion of
pasture to arable was reversed, with cerealgrowing predominant.
The usual rural tradesmen and craftsmen were
to be found in Duns Tew. Smiths were mentioned
from 1592; members of the Hatton family were
smiths from the early 18th century to the mid
19th, when they were succeeded by the French
family, the last member of which retired c. 1970.
Carpenters and tailors lived in the village from
the 17th century, and cordwainers from the 18th.
A tradesman's token has survived, struck by
Thomas Barrett, a Duns Tew carrier of the 17th
century. (fn. 156) From the mid 18th century to the mid
19th the Mercer family were maltsters and
brewers. (fn. 157) In 1841 tradesmen and craftsmen
included a family of stonemasons, 5 carpenters,
5 wheelwrights, 4 shoemakers, 4 tailors, 3 blacksmiths, 2 slaters, 2 grocers, 2 bakers, 1 butcher,
and 1 joiner. In 1851 there were 13 gloveresses,
but the number had fallen to 3 by 1871. (fn. 158) As
elsewhere, all such occupations declined in
numbers in the late 19th century and the 20th.
There was a stonemason in the village until 1973,
and in 1981 there were a shop, a joinery manufacturer, a firm of builders, and a nursery founded
in the 1930s. Two small quarries opened in the
1950s and 1960s on opposite sides of the Barton
road. (fn. 159)
A water mill was held in 1279 by John Miller. (fn. 160)
It passed thereafter with the Hinton share of the
manor. (fn. 161) In the 16th century the copyhold of the
mill and 1 yardland were held by the King family,
passing in 1593 to Richard Baker and in 1618 to
his widow. (fn. 162) The mill seems to have gone by 1722
but its position remains visible at a site known at
that date as Mill Moors, south-east of, and across
the stream from, Hill Farm. (fn. 163) The name Windmill furlong occurs in a terrier of the mid 17th
century, apparently in the area of modern housing known as Dashwood Rise. (fn. 164) No mill is shown
on the map of 1722. One is marked on a map of
1824, but it was probably recent and had gone
by 1881. (fn. 165) In 1682 there was a windmill called
Tuley mill near where the Middle Aston road
crosses the parish boundary. (fn. 166) It had presumably
gone by 1722.
Local Government.
Hugh of Tew in
1279 had franchise rights by which a royal bailiff
entered Duns Tew to hold view of frankpledge.
Cert money of 20s. was paid and the bailiff kept
the court profits. (fn. 167) The fossilized remnants of
that procedure survived in 1616 when the
demesne farms each paid 3s. 4d. to make up 10s.
cert money and took it in turn to house the court
and entertain the bailiff; court profits by that date
went to the farmer concerned. In addition the
tithingmen attended the Park Gate court at
Woodstock annually to pay 3s. cert money,
a practice which probably derived from the
attendance in the past by the holders of the
Barton and Runcin fees, not included in Hugh of
Tew's franchise. (fn. 168) Three manorial courts were
held in the 16th century, and after their reunion
under the Reads the manor court began to
regulate use of the fields, a function previously
carried out, perhaps, by informal meetings such
as the 'view of greensward' held beside the
dovecot in the 1560s. (fn. 169) Two constables were
chosen at the manor court, one for each of the
ends into which the parish was divided, and two
tithingmen. At least two officials from each end
were chosen to enforce the field regulations; they
were given such titles as haywards, leysmen,
fieldmen, and tellers. There was an allowance of
land in the West End for a molecatcher in 1652,
but no other reference to him has been found, and
his function may even then have been obsolete. (fn. 170)
It is not known whether churchwardens and
overseers were also separately appointed for each
'end'. By 1833 there were 2 overseers, chosen
each year from the 7 principal inhabitants, who
made all decisions on rates and assessments. (fn. 171)
The parish spent £100 on poor relief in 1776, an
average of £119 in 1783–5, and £412, or c. £1 5s.
per head of population, in 1803. (fn. 172) The cost per
head remained at approximately the same level
until the early 1820s when the fall in wheat prices
brought expenditure down to c. 11s. per head in
1824. Expenditure rose thereafter, reaching a
peak of c. £1 9s., a total of £655, in 1832. (fn. 173)
In 1803 there were 31 adults and 52 children on
permanent relief, but the number fell to between
12 and 16 adults from 1813 to 1815. (fn. 174) By 1832 the
number of those in receipt of regular relief had
risen again, to 27 roundsmen, 32 aged and infirm,
and 81 children. Payments to others for such
items as medical assistance and rent meant that
170 were actually on the overseers' books, and in
winter the number rose to c. 230, more than half
the population of the parish. Able-bodied
labourers were apportioned among the farmers
according to their rate assessment and were paid
9s. a week, rising to 12s. at haymaking and 15s.
at the corn harvest. Those on the round, usually
the less able-bodied, received 7s. An inspector
reported that most families managed to obtain
enought to eat and that 'on Sundays a few have
butcher's meat'. A few women were glovemakers
or lacemakers. Cottages were let at low rents and
were in excellent repair; all had gardens and
additional land was provided for potato growing.
Despite the defects of the Speenhamland and
roundsman systems, the inspector felt that the
poor law was well administered in the parish, if
only in producing 'an orderly and satisfied race of
paupers'. (fn. 175)
In 1834 Duns Tew formed part of Woodstock
poor law union. In 1894 it became part of
Woodstock rural district, in 1932 part of Banbury
rural district, and in 1974 part of Cherwell
district. (fn. 176)
Church.
Duns Tew has remained a separate
ecclesiastical parish throughout its history, but
under an order in council of 1921 the benefice was
united in 1932 with North Aston. That union was
dissolved in 1977 and the benefice of Duns Tew
united with Westcott Barton, Steeple Barton,
and Sandford St. Martin. (fn. 177)
Before 1198 the church was given to Merton
priory, probably by one of the Tew family who
were associated with the priory in the mid 12th
century. (fn. 178) The priory appropriated the church,
probably before 1218, and from then until the
Dissolution presented regularly to an endowed
vicarage. (fn. 179) In 1545 the advowson, with the
rectory, was sold to Richard Andrews and William
Gosse who conveyed it to Thomas Read and his
daughter Mary. (fn. 180) In 1606 Mary, then a widow,
and her son-in-law William Wollascot sold it to
Thomas Read, (fn. 181) and thenceforth it descended
with the manor until 1949, the lords presenting
regularly except in 1675 when the excommunicate
Sir John Read had granted the turn to Susanna
Read. (fn. 182) In 1949 Sir Henry George Massey
Dashwood conveyed the advowson to the Oxford
Diocesan Board of Patronage, which became one
of the patrons of the united benefice in 1977. (fn. 183)
The 13th-century vicarage was endowed with
altar offerings, small tithes, and 2½ yardlands of
glebe, but in 1254 it seems to have been valued at
only 20s.; perhaps the small tithes had been
included with the great tithes, which the vicar
farmed for 10 marks. (fn. 184) In 1341 the value of the
glebe and hay tithe was said to be 40s. (fn. 185) The
vicarage, assessed at £8 13s. 4d. in 1535, (fn. 186)
comprised in 1595 2 yardlands of glebe and all
small tithes. (fn. 187) In 1715 the living was worth
£75 12s. a year. (fn. 188) At inclosure in 1794 the vicarial
tithes were extinguished, the vicar receiving
120 a. in compensation. (fn. 189) In 1831 and 1851 the
living was worth £250 gross, all derived from
land. (fn. 190)
The vicarage house was taxed on 3 hearths in
1665, and contained 6 or 7 rooms in 1672; in 1685
it comprised 5 bays of building with a barn,
dovehouse, and stable. (fn. 191) It was let for much of
the 18th century and the early 19th, from 1794 to
the tenant of the glebe farm; curates and vicars
lived in the manor house, lent by the Dashwoods,
until c. 1846 when the house was required for Sir
George Dashwood's son. The vicar moved to the
vicarage house which he rebuilt in 1864 to
designs by W. Wilkinson. (fn. 192)
The only medieval incumbent known to have
studied at Oxford was Richard Castleton, vicar
1508–32. (fn. 193) He lived in Duns Tew, farming his
glebe, for most of his incumbency. His life style
seems to have been that of a prosperous farmer; at
his death he owned at least 7 cows and 39 sheep, a
maser and 6 silver spoons, and a parishioner later
remembered hunting with him. He had a woman
in his house c. 1520 and had failed to recover a
chalice lent a year before to another priest. His
successor John Andrews (d. 1545) left at least 8
cattle and 30 sheep. (fn. 194)
The medieval church contained, in addition to
the rood and its light, two statues of the Virgin
Mary, and pictures or statues of the 12 apostles,
the Trinity, St. John, St. Catherine, and St.
Dominic. Richard Castleton, by will dated 1532,
provided for the observance of his obit in the
church; the obit had apparently ceased by 1552,
but the 4 cattle and 20 sheep which he had left to
the Easter sepulchre were still held by the
church, as were a cottage and lands given at an
unknown date to support lights. (fn. 195)
In 1549 the vicar, Richard Thompson, was
sentenced to be hanged at Banbury for his part
in an uprising against the religious policies
of Edward VI's government, but he survived
to resign the living in 1554. (fn. 196) Ralph Shevin,
vicar 1557–95, conformed to the Elizabethan
settlement. (fn. 197)
The later 16th-century and the 17th-century
vicars were resident and cultivated their glebe.
Shevin's successor, Ellis Burgess, a former fellow
of St. John's College, had stock and goods,
including money on bond, worth the comparatively large sum of £195 at his death in 1635. His
son-in-law and successor Nicholas Coxeter
(d. 1672) also owned stock and farm implements,
but among his most valuable possessions were his
books, worth £14. He was apparently deprived
during the Interregnum. (fn. 198) Nathaniel Collier,
vicar 1676–91, kept a school in the parish. (fn. 199)
Shevin in 1572 and 1595 and Collier in 1691 and
1692 were involved in disputes over tithes with
the Reads: Shevin successfully proved his right
to hay tithe from all the Reads' lands and Collier
to his right to tithe of new crops such as turnips
and of barren cattle, and also to an acre of glebe
meadow. (fn. 200)
Almost all the 18th-century vicars were nonresident; the first of them, Meredith Vaughan,
1691–1734 leased his glebe and tithes to a farmer;
in 1705 he published an attack both on his tenant
and on Sir Thomas Wheate of Glympton who
had supported the tenant. (fn. 201) The living was
served by curates at a salary of £30. In 1738 the
curate was resident; from 1756 until 1791 the
cure was served by Lionel Lampet, who also
taught at the grammar school in Steeple Aston,
where he lived. Throughout the period the
church was comparatively well served with 2
services on Sundays and communion 4 times a
year for between 30 and 40 communicants. (fn. 202) In
1793 the resident vicar found his parishioners
'a set of well disposed regular church-going
people'. (fn. 203)
William Gorden, vicar 1794–1836, was at first
tutor to Sir Henry Dashwood's family at Kirtlington and then interned in France from 1804 to
1814. The churchwardens complained in 1797
that the curate from Deddington held only one
Sunday service and in 1809, when the curate
lived in Oxford, that the church had not been
regularly served. (fn. 204) Matters improved in 1812
with the appointment of a resident curate, Edward
Marshall, who also served Steeple Barton, at a
salary increased to £50. Gorden was resident
himself from 1815 onwards, and at the end of his
incumbency reported average congregations of
c. 200, and 36–40 communicants. (fn. 205)
Duns Tew does not seem to have shared in the
religious revival of the mid 19th century, although
the church was restored in 1862. In 1860, perhaps
at the suggestion of Bishop Wilberforce, the
vicar, Archibald Malcolm, increased the number
of communion services to one a month. On
Census Sunday in 1851 there were 70 adults in
church in the morning and 90 in the afternoon, in
addition to 80 Sunday school children. The
number of communicants had fallen to c. 25 by
1854. (fn. 206) Apart from a slight increase in the
number of communicants there seems to have
been little change in church life or services until
1902 when a new vicar introduced a weekly
communion service. Some of his successors were
also in the High Church tradition, and in 1967
an aumbrey was installed for the reservation of
the sacrament. (fn. 207)
The church of ST. MARY MAGDALENE (fn. 208)
comprises chancel with north aisle or organ
chamber, nave with north aisle and south porch,
and west tower. The south doorway and a lancet
window in the north wall of the chancel survive
from a late 12th- or early 13th-century building.
The church was extensively remodelled in the
late 13th or early 14th century, and enlarged by
the building of a north aisle, of which the arcade
of three bays with capitals decorated with carved
heads survives. The tower and south porch seem
to have been built in the late 14th or early 15th
century, and about the same time new windows
were inserted in the east wall of the chancel and
the walls of the nave and north aisle. The rood
screen, preserved until 1861, was of similar
date. (fn. 209)
The south side of the church was largely
destroyed in 1647, probably by the fall of the
upper stages of the tower, and was rebuilt, using
some of the old materials, in 1664 and 1665. (fn. 210)
The chancel was repaired c. 1798 and c. 1830. (fn. 211)
The church was restored in 1861 and 1862 to
designs by Sir G. G. Scott at the expense of Sir
Henry Dashwood. The chancel and north aisle
were completely rebuilt, the north aisle being
widened, the south wall of the nave was partly
rebuilt, and the south porch reroofed. A portion
of the rood screen was preserved against the
south wall of the chancel but had disappeared by
1981. (fn. 212) The chancel was rearranged in 1924, the
eastern end being screened off to form a sacristy.
In 1976 a fragment of a medieval crucifixion
scene in stone was erected under a medieval
canopy north of the chancel arch. (fn. 213)
The font is probably 12th-century. (fn. 214) There are
no early memorials, but in the chancel are three
wall plaques to 19th- and 20th-century members
of the Dashwood family, and in the tower is
a marble tablet to the vicar William Gorden
(d. 1837). There are five bells: (i) 1790, (ii) 1660,
(iii) 1694, (iv) 1858, and (v) 1768. (fn. 215)
The plate includes a silver chalice and paten
cover of 1575, and a pair of patens of 1720 given
to the church in 1832. (fn. 216)
Nonconformity.
In the early 19th century
one or two Catholics were reportedly attended by
a 'Mr. Brock', presumably Fr. Rock, the priest at
Radford, in Enstone. (fn. 217) In 1817 there was one
Catholic family, the Simkinses, in the parish and
they attended the chapel at Kiddington. (fn. 218)
Six parishioners were excommunicated for
non-attendance at church between 1662 and
1665, nine nonconformists were reported in
1676, and three Anabaptists in 1682. (fn. 219) Members
of three Duns Tew families were recorded as
Quakers between 1705 and 1771. (fn. 220)
A newly built Baptist chapel was registered in
1809 by six people, including a 'missionary' from
Chipping Norton. (fn. 221) Methodists are known to
have been meeting in Duns Tew by 1811, and in
1817 there were eight or ten, all of whom also
attended the parish church except a man and his
wife whose house had been fitted up for worship. (fn. 222)
In 1840 and 1841 Richard Harper, Richard
Thatchell, and John Goodwin applied for licences
for their houses to be used as meeting places. In
1851 Goodwin claimed for a Primitive Methodist
meeting in a private house an average congregation of c. 55 people. (fn. 223) There were congregations
of 40 to 50 in 1857, but by 1869 the number had
reputedly fallen to 22, meeting in a licensed
room. (fn. 224) The vicar claimed in 1878 that there
were 'very few' nonconformists, but in 1890
there was a Primitive Methodist revival, and the
Salvation Army was also said to be active in the
parish. (fn. 225)
Education.
A Sunday school was established
at Duns Tew in 1798 at the expense of William
Wilson, a wealthy landowner in Nether and Over
Worton and a zealous promoter of religious
education in the area. By 1808 the teacher was
also running a day school at a charge of 2d. a
week, a fee that was reportedly beyond the means
of the parents of all but 20 children in the village.
In 1815 the day school was attended by 8 boys
and 8 girls, but some of the 50 children attending
the Sunday school went to a day school in
Deddington which was run, unlike that in Duns
Tew, on the National plan. (fn. 226) The Sunday school
had been converted to the National system by
1818, but the only day schools were three or four
dame schools, teaching 30–50 children at their
parents' expense, until 1830 when Sir George
Dashwood provided and equipped a school
building. (fn. 227) The school received no endowment,
however, and parents paid fees. Two dame
schools remained in existence until the 1850s,
and for a time attracted almost as many children,
c. 20 between them, as the new school. In the
1830s c. 70 children attended the Sunday school,
the master of which was then paid by William
Wilson's son, the Revd. William Wilson; clothing
and books for the children were supplied by
parishioners. (fn. 228)
In 1854 the village school taught 45 boys and
34 girls, some of them from outside the parish,
and was praised for its high standards. An
average of 60 pupils attended daily. A further 36
children attended the two dame schools. (fn. 229) Until a
government grant was received in 1867 the
village school continued to rely entirely on fees,
which ranged from 1½d. to 6d. according to
parents' means. The schoolmaster also provided
evening classes four nights a week. (fn. 230) Although in
1868 the demands of work were not thought to
interfere much with schooling, it was said that
'boys go to plough here sometimes not higher
than the plough handles'. At that time there was
an average attendance of 40 children by day and
23 by night. (fn. 231)
A new school for 100 children was built in
1874, but the number on the register declined in
the later 19th century and early 20th. (fn. 232) By 1921
there were only 26 children on the register,
most of them described as 'extremely backward'
and 'impervious to instruction'. In 1928 senior
children were transferred to Steeple Aston, and
Duns Tew became a junior school with 18
children on the register. In 1969 the school was
closed because it was too small, and in the
following year the building was taken over as the
village hall. (fn. 233) In 1979 junior children attended
Steeple Aston primary school, senior children
Warriner Comprehensive school at Bloxham. (fn. 234)
Charities for the Poor.
William Raves
(d. 1631) by will left £40 to be loaned 'on good
security' free of interest to the poor of Duns Tew,
no one to receive more than £5 or less than £1. (fn. 235)
In the late 18th century there was uncertainty
over the terms of the bequest which, it was
thought, should comprise £40 to be lent with
interest and £40 without. The actual money
available had shrunk to £19. (fn. 236) By 1825 the
trustees believed that interest should be charged
on loans to landholders but not on loans to
tradesmen; at that date £33 was on loan, £10 was
in the hands of the vicar, and £17 had been
written off as bad debts. Interest received was
paid out in money and fuel at Christmas. (fn. 237)
Elizabeth Chamberlain (d. 1819) bequeathed
£5 5s., the income to be distributed to the poor of
Duns Tew as her executors saw fit. They gave
away 5s. and invested the remainder, the interest
being distributed with the Raves bequest at
Christmas. (fn. 238) The capital of the two charities had
increased to £41 by 1868 and to £58 a century
later, when the income was £1 8s. (fn. 239)
At inclosure in 1794 c. 5 a. was allotted as
poors' land in exchange for furze-cutting rights. (fn. 240)
Rent from the land was £12 12s. in 1825, £15 in
1871, and £20 in 1971, the money used to buy
coal which was distributed at irregular intervals. (fn. 241)
Amalgamation of all the charities was proposed repeatedly from 1969 but postponed in
1974 for the lifetime of the then tenant of the
poors' land. (fn. 242)