SANDFORD ON THAMES
The parish is a mile deep and a little over two miles
long with an area of 1,005 acres. Bryant's map of
1824 shows a triangular extension into the parish
of Garsington, its hypotenuse on Blackberry Lane,
the present eastern boundary. Two important
lines of communication cross Sandford; the main
Oxford-Henley road and the Thames. The western
boundary runs up the river, turns west below the
lock and follows the western channel to the weir.
Here it turns east and comes up over another weir
into the main stream opposite Temple Farm. The
third milestone from Oxford falls outside the parish
to the north, the fourth a little within its southern
boundary.
The land is flat and scantily wooded. The sandy
nature of the soil accounts for the village's name—
Sandy ford. (fn. 1) Through the middle, however, from
east to west runs a strip of clay, its northern edge
marked by the remains of brickworks (fn. 2) dated 1900,
which were able to use the sand pits to the north and
the clay immediately to the south until the quantity
of stones in it made the process too expensive. The
works were acquired in 1951 by Messrs. Crapper,
of Cowley, as a caravan site. Apart from a number
of houses along the main road, others along Sandford
road (mentioned in a charter of 1240 as alta via), (fn. 3)
and a row of mid-19th-century cottages by the mill
built for mill workers and still used by them, the
country is open, with only four scattered farms.
There is no inclosure award and the early date of
inclosure (fn. 4) has made it difficult to trace the situation
of medieval fields, of which there are many names in
documents of about 1240 and 1512. (fn. 5) Comparing
these with a scale map of 1849 (fn. 6) the following medieval names can be placed: terra sancte Margarete
(c. 1240) is the square field that has the Henley road
as its east boundary, and its south-east corner a few
yards north of the milestone. 'Redelondes' (c. 1240)
or 'Redlonde' (1512) lies south of the brickworks
and stretches east towards the occupation road
leading from south to north to Black Barn (Lower
Barn in 1849). 'Middelfordlong' (c. 1240 and 1512)
was juxta quarreram which lies just north-east of
the brickworks. The similarity of names and
boundaries shows that there were few changes
between 1240 and 1512, but on the analogy of other
monastic properties that were ready-made residential estates, (fn. 7) it is likely that inclosure started
soon after the manor changed hands after the
Dissolution. The common land first referred to in
1050 (fn. 8) ran along the Thames and to the east of the
mill and was the 'comyn eyte' of 1512. (fn. 9) In 1813
Arthur Young described the parish as having
'strong land', 'clay, enclosed: both grass and
arable'. (fn. 10) And in 1916 the mixture of arable and
pasture and gardens was described as 'the inevitable
nondescript farming which is so general in the
neighbourhood of towns'. (fn. 11)
Domesday Book mentions 18 persons, who were
likely to be resident with their families; of these,
10 were villeins and 8 bordars. There were in addition some workers on the demesne whose numbers
are not given. (fn. 12) In 1279 there were 26 recorded
tenants, of whom 3 were described as free. (fn. 13) In
1377, when the poll tax returns give the names of
59 persons over 14, (fn. 14) the total population was
perhaps between 75 and 100. It seems to have
declined if anything by the end of the 17th century,
for in 1676 only 54 people over 16 were returned for
the Compton Census. (fn. 15) Whether the fair mentioned
in the last decade of the 14th century (fn. 16) had any effect
on population there is no means of telling; it is not
mentioned at any other period. Travellers were
provided for on the Henley road, for the 'Catherine
Wheel' was in existence in 1770, (fn. 17) but the ferry does
not seem to have had an inn—the 'King's Arms'—
until the latter half of the 19th century. (fn. 18) Apart
from the owner of the mill, the lord of the manor,
if resident, and the occupants of the principal farms,
were the only inhabitants with any pretensions
to moderate wealth. There were no industries to
attract labour save the recent brickworks and the
paper mill. This last is probably largely responsible
for the rise of about 178 inhabitants in 1801 to 432
in 1951; it employs about 90 hands. The parish
remains, as it began, largely agricultural. (fn. 19)
The main farms are Minchery Farm, Temple
Farm, and Rock Farm. The first two deserve some
mention. Minchery Farm, half a mile due east of
Littlemore asylum, is on the site of Littlemore
Priory and was once famed for its picturesqueness.
Hearne illustrated it (fn. 20) in 1722, showing a round
pigeon loft that had been rebuilt from outhouses
ruined in the great storm of 1703. It is mentioned
in 1396 (fn. 21) and gave the name 'Pigeon house closes'
(1849) (fn. 22) to the land now called 'Minchery close'. It
no longer exists. The barn to the north has gone too,
where Hearne believed the chapter-house to have
stood. Nor is there any sign of the church, the old
roofless building on the north-east of the farm-house
being, in spite of local legend, only an outhouse of
about 1500. Nor is there any sign of the 'old table
at which the nuns used to dine' and which in
Hearne's day was still used at harvest homes and
sheep-shearings. (fn. 23) Both he and Anthony Wood
mention the pleasant walks, the fine trees, the groves
and fishponds. Wood (fn. 24) saw enough to declare the
north end of the main building to have been the
refectory. This, by 1850, was partitioned off for
cottagers' rooms (fn. 25) and now contains storerooms.
The chapel stood north again of this, and in 1661
coffins were still being dug up there and human
bones have been turned up in living memory. Of the
stone coffin used as a trough in 1850 (fn. 26) there is no
trace. But it was the combination of grounds and
house that made Hearne declare it a place 'altogether agreeable to the Beauty of these times.' (fn. 27) By
1880 most of the trees had been felled, the plantations had gone, the railway and the sewage farm had
intruded. (fn. 28) Today there is only one fishpond, west
of the house. The building itself incorporates some
early-16th-century work, especially on the east side
where most of the windows are of this date, and
in the course of reconstructions stones from the
original structure were no doubt used. Since 1807
there has been little change in essentials, save the
addition of a cooling-house on the north and the
taking down of an outhouse on the south-west. (fn. 29)
But the building is neglected, the roof leaking, the
fine early oak staircase in need of attention. Minchery
is from the Old English mynecenu, 'nun', and means
'nunnery'. (fn. 30) The stream running north of the house
was once called the Rhee. Roman pottery kilns excavated here in 1879 were of some importance, being
unexpected in the otherwise rural economy of
Roman Oxfordshire. (fn. 31)
Temple Farm, in the north-west corner of the
parish, was the seat of the manor and was called
Manor Farm at least until 1849. (fn. 32) Hearne, in 1722,
took an engraver with him to 'have a Draught of
it'. (fn. 33) The results, in three views of his Ectypa, (fn. 34)
enable us to see how little even of these buildings
remains. The fabric of the main block is largely 18th
century, though it has some Tudor windows, at the
south end, for instance, and there is a stone carved
with a cross pattée set over the main east door which
may be a relic of the Hospitallers, and another coat
of arms, possibly of 15th century date, is on the west
side. The same is true of certain details, a door on
the north, a four-light window on the east of the
barn to the south of the farm-house. (fn. 35) This was
considered by Hearne to be the chapel, and though
the details are old, they date from the régime of the
Hospitallers (after c. 1325) rather than from that of
the Templars. Stone coffins could be seen in the
barn floor into the 1920's. (fn. 36) The manor-house that
Leland described (fn. 37) was all gone by 1805 (fn. 38) and so
was the supposed infirmary that stood on its north
side. Only the barn on the south remains, much
altered in the last hundred years. In the walled
garden to the north is a doorway with the date 1614
carved over it. (fn. 39)
The mill is by Sandford lock. The only part of the
early-19th-century building remaining is the wing
built out over the river. In 1826 it was L-shaped, the
longer arm running downstream. Buckler's view
makes it look romantic and un-English, with its tali
slatted air-drying lofts where the damp paper was
hung. (fn. 40) Their site is now that of the steam turbine
house. The mill, which specializes in wrapping
papers, was reconstructed in 1926 and extended in
1949, the southernmost buildings along the river
being of this date. The mill house is almost as it
was in 1826. (fn. 41) The school, on the west side of the
church, was built in 1860 and extended in 1868. (fn. 42)
A reading-room or village hall on the south side
of Sandford Road, was built on the initiative of
W. E. Sherwood, the vicar from 1901 to 1910.
Manor.
The first mention of SANDFORD is in
a charter of 811 in which Kenulf, King of the
Mercians, gives 10 manentes there to Abingdon
Abbey. (fn. 43) Another 5 cassati were given to the abbey
by Athelstan in a charter of 931, (fn. 44) and it received
another 8½ in 1034 from a vir praepotens, Athelward, (fn. 45) though here, as from time to time through
the entire record of the parish, it cannot be certain
that 'Samford' refers to Sandford on Thames and
not to Dry Sandford (Berks.), or Sandford St.
Martin near Steeple Aston. This, however, is the
only doubtful case to be mentioned in this account.
In 1050 Edward the Confessor gave Earl Godwin
4 hides, (fn. 46) and these too were given to the Abbot of
Abingdon on Godwin's death in 1054, at the suggestion of his heir Harold. (fn. 47) Four years previously,
however, the abbot had transferred his rights in
Sandford to a poor priest Blacheman, to whom he
had given permission to build a church dedicated to
St. Andrew near the monastery. The building was
to be carried out with the profits from Sandford
and other lands the priest was given at the same
time. (fn. 48) And so matters stood on the eve of the Conquest. (fn. 49) But Blacheman chose exile rather than
submission to the victor and his land met the fate
of the other recalcitrants; only strenuous efforts on
the part of the abbot led to its restitution by the
Conqueror. (fn. 50)
In Domesday Book (fn. 51) Sandford is listed as one of
the lands of St. Mary of Abingdon. There were
15 hides in all, including the 10 formerly held of the
abbey by Blacheman. Wenric held all but I hide,
which was held by Robert and Roger, both un
identified. Wenric, on the other hand, has been
identified with some confidence as Gueres de
Palences. (fn. 52) who heads the list of military tenants of
the abbey in its chronicle, (fn. 53) with 4 knights' fees
in Sandford and other places, including 4 hides
in Bayworth and Sunningwell (Berks.), 5 hides in
Chilton and more in Leverton. The Bayworth holding passed after 1240 to a daughter of Adam de
Pyriton, heir of Thomas de Sandford. In 1329 it
passed to the Abbot of Abingdon and had no further
connexion with Sandford. (fn. 54) Similarly, the Chilton
land passed to the Sandfords, and from them to the
Paynels by the first half of the 14th century. (fn. 55) The
odd hide in Sandford might have been the one
which we find in 1123–33 belonging to the church
of St. George in Oxford castle (fn. 56) and transferred with
the church to the Abbey of Oseney in 1149. (fn. 57) The
connexion of the Sandford family (of whom we first
hear with Robert de Sandford, a knight of the
Abbey of Abingdon in 1111, and his son Jordan)
with the de Palences is not clear. It is possible that
a branch of the family took the name from the
Sandford gift while still living at Bayworth. (fn. 58)
Certainly by about 1240 they had given away nearly
half their lands at Sandford.
Robert de Sandford founded Littlemore Priory
(the Mynchery) by a charter of about 1150–60 (fn. 59) and
endowed it with 6 virgates of land and 4 acres of
pasture, (fn. 60) and his daughter Christine became a nun
there. (fn. 61) In 1177 Roger de Sandford added a third
part of his island at Keniton, (fn. 62) the northernmost of
the islands between the two channels, in the parish
of Radley (Berks.), for the nuns' church of St.
Nicholas. (Beside this island the Sandford family also
owned a parcel of land in Berkshire round Fiddler's
Elbow, necessary for the working of the weir on
which the mill depended. This belonged to the mill
into the 1930's.) This endowment was insufficient,
and in 1214 Innocent III granted a relaxation of ten
days of enjoined penance to all who should aid the
prioress and convent to rebuild their church opere
non modicum sumptuoso. (fn. 63) In 1254 the priory got
another virgate, this time from Thomas Bussell de
Sandford and Mabel his wife (daughter of Ralph de
Sandford) for the souls of Ralph and his wife
Millicent. (fn. 64)
In about 1240 Thomas, son of Thomas de Sandford, gave his whole lands at Sandford to the order
of the Temple at Cowley in free alms. (fn. 65) This gift
followed smaller ones to the same order, which in
or about 1219 received from the Sandford family a
mill, (fn. 66) a fishery, (fn. 67) and meadowland, (fn. 68) and a yet
earlier one of 4 acres in about 1150. (fn. 69) Thomas the
younger had himself become a Templar, and not
long after receipt of his gift the order moved its
headquarters from Temple Cowley to Sandford.
The Sandford cartulary, begun between 1265 and
1274, (fn. 70) was probably a product of this move.
These gifts did not comprise the whole fee of
Sandford, for in 1242 the Templars and Ralph de
Sandford each held 1 knight's fee of the Abbot of
Abingdon. (fn. 71) In 1279, (fn. 72) the Templars held 3½ hides
by duty of castle-guard at Windsor. The same service
(or its commuted form) was required of the heirs of
Ralph de Sandford, who held 5 hides. The remaining hide still belonged to the Abbot of Oseney. The
gift of the manor to the Temple was confirmed at
the end of the century by Katherine Paynel, heir of
Ralph, through her father Adam de Pyriton. (fn. 73) The
order was dissolved in 1312. Its lands, including the
priory, which belonged to the manor with its advowson, (fn. 74) were transferred to the Hospitallers, but not
immediately, for we find no mention of them in a list
of tenants in chief of 1313. (fn. 75) Of the 5 hides of the
heir of Ralph there is no further mention. Judging
from an inventory of 1512, (fn. 76) this land seems to have
been in the unproductive eastern half of the parish;
sandy and wooded, it can have had, apart from the
Minchery pastures, little value.
By 1325 we come to the first (fn. 77) of a number of
references to the Hospitallers. (fn. 78) In 1438, for
instance, Robert Malorre, Prior of the Hospitallers'
Priory of England, in reply to a request from
Eugenius IV for information about the lands belonging to his order, sent a list which included the
chambers (camere) in Sandford. (fn. 79) The Prioress of
Littlemore retained her lands there, and the Oseney
hide continued to yield a steady income to its abbey. (fn. 80)
A good picture of the manor is given in 1512 (fn. 81) by
a rent book made by Sir Thomas Leland, who was
sent to Oxfordshire by the special mandate of
Thomas Docwra, prior of the order. The two watermills are mentioned and two fisheries, one from the
main mill to Lasher's weir, the other from there to
Iffley. Round the brothers' house are orchards and
dovecotes. The holdings of Oseney and Littlemore
are scattered among those of individuals whose
names occur in subsidy lists later in the century,
Stokkers, Deys, and Carters. The land noted
amounts very roughly to 250 acres.
Littlemore Priory was suppressed by papal bull
in 1524 and given to Wolsey for his new college at
Oxford, being worth then £33 6s. 8d. (fn. 82) The Priory
of the Hospitallers may have already met the same
fate. The Hospitallers were dissolved as an order
when their prior refused to accept Henry VIII's
claim of royal supremacy. Sandford Preceptory
passed to Wolsey, and on his fall was conveyed,
along with Littlemore, to the king in 1530. (fn. 83)
The manor was bought in 1542 (fn. 84) by Edmund
Powell, a Welshman. He came to Oxfordshire and
in 1537 was under-steward at Ewelme. (fn. 85) He had
bought one of the two houses of the dissolved White
Friars in Oxford in 1541 (fn. 86) before he settled in
Sandford. The property was rounded off when the
possessions of Littlemore Priory were made over to
him by their last lay possessor in 1549. (fn. 87) He was succeeded by his son, also Edmund, who died in 1592, (fn. 88)
and then by his grandson, another Edmund, who
died in 1632. (fn. 89) The fourth generation heir was
named Edmund like his father, who had settled the
property on him in tail male; he obtained the
Littlemore property on his marriage to Winifred
Throckmorton. (fn. 90)
John Powell, son of Edmund, succeeded, but in
1653 demised the manor to John Spicer of Gray's
Inn and George Cale for the payment of debts. (fn. 91)
They were unable to touch it because the recusancy
of Winifred, John's mother, caused it to be sequestered. She lived with her children in St. Giles',
Oxford, and died in 1667. (fn. 92) Her plea for the restitution of the manor seems to have been successful, for
in 1696 the family was resident again, though still
recusant. (fn. 93) John Powell, her son, married Catherine
Petre, and when their eldest son, Edmund, died
during John's lifetime, the second son, John,
became heir and succeeded in 1678. His lands were
valued in 1717 at £351. (fn. 94) The last mention of him
is in 1727, when Hearne relates that he 'did not
speak with him, as I designed, he being private
in a room by himself taking a knap'. (fn. 95) He had
married Anne Wyndham, but their two sons died
young and the estate descended in 1730 to coheirs,
Winifred and Catherine. (fn. 96) On Catherine's marriage
it fell to Winifred, who married Sir Francis Curson
of Waterperry and, in 1760, sold the manor. (fn. 97)
The lord in 1785 was Thomas Walker, described
as non-resident, (fn. 98) and in 1791 the Duke of Marlborough; the Duke of Marlborough was still lord in
1854. (fn. 99) The estate had become split up by 1849 and
when it was sold in that year, (fn. 100) Minchery Farm and
the land immediately south (including Black Barn,
then called Lower Barn) and east to the parish
boundary, remained outside, though it continued
to pay a rent-charge to the duke. The proprietor of
this land was James Morrell. The mill also remained
with the executors of the late miller, James Swan.
The land sold comprised about 500 acres, the proportion of meadow: pasture: arable being 1:2:3. In
1864 Mrs. Hussey was lady of the manor, (fn. 101) though
the Duke of Marlborough was still principal landowner. In 1883 she had succeeded him and was lady
and chief landowner. By 1889 Rock Farm had been
broken off from the Morrell holding and sold to
Messrs. Benfield & Loxley, contractors of Oxford. (fn. 102)
It comprised about 115 acres. (fn. 103) By 1898 Mrs. Lee
Hill had succeeded Mrs. Hussey (fn. 104) and in 1902, when
Magdalen College bought Temple Farm, they became lords of the manor, but in recent years all
rights have lapsed.
Changes continued. Rock Farm was conveyed to
A. B. Kerwood in 1924 (fn. 105) and Magdalen bought it in
1928, (fn. 106) only redeeming the corn rent-charge due to
the Duke of Marlborough in 1944. The college owns
458 acres in all, the boundaries of their holding
being: the whole west edge of the parish; the south
edge as far as Bushy Copse; thence south and west
to Black Barn and the Old Quarry but including the
sand pit to the north edge of the parish; thence
along the north edge to the river. Inside this area,
they have never owned the mill nor the brickworks
nor some of the house property on the Sandford or
Henley roads; the field north of Margaretts Furlong
they have sold to Hartwell's Properties.
The eastern part of the parish now belongs to the
Oxford Corporation, and was acquired, including
Minchery Farm, in 1877, two years after the passing
of the Public Health Act, for conveying sewage from
the City of Oxford from the pumping station at
Littlemore to a new sewage farm there. The assignment mentions the various leases covered, the earliest
being three Elizabethan ones, the first dated 1580. (fn. 107)
The area involved was 334 acres, 257 arable and
42 pasture, and the rest buildings, &c. Minchery
Farm, surrounded on three sides by sewage, is still
a farm, with about 63 acres, mostly pasture.
Mills And Lock.
Domesday Book mentions
two fisheries but says nothing of a mill. We first hear
of one in a charter of about 1170, (fn. 108) in which Jordan
de Sandford gives William the miller the mill of
Sandford with its appurtenances, that is to say, the
island of 'Spireheyt' (opposite the present mill) and
'Lokeselp' (the smaller island north of it, called
Lock Meadow in 1849), (fn. 109) a small island which is
above the weir (? the pointed island opposite Temple
Farm), three small islands (they can be seen from
Fiddler's Elbow) which are sub gardino meo de
Saunford, and the water above the mill as far as
'Westwer' (? the weir on the Thames between the
first two islands mentioned). The water below the
weir was called Lasher Pool in 1849 (fn. 110) and a fishery
is mentioned in 1512 as running in the water from
the mill to 'Ashire Lake'. (fn. 111) It is probable, then, that
this mill, which was a corn mill, dealing with both
white and coarse bread, (fn. 112) was on the site of the
present paper mill.
It was transferred before 1219 (fn. 113) by Thomas de
Sandford to the Temple. The Master of the Templars
took on the burdens as well as the profits of the gift,
for in January 1219 he was engaged in a lawsuit with
the wife and daughter of Alward, the late miller. (fn. 114)
Another charter of about 1219 (fn. 115) mentions a fulling
mill which seems to have lain north of the present
mill, possibly on the stream below Lasher's Pool,
the gula aque que intrat de Thamisia versus predictum
molendinum. It could have been controlled, in this
case, from the weir on the Thames referred to above.
To these mills a third must be added, owned by
the nuns of Littlemore. A document dated 1266–
74 (fn. 116) places this on the north of an area bounded on
the west by the Templars' gardens, on the east by
Walter Froggepitte's land, and on the south by the
magna via de Saunford. Taking this to be the present
Sandford Road, the mill was on the stream that runs
north of Temple Farm, and which then must have
run more strongly. But none of these limits is
certain, and the Hundred Rolls (fn. 117) of 1279 seem to
imply that all three mills (then held by the Templars)
were on the Thames. The chief mill with its fish
weir called 'le lok', i.e. the future flashlock in the
west channel, provided a rent of £12 per annum in
1519, (fn. 118) some of which, at least, went to Littlemore
Priory. (fn. 119) Fifteen years later the rent of the mill
alone was only 20s. (fn. 120) Two mills are again mentioned
in 1601, (fn. 121) when they were in the possession of the
Powell family, and they are described in 1681 as
'water gristmills'. (fn. 122) The last mention of two is in
1694. (fn. 123)
The system of weirs was not efficient, and in
1678 and 1703 (fn. 124) occur examples of the frequent
compensation paid to the millers in flood years. In
1768 a fire entirely destroyed the mill and dwellinghouse, the damage being estimated at the considerable sum of £842. (fn. 125) And a map of 1797 shows
the lock but no mill beside it. (fn. 126) An improved
version was built soon after, however, as is shown
by the account published in the first number of the
Oxford Herald, in May 1806, of a subscription
opened 'for relief of the widow and four children of
Thos. Durbridge who was torn in pieces by the
machinery at Sandford mill'. This is described as
a paper mill in 1826, (fn. 127) and it has so remained. It
was owned by the Clarendon Press in 1881, (fn. 128) when
they bought the old pound lock to form the headrace
for an additional mill wheel, and was bought by the
present owners, Messrs. Cannon and Clapperton,
in about 1910. This private company was amalgamated in 1936 as Cannon and Clapperton, a branch
of Alders (Tamworth) Ltd. The mill has gradually
become independent of water power, a process
hastened by the widening of Iffley weir and the
frequent use of the lock by pleasure boats. It is
probable that water power had only worked the
beating machines even in the 19th century, as the
presses require steady power. Steam power was replaced by electricity in 1928, being now used only
for the steam turbine; the mill produces its own
electricity.
Until 1624 there was no lock in the present sense.
There was a flashlock (i.e. a weir with removable
stakes), where the iron bridge and weir are at
present, opposite Fiddler's Elbow. The island it
joins was called Lock Meadow as late as 1849, and
the water below the weir, now Sandford Pool, was
then Old Lock Pool. (fn. 129) Further proof that 'Samfords
Lock' was here is given by an assertion in 1580 that
it was in the parish of Kennington; this could not
have been said about a lock in the present position.
Evidence of the ferry (south of the mill) having
extended some hundred yards farther west than the
present river bank (fn. 130) shows that the right-hand
channel was much wider at one time than it is now,
and explains why a flashlock should have been built
there rather than in the left-hand channel. The mill's
head was preserved by a weir of its own and by the
weir that keeps the Thames from running into
Lasher's Pool. A flash at Fiddler's Elbow would, of
course, affect the level of water at the mill, and when
the mill lock was built it could lose its head in two
ways, a predicament that led to the disputes noted
below.
The first mention of the flashlock was in Edward
III's reign, when, according to later evidence, the
men of Oxford broke down the locks which had been
raised. (fn. 131) It was the dependence of the mill on this
flashlock that caused it to be let together with the
mill in 1519. (fn. 132) And this lock may have continued in
use even when the new one was built in the other
channel. A flashlock is mentioned in a timetable of
1826 (fn. 133) that showed that the Iffley flash took two
hours to get to Sandford, and the Sandford flash
four hours to get to Abingdon. But traffic by this
route must have been very slight by then, for the
channel was shrinking, and when in 1795, due to
repairs on the mill lock, barges had to use the flashlock, it was only with great difficulty, and one boat
sank in trying to get through. (fn. 134)
Up to the 17th century traffic was inefficient, and
the increasingly large barges found it hard to pass
the shallows between Nuneham and Sandford. So
when the 1624 Act was passed for the improvement
of waterways, pioneer works were started on this
stretch, at Iffley, Sandford, and Swift Ditch (near
Nuneham Courtenay railway bridge). The Sandford
lock was complete by 1632, and by 1635 barges
could come clear up to Oxford. The lock was administered under the 1624 Act by eight commissioners, four from the University and four from the
City of Oxford. It was leased to Richard Farmer
in 1638, but the commissioners resumed it in the
following year. In 1647 it was known as Sandford
mill turnpike and was repaired. (fn. 135) And by this time it
was seen that navigation problems had not been
solved. An account book gives a sharp picture. (fn. 136)
The depth of water below the turnpike, or lock, was
so low that boats still depended on the miller to give
them a flash of extra water from his sluices to enable
them to come up to it and warp themselves through.
For such a flash they had to pay a fee to the miller.
Normally this should have presented no difficulty,
for the miller was required by law to keep the mill
grinding, and thus water passing, as long as he had
grist left to grind. But complaints were regularly
made that as soon as he saw a boat coming up river
he shut down the mill and forced the boatman either
to pay for a flash or to remain stranded for days
at a time, unable either to creep into the western
channel or approach the more convenient new lock.
The grievances of navigators against the millers of
Sandford, Abingdon, and Sutton came to such a
pitch that in 1652 (fn. 137) regulations were drawn up about
the granting of flashes, and fixing payments.
The account (fn. 138) of a fatal accident in 1735, when a
party of students, having caroused all night in a
coffee-house at Carfax, tried to 'shoot the lock',
probably refers to the flashlock; and that this was
being used (at least by down-stream traffic) to avoid
payment at the mill, is implied by a regulation of
1751 by which barge owners had to pay 4s. to the
proprietor of Sandford lock, whether it were used
or not. (fn. 139) The profits from Sandford and Iffley
together in 1775 were £43 and in 1796, £48. (fn. 140) The
three locks of the 1624 Oxford-Burcot authority
were sold to the Commissioners of the Thames
Navigation in 1790 for £600. They lengthened the
lock in 1793 from 87 to 120 feet at a cost of nearly
£1,800. But it was not a success and was soon described as having been an 'old decayed and shallow
lock, impossible at low water seasons without large
and frequent flashes'. This was in 1838, two years
after the completion of the present lock alongside
the Jacobean one. A lock-house was ordered in 1839,
and resident keepers, instead of the millers, took the
charges. The present lock-house was built in 1914.
From 1852 to 1864 Sandford lock was let by auction,
sometimes alone, sometimes with Iffley. When no
bidder met the reserve of £500 (Sandford had been
let alone for £200 in 1853) the Commissioners took
them back and continued to administer them.
Sandford lock is the deepest on the Thames, with a
fall of as much as 8 ft. 6 in. in time of low water. (fn. 141)
A ferry at Sandford is first referred to in a charter
of about 1219, (fn. 142) which makes it clear that the ferry
was below the mill—passagio aque cum navi subter
molendium de Saunford—and this is confirmed by
the discovery, in 1938, of a mounting block on the
northern side of the lane leading from the lock to
the Radley-Kennington road, about a hundred
yards from the present bank of the river. (fn. 143) The river
was much wider at this point, in fact. The position
of the ferry now marked on survey maps above the
lock only refers to the period since a bridge in 1867
linked the lock with the mainland. In 1279 Henry
le Passur held the ferry from the Templars for
5s. 4d., (fn. 144) and in 1295 it is granted by Henry 'son of
Adam the ferryman' to John Golding of Nuneham
and Scholastica his wife. (fn. 145) In March 1347 it was
alienated in mortmain to the Bishop of Winchester. (fn. 146)
Its value is shown by the fact that in 1388 it changed
hands again and yet once more in 1391. (fn. 147) And in
1467 the ferry with its barge was considered a
suitable reward for 'the king's servant, Henry
Chapman, groom of the saucery'. (fn. 148) In 1591 a
vagrant was drowned there while washing himself,
and the coroner sardonically named him 'John
Mutchwater'. (fn. 149) It is referred to as a free ferry in
1626 (fn. 150) and the shallowness of the river is commented on by a traveller of 1692 who noted: 'At
Sandford ferry, when the water is high, is a boat to
carry horse and man over.' (fn. 151) The ferry became, in
fact, a ford when the water was low. It is mentioned
again in 1727 by Hearne. (fn. 152)
In 1279 (fn. 153) a stone bridge near the mill is mentioned but there is no other record of it, nor can its
situation be guessed.
Church.
According to the Hundred Rolls (1279),
the church was founded by Gueres de Palances on
the fee of Ralph de Sandford. (fn. 154) The early descent
of the advowson is not clear. The right of presentation was in lay hands in 1204 (fn. 155) and in 1216 the king
presented. (fn. 156) By 1220, when it appears that the
ordination of a vicarage by Littlemore Priory was
under discussion, the advowson and rectory must
have been appropriated to the priory. (fn. 157) No vicarage
was ordained and during the Middle Ages the living
remained a stipendiary curacy. (fn. 158)
In 1295 Littlemore complained that the profits of
the church were insufficient to support the minister
and the bishop instructed the archdeacon to see that
the church was properly served. (fn. 159) It may have been
at this point that the Templars, as patrons of the
priory, (fn. 160) began to 'present' the curate on the nuns'
behalf. At all events, a suit of 1335 reveals that John,
a former prior of the Sandford Preceptory, had been
seised of the advowson and had presented a certain
William. After a dispute between the prior and
the Master of the Temple, it was decided that the
master should present at the next voidance and the
prior at the second. The master duly presented a
certain Robert, but before the second voidance the
Templars' order had been dissolved. The Prior of
the Hospitallers, as successor to the lands and rights
of the Templars, had twice presented to the church,
when Edward III claimed against the Hospitallers
the right to present on the grounds that the Templars'
lands had escheated to the Crown. Legal opinion
opposed the claim that the lands were escheats (fn. 161)
and the Hospitallers, since there is no record of
royal presentations, presumably continued to present. It is probable, however, that the prioress as
rector always paid the curate's salary. She was
certainly doing so in 1526 when it amounted to £2. (fn. 162)
In 1254 the rectory was valued at 53s. 4d. (fn. 163) . It was
too poor to be included in the Taxatio of 1291, and
in the 14th century it was assessed as before at
53s. 4d. (fn. 164) In 1496 the prioress was leasing it for
£3 6s. 8d. (fn. 165)
In 1537 the ecclesia sive capella of Sandford was
granted to Henry VIII's College, (fn. 166) and it no doubt
passed with the manor to the Powells. As they were
Roman Catholics they did not present to the
church, and presentations were sold to a number of
people who had no connexion with the parish. (fn. 167) The
right, however, remained with the Powells (fn. 168) and
descended with the manor until modern times; at
least there is no evidence to the contrary. In 1750
the proprietor was Lady Curson, (fn. 169) in 1808 and 1846
the Duke of Marlborough, (fn. 170) in 1867 a member of
the Hussey family, and in 1898 Mrs. Lee Hill. (fn. 171)
From her it passed to Magdalen College, which in
1950 granted the right to the Diocesan Board of
Patronage. (fn. 172)
As owners of the rectory the lords of the manor
collected the great tithes; a tithe suit of 1611 shows
that the curate was receiving small tithes and tithe
milk on Lammas Day. (fn. 173) No Tithe Commutation
Award has been traced; a terrier of 1898 states that
none was known. (fn. 174) In the early 18th century the
living was considered a perpetual curacy and exempt
from episcopal jurisdiction, (fn. 175) but by the early 19th
the bishop was being asked to licence the curate,
and the parish had become subject to episcopal
visitations. (fn. 176)
In the 13th century curates may have been
resident: there is a reference in about 1277 to the
messuage of the chaplain of Sandford. (fn. 177) In 1523 the
curate was an Oxford student, (fn. 178) and post-Reformation ones were probably always non-resident (fn. 179) as
they still are. There was no parsonage house, and
the living was the poorest in the deanery, and
probably in the county. (fn. 180) Its curate received only
£6 13s. 4d. in 1760; (fn. 181) the stipend of £11 paid in 1810
was increased to £50 in 1825, (fn. 182) but in the mid19th century Bishop Wilberforce wrote that the
service was 'done by someone for love of the work'. (fn. 183)
In 1953 the net annual value of the benefice was
£320. (fn. 184)
At the beginning of the 18th century there are
several first-hand accounts of the church of ST.
ANDREW. In 1732, for instance, Hearne noted
that the Elizabeth Isham who built the porch (fn. 185) in
1652 was possibly the daughter-in-law of Sir Euseby
Isham of Pytchley (Northants.) though he makes
no suggestion about her interest in Sandford. (fn. 186)
She was the daughter of Edmund Dunch of Little
Wittenham (Berks.) and the second wife of Sir
Euseby's eldest son John. A resident of the parish
after her husband's death in 1626, she was buried in
1657 at Little Wittenham. (fn. 187) Wood adds that the
distich over the door:
Thanks to thy charitie religiose dame
Which found me old and made me new again
was composed by Charles Forbench (otherwise Forbych or Forberich), minister from 1648–9, a royalist
and a 'malignant priest'. (fn. 188)
The building of the porch is the first recorded
alteration of the original Norman structure, of which
only the east wall and the south wall up to the tower
remain today. The south wall of the chancel contains
a Norman one-light window, and opposite the plain
narrow doorway is another doorway, blocked up,
which was incorporated in the new north wall of
1865. Up to 1840 the church remained very simple,
long, and narrow with a wooden tower at the west
end, and the chancel roof pitched slightly higher than
that of the nave. It was paved with bricks, originally
arranged in mosaic patterns, which were already
confused through displacement in 1805. (fn. 189) It was in
poor condition. The churchyard had to be fenced in
1789, (fn. 190) one of the bells was broken in 1790, (fn. 191) and
the chancel was reported in 1825 to be in 'very bad
state'. (fn. 192) This was repaired in 1827, (fn. 193) and in 1840 (fn. 194)
the present stone tower was built 'by Mr. Derick in
the Norman style'. (fn. 195) The chancel arch was rebuilt
at the same time and two new windows were made,
one in the chancel and one in the nave.
The new arch was not a success, as it settled, and
in 1865, in the course of more drastic alterations
than hitherto, it was rebuilt 'in character 13th
century'. (fn. 196) The architect, James Brooks of London,
took down the north wall and erected a new north
aisle opening into the nave through an arcade of
three arches. (fn. 197) Also 'of character 13th Century' was
the new nave roof. Nearly all the pews were changed
by 1868, (fn. 198) though a few 17th-century ones were
retained which have since disappeared; priest and
choir stalls replaced pews in the chancel. Extra
seating space in the new aisle was to some extent
offset by taking down the gallery in the tower. The
Powell monument of 1661 was moved to the tower
and encaustic tiles replaced the bricks. (fn. 199) The last
alteration was the addition of a vestry in 1893. (fn. 200) The
architect was H. W. G. Drinkwater of Oxford.
Electricity was fitted during the incumbency of
W. E. Sherwood (1901–10).
Inside the church there are two decorative
features of interest. The first is an alabaster carving
of the Assumption, with some traces of gilding. On
iconographical grounds it can be dated about the
beginning of the 15th century. (fn. 201) It was found near
the porch in 1723, (fn. 202) face down and worn very hollow
but with the carving on the other side intact and
the gilding and colours fresh. It was erected in the
chancel at least as early as 1805. (fn. 203) The other is the
monument to William Powell (d. 1656) of Tutbury
(Staffs.), brother of Edmund Powell, under the
tower on the south wall. It was put up in 1661 and
consists of a black tablet with an inscription crowned
with a white marble cornice bearing the Powell
arms (fn. 204) topped by a cherub whose wings are gilt and
whose face, as does the coat, bears traces of colouring. The cornice is supported by two black marble
pillars which rest on brackets carved with cherubs.
Between them is a winged death's head. There are
traces of gilding also on the mouldings. Another
curiosity at this date (1805) was the communion
table, believed to be part of the table used by the
Minchery nuns in their refectory. (fn. 205) But this genesis
is not mentioned in the register for 1709, which
records without comment the gift by Richard Davis,
curate, of a communion table, the wainscot over the
table and a wainscot seat in the chancel. The church
furniture was poor; the first extant inventories of
1552 and 1553 (fn. 206) record a chalice of parcel gilt, a
latten pyx and censer and two brass candlesticks.
The chalice was changed for a new one (fn. 207) and a paten
(marked 1705), a salver, and a flagon were bought
in 1709. (fn. 208) Only the paten remains. There is also a
chalice (1868), a large paten (1875), a flagon (1875),
and a silver alms dish of 1831, presented by the
Revd. John Johnson in that year. (fn. 209) The 1552 inventory mentions two bells and a sanctus bell, and
there were 'two small bells' in 1805. (fn. 210) There are
now a treble, a tenor, and a second, the latter probably dating from the 16th century. (fn. 211)
The registers date from 1572.
The yew tree in the churchyard was planted on
Good Friday 1800. (fn. 212) Plaques in the church show
that 62 parishioners, of whom 9 were killed, served
in the First World War, and that 76, of whom 2 were
killed, served in the Second World War.
Nonconformity.
There has never been a
dissenting chapel, and the only discoverable notice
of a meeting-house was the beginning by Mr. W. R.
Keene of a weekly meeting at Rock Farm in about
1930. No records were kept; the meetings were
inter-denominational and attended by an average
of 15–20 persons. There was also a Sunday school,
especially useful as none was provided by the church.
About twenty children attended. The adult meetings
stopped in 1946, but the children's continue. (fn. 213)
On the other hand, there was an important link
with Roman Catholicism in Sandford. It is mentioned as one of the places in the Residence of St.
Mary, or the Oxfordshire District that was served
by members of the English Province. (fn. 214) This is
certainly due to the Powells, Roman Catholics themselves and connected, by the Throckmorton and
Curson marriages, with two other such families.
The first Edmund Powell's granddaughter Elizabeth
married William Napier of Holywell, brother of
George Napier, a seminary priest, who in 1610 was
hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason in Oxford
castle yard. His quarters were set on the four gates
of the city, but at least one was stolen and buried
secretly in the chapel of the manor-house (now
Temple Farm). (fn. 215) Bishop Fell's visitation in 1685
shows Francis Powell (second son of Edmund,
b. 1604) and one other as papists; (fn. 216) his nephew John
Powell and his wife and seven others are returned in
1696. (fn. 217) The Roman Catholic Register of Waterperry
shows that there were Roman Catholics living at
Sandford from 1703 to 1768. Of Roman Catholic
chaplains we know only one, Charles Collingwood, (fn. 218)
who came to Oxfordshire in 1701 and died in 1728. (fn. 219)
After this time it has been suggested that the
Franciscans served the mission and 'were much
indebted to the Powells, who established their house
at Rolleston near Tutbury, and several of the
Powells belonged to the order'. (fn. 220) Two sons of John
Powell mentioned above were priests. (fn. 221) By 1780
there were no papists.
School.
A Sunday school for 55 children received a grant of £30 from the National Society in
1830, (fn. 222) and was thereafter constituted as a day
school, accommodating, by 1893, 109 children. (fn. 223)
The older children were transferred to Littlemore
County school in 1943, and the present status of
Sandford school is that of a church school for juniors
and infants. (fn. 224)
Charities.
There are two charities. The Amand
Mathieu charity of £11 for clothing (fn. 225) now yields
£5 (fn. 226) per annum in coal for the poor. It was endowed
after 1825 (fn. 227) and the present capital is £200. The
Isham bequest also yields £5 per annum and is
spent on coal. It was endowed in 1639 (fn. 228) by Dame
Elizabeth Isham, donor of the church porch, together
with an annual sum of 20s. to be paid to four poor
widows of Brightwell (Berks.). In 1825 it was paid
in the form of a shilling to each poor person (fn. 229) by
the owner of the land. Whether Elizabeth Isham
owned this land is not known. Bread was doled out
on a flat tomb in the churchyard near the porch
until the middle of the last century. (fn. 230)