HAILEY
Introduction
The Forest township of Hailey, immediately north of
Witney, included Hailey village, the scattered hamlets of
Delly End and Poffley End, and, until the late 19th
century, Woodgreen and part of West End, which from
an early date both physically formed part of Witney. The
hamlet of New Yatt straddled the township's and
parish's eastern boundary with North Leigh, its larger
part lying in Hailey. (fn. 1) The township had its own fields
from the Middle Ages and its own officers and poor relief
probably by the late 16th century, and from the mid
19th century it was usually counted a separate civil
parish. (fn. 2) In 1877 it covered 2,879 acres; (fn. 3) 60 a. comprising
Woodgreen, Hailey's part of West End, and adjacent
closes were transferred to Witney borough in 1898, and,
following further urban expansion, another 176 a. in the
south-east was transferred in 1932. The loss of 22 a. to
Crawley in 1954 and of 3 a. to Witney in 1968 reduced
the area to 2,618 a. (1,060 ha.), further reduced to 1,034
ha. in 1985, and to 1,030 ha. (2,546 a.) in 2001. (fn. 4)
Township Boundaries and Landscape
The township's northern and eastern boundaries were
those of Witney parish and of the 10th-century estate
which preceded it, and are discussed above (and see Fig.
73). (fn. 5) Near New Yatt, the boundary was realigned along
New Yatt Lane and along an intersecting lane leading
northwards at the inclosure of Hailey common in 1853,
leaving a small triangle of former common south of New
Yatt Farm in North Leigh. (fn. 6) The western boundary with
Crawley, established apparently by the later 13th century
and possibly much earlier, (fn. 7) followed the WitneyCharlbury road and Priest Hill Lane, both probably
ancient routes; further south it followed open-field
furlong boundaries. (fn. 8) The southern boundary with
Curbridge followed the river Windrush, which had
probably formed the boundary of an estate at Curbridge
in the 950s, and which by 1298 was also the southern
boundary of Wychwood Forest. (fn. 9) The south-eastern
boundary with Witney ran in the mid 19th century along
the middle of West End and up the eastern side of the
Woodstock road as far as Costells closes, leaving
Woodgreen, Great and Little Costells, and the north side
of West End in Hailey, but houses south of West End and
east of Woodstock road in Witney. That boundary dated
from the extension of Witney borough northwards in
1219–20; Hailey's earlier boundary with Witney
borough, and perhaps with the pre-urban settlement
which preceded it, was probably also the river
Windrush. (fn. 10) Woodgreen and the northern side of West
End remained in Hailey township until 1898 when,
despite protests from Hailey ratepayers, they were
annexed to Witney, together with a few riverside
meadows. (fn. 11) In 1932 the Hailey—Witney boundary was
completely redrawn to bring newly built-up areas into
Witney, the new boundary following fields between
Mount Pleasant and Middlefield Farm. Small areas were
transferred to Crawley in 1954, to Ramsden, North
Leigh, and Witney in 1985, and to Witney in 2001. (fn. 12)
70. Hailey: Middletown in the early 20th century, looking north-west.
The township lies chiefly on Cornbrash, Forest
Marble, and, around Delly End and Shakenoak Farm,
White Limestone, with tongues of Kellaways Clay
around Hailey village and further east around New Yatt
and the former common. Boulder Clay overlies the
Forest Marble around Gigley Farm, and alluvium
predominates in the Windrush valley. In the 19th
century soils were generally judged good, though
drainage on the lower land was sometimes problematic. (fn. 13)
The land is undulating, rising fairly steeply from around
80 m. by the river to 105 m. on Witney Road west of
Burycroft Farm. Further north it rises more slowly to
115m. around Hailey village, Delly End, and New Yatt,
reaching 139 m. on the northern boundary by Singe
wood, and 148 m. in the extreme north-east. (fn. 14)
Roads
The township's northern part, though largely wooded
until the 13th century, (fn. 15) was traversed by numerous
ancient roads and tracks (see Figs. 3 and 73). The Roman
Akeman Street crossed the township's north-west tip at
Whiteoak green, and may have been the 'old way'
forming a short stretch of the north-eastern boundary in
969, near an area of Romano-British settlement. (fn. 16) St
John's Lane, a continuation of Pay Lane in Crawley,
formed a longer part of the northern boundary in 969
when it was called suga rode, probably denoting a marshy
track or woodland riding, and may also be of Roman
origin. In the 18th century it ended at Whitings Lane,
but may formerly have continued across the site of New
Yatt towards Eynsham. (fn. 17) The intersecting road from
Wilcote, called hunters' way in 969, probably continued
south-westwards as a woodland track, passing through
Delly End and on the line of Priest Hill Lane to connect
with roads to Crawley and Minster Lovell, and perhaps
also with the 10th-century 'wood street' running along
Curbridge's western boundary. A 'green way' or 'sheep
way' forming part of Hailey's north-east boundary with
Wilcote in the 10th and 11th centuries connected
presumably with Akeman Street.
Parts of the Witney—Charlbury road, along which
much of Hailey village stands, may also be ancient: the
section near Singe wood, part of the Hailey—Crawley
boundary, was perhaps the 'Whitewykeway' (presumably to Whiteoak green) mentioned in the 14th century, (fn. 18)
and in the 18th century the road formed part of a route
from Witney to Stow-on-the-Wold (Glos.). (fn. 19) Nearer
Witney, the road from Crawley through West End,
called port way by the 15th century, was probably also
early, forming part of a route through Newland to
Eynsham and Oxford mentioned in 1212–13, while the
road from Witney to Woodstock, skirting Hailey's
south-eastern edge, was called port street in 1005 and
Woodstock way in 1298. (fn. 20) The surviving network of
roads and lanes was probably fully established by the
later 15th century, when the 'royal way' from Foxburrow
cross and 'the road from Witheridge (Witherodis) cross'
were mentioned, together with a 'royal highway called
Kenhome's way' and several other unidentified roads. (fn. 21)
Roads mentioned in 1609 included New Yatt, Hatfield
Pits, and Breach Lanes, Woodstock road, and Hailey
'street', (fn. 22) and a predecessor of Foxburrow Lane existed in
the 18th century. (fn. 23) A footpath crossing the river
Windrush at New Mill, via an 'ancient' wooden footbridge which collapsed in 1872, was probably also
long-established. (fn. 24)
The Woodstock road was turnpiked in 1751, (fn. 25) and the
Witney—Charlbury road through Hailey in 1800, (fn. 26) with a
toll house on the north side of West End just east of the
turn to Hailey. (fn. 27) Also turnpiked in 1800 was a branch
route running westwards along Witney Road through
Crawley to rejoin the main turnpike at Whiteoak
green. (fn. 28) Some roads in the south-west were adjusted at
the inclosure of Hailey's fields in 1824, notably
Foxburrow Lane (which was straightened) and Priest
Hill Lane (whose southern end was moved eastwards); (fn. 29)
it was perhaps then that a reported funeral route across
Hailey meadow and southwards to Puck Lane was
suppressed. (fn. 30) Access to New Yatt, often difficult in
winter, was greatly improved following the inclosure of
Hailey common in 1853, (fn. 31) and a new private road was
laid out from New Yatt to the Woodstock road across the
former heath. (fn. 32) The Woodstock and Charlbury roads
were disturnpiked in 1870 and 1877 respectively, (fn. 33) the
Charlbury road remaining, with its westward branch
through Crawley, the chief route through the township
in the early 21st century.
Settlement and Population
Prehistoric and Iron-Age Settlement
Though a Neolithic axe-head was found at Delly End, (fn. 34)
most evidence of early settlement is concentrated on the
township's eastern fringe. Prehistoric flint-scatters have
been found in the south-east near Witney, (fn. 35) and traces of
Bronze-Age barrows and ring-ditches nearby and near
Shakenoak Farm. Another barrow, south of North Leigh
Lane, contained a disturbed cremation burial. (fn. 36) Part of
the North Oxfordshire Grim's Ditch, an Iron-Age earthwork probably constructed in the early 1st century AD
to demarcate a tribal political territory, runs through
Singe wood and then west-east across the middle of the
township; (fn. 37) possibly it was the Puttocks (later Parrocks)
ditch mentioned from the 14th century, (fn. 38) and its course
seems to have been partly preserved in the line of Spicers
Lane, which until the 20th century ran from Poffley End
to New Yatt Road. (fn. 39) The Ditch's presence suggests that
this was perhaps a peripheral border area, and no associated settlement has been found.
Roman and Anglo-Saxon Settlement
Shakenoak Roman villa, established in the later 1st
century, lay just over the boundary in Wilcote, (fn. 40) as did
all or most of a small linear settlement along Akeman
Street adjoining Hailey's north-eastern boundary. The
latter, occupied perhaps until the 4th or 5th century, was
recalled in the 11th-century field-name wicham on the
Witney—Wilcote boundary. (fn. 41) Sherds of Roman pottery
and tile have been found south of New Yatt, and Belgic
or early Roman ware and abraided 3rd-century pottery
east of New Yatt Road near Osney Hill Farm. (fn. 42)
Early Saxon settlement at and near Shakenoak villa is
well attested, (fn. 43) but no evidence of early Saxon occupation has been found within Hailey township itself: much
of the area apparently became managed woodland and
wood pasture intersected by woodland tracks, with the
township's eastern edge probably remaining open heath
and scrubland. (fn. 44) All or most of the pasture clearings
indicated by the names Hailey (hay leah or clearing),
Delly (valley-clearing), Gigley, and Turley are probably
pre-Conquest, however, and by 1086, when some of the
extensive arable on Witney manor almost certainly lay in
Hailey, there was probably settlement in the area of what
became Hailey village, and perhaps also around Delly
and Poffley. (fn. 45) That last name, from Pohhas's wielle,
recalls not a clearing but a well or spring, perhaps the
pond formerly near the Old Manor House. (fn. 46)
Population from the Middle Ages
By the early 13th century the township contained at least
35–40 households, most of them settled on probably
long-established customary holdings. By the end of the
century woodland clearance or assarting, dominated at
first by outsiders, may have been increasing the density if
not necessarily the geographical spread of settlement: in
the 1270s thirty-two freeholders, none of them recorded
earlier, held assarts with houses, (fn. 47) while several assarts or
encroachments in Delly and Poffley Ends, Hailey, and
West End were built on certainly by the mid 14th
century. (fn. 48) At least 43 taxpayers were listed in 1306 and 47
in 1327, (fn. 49) many of them, on surname evidence, probably
resident householders. (fn. 50) As elsewhere on Witney manor
the effects of 14th-century plague were catastrophic, up
to two thirds of Hailey's customary tenants dying in
1348–9, and more in 1361; only 74 Hailey inhabitants
over the age of 14 paid poll tax in 1377, and long-term
population decline led to amalgamation of holdings, (fn. 51)
several of which included vacant tofts or house-plots. (fn. 52)
By the mid 16th century, when 22 taxpayers were noted, (fn. 53)
the population may, however, have been rising again;
some 57 houses and cottages were mentioned in 1609, (fn. 54)
and in 1642 the adult population was perhaps around
200. (fn. 55) Fifty householders were assessed for hearth tax in
1662, (fn. 56) and by 1676 the total population may have
exceeded 400, of whom probably a third or more lived at
West End or Woodgreen, effectively in Witney. (fn. 57)
A clergyman's estimate of 170 houses in 1738 was
probably inflated: in 1759, including those at New Yatt,
there were said to be 90 houses occupied by 100 families,
and in the 1770s clergy serving Hailey chapel reported
around 40–60 families and 80 houses, probably chiefly
in the township's rural part. (fn. 58) By 1801 the total population, including West End and Woodgreen, was 993
accommodated in 212 houses. The population fell
slightly before 1811, but rose before 1841 to 1,440 in
302 houses, of which 105 were at West End and
Woodgreen and 7 at New Mill, with 190 in the township's rural part. The total population fell again to 1,265
by 1881, but, allowing for boundary changes, rose from
the later 1880s: in 1891 it was 1,365, in 1901 (following
the removal of West End and Woodgreen) 822, and in
1911 it was 972, a total of 234 households in the rural
settlements. Following a slight fall before 1921 population rose by 1931 to 1,024, and in 1951, following
further losses to Witney, it was 749, a real increase of 25
per cent over 20 years. By 1991 it was 1,332, a total of
498 households. (fn. 59)
Hailey Village
Settlement in the township, typical of a forest area,
comprises several small scattered hamlets or 'ends' and a
few outlying farmhouses, dispersed around the straggling linear village of Hailey. By the late 16th century the
village was sometimes called Middletown, reflecting its
position between Delly and Poffley Ends. (fn. 60) Presumably
the 'hay leah' or clearing from which both village and
township were named formed an early and important
focus, and although the clearing's original extent and
location are unknown the village probably developed
within it along the Witney—Charlbury road. The
13th-century surname 'of Hailey' (fn. 61) referred perhaps to
settlement in that area; Hunters Close Farm, on the
street's north side near Breach Lane, is of probably late
medieval origin, (fn. 62) and the 13th-century surname
Witherode implies medieval settlement near Witheridge
Cross, at the village's southern edge near Poffley End. (fn. 63)
Certainly by the late 16th or early 17th century houses
were apparently scattered along both sides of the
modern village street from Witheridge Cross to just east
of Delly End. (fn. 64) By then the village lay on the northern
edge of the open fields, though in the earlier Middle Ages
the arable may have extended further north, and in the
13th and 14th centuries there was assarting on both sides
of the Charlbury road, just west of the modern village. (fn. 65)
The names Witheridge Cross and Foxburrow (earlier
Voxborowe) Cross, recorded in the 15th century,
referred perhaps to stone crosses at the respective junctions with Hatfield and Foxburrow Lanes. (fn. 66)
71. Hailey: Delly End green in 2003, looking north.
Delly End and Poffley End
Settlement at Delly and Poffley is attested by mid
13th-century surnames, (fn. 67) and 13th-century pottery has
been found under the late medieval Old Manor at
Poffley End, (fn. 68) though both places were probably of earlier
origin. Delly End, by the 16th century clustered around a
small green, (fn. 69) lies at the probable intersection of the
10th-century hunters' way and of an early route running
south-westwards from St John's Lane through Crawley. (fn. 70)
The road along which Poffley End straggles may also
have been early, and at least one 13th-century Poffley
resident seems to have been a customary tenant, (fn. 71)
implying that the holding was long-established rather
than the result of recent assarting. Thirteenth- and
14th-century assarting may nevertheless have enlarged
the settlements: takers of assart land included several
named 'of Poffley' or 'of Delly', (fn. 72) and in the 1330s an
assart at Delly End contained three houses built side by
side, (fn. 73) while in the 16th century several cottages stood on
encroachments on Delly and Poffley greens. (fn. 74) By the
early 17th century there were at least 15 houses in and
around Delly End and perhaps as many at Poffley End, (fn. 75)
and in 1841 Delly End contained 24 houses and Poffley
End twenty-five. (fn. 76) Both remained subsidiary hamlets,
taxed usually with Hailey, though in 1316 Delly End was
separately listed with Witney's townships. (fn. 77) The suffix
'end' was recorded intermittently for both places from
the late 15th or 16th century. (fn. 78)
New Yatt
New Yatt, a straggling group of cottages on the edge of
the heath along the lane to North Leigh, was not
recorded by name before the late 16th century, (fn. 79) and
may represent relatively late encroachment: certainly
there was no settlement there in the 11th century, when
a description of Witney's boundaries mentioned only a
hedgerow at that point. (fn. 80) Scattered later-medieval settlement there and elsewhere on the township's eastern edge
may, however, be indicated by the 14th-century
surname 'of Merryfield', a name later denoting an area of
former scrubby heath extending from north of New Yatt
to near Middlefield Farm. (fn. 81) Assarts at 'Muryfeldescroft'
were mentioned in the 1330s and there was a toft or
vacant house-plot and close at Merryfield in 1474, while
an assart and house at 'Groundessuylye', mentioned in
1339–40, may have been nearby. (fn. 82) New Yatt green, a
tongue of common extending westwards along New Yatt
Lane, was sometimes called Merryfield green, (fn. 83) and the
settlement may thus have originated as one of several
small scattered encroachments around the heath, the
'new gate' from which it was named perhaps dividing the
heath from private closes, or Hailey from North Leigh.
By the early 17th century there were at least ten
cottages in the Hailey part of New Yatt, several of them
built apparently on encroachments or assarts, (fn. 84) and in
1841 there were 19 houses occupied chiefly by agricultural labourers. (fn. 85) Until the heath's inclosure in 1849–53
all the houses stood some way back from the lane along
the edge of the heath or green, whose former southern
perimeter is marked by the modern Home Farm on New
Yatt Road. (fn. 86)
Other Outlying Sites
Settlement at Woodgreen and West End, the latter
named presumably in relation to the green, apparently
also followed 13th- and 14th-century assarting, and was
presumably stimulated by the development of Witney
borough immediately to the south: both areas became
effectively part of Witney despite remaining mostly
outside its boundaries. Houses on assarts at West End
were mentioned from the mid 14th century, and
although intensive settlement around Woodgreen may
not have developed until later, the house of a
13th-century freeholder named 'of Costouwe' perhaps
stood to its north-east near Costow or Costells closes. (fn. 87)
Settlement at Whiteoak green, where by 1609 there were
a few cottages on both sides of the township boundary, (fn. 88)
may also be medieval in origin, and the 13th- and
14th-century surnames at Fen and Losingrove imply
medieval settlement south-east of Hailey village near the
modern University and Downhill Farms, where the
names Venny or Ven End, Lawson grove, and Down End
were recorded later. (fn. 89)
Most other outlying sites seem to have been established during the 16th century or later on recently
inclosed assarts, many of them as farmsteads for sizeable
copyhold estates. (fn. 90) Buildings at Middlefield, Swanhall,
Shakenoak, and Gigley Farms date from no earlier than
the 17th century, (fn. 91) and cottages at or near Turley Farm
were mentioned in 1609. (fn. 92) Predecessors of Burycroft,
University, Downhill, Starveall, and Merryfield Farms,
the last a little way north-west of its 19th-century
successor, existed by the later 18th century. (fn. 93) An
outlying barn at the Hays, in the township's north-east
corner, existed probably by 1685, (fn. 94) and one on the site of
Common Leys Farm by the 1760s. (fn. 95)
Domestic Buildings and Expansion of Settlement
The Middle Ages to c. 1700
The earliest buildings within the township's rural part
are the Old Manor House at Poffley End and Hunters
Close Farm in Middletown, both of late medieval origin.
The former, (fn. 96) mostly two-storeyed with attics, is aligned
along the street's east side, with a projecting back wing
forming a T-plan, and is of coursed limestone rubble
with stone-slated roofs, a rendered front, and some
17th-century rendering at the rear. Like other houses in
the township it was copyhold of Witney manor, the
name Old Manor House being a 20th-century invention. (fn. 97) At its north-east end it incorporates the hall and
parlour of a late medieval house; the blocked outer doors
of a screens passage remain, and the roof above the hall,
in the building's central part, has smoke-blackened
rafters. The room above the parlour, to its north, has an
open arch-braced collar roof. The original service rooms
were presumably beyond the screens on the south, where
an abutting two-storeyed range was built in the 18th
century. A stack was inserted probably in the 17th
century, and gabled first- and attic floors were built over
the former hall; they are lit by hollow-chamfered stonemullioned windows with hoodmoulds, progressing
from four lights on the ground floor to two in the attic.
The 17th-century back wing, originally one-storeyed
with attics but raised to two storeys and attics in the 19th
century, was probably contemporary. Nothing is known
of the house's medieval ownership, though presumably
it was occupied with a substantial holding; the early
17th-century work may have been for the local landowner and farmer Robert Yate (d. c. 1640), who owned
surrounding closes but may already have been living at
Swanhall Farm. (fn. 98) In the late 18th or early 19th century
the house was converted into cottages, and was returned
to single occupancy in 1958. (fn. 99)
Hunters Close Farm, (fn. 100) north of Hailey's main street, is
an L-shaped, two-storeyed house with concrete-tiled
roofs, the main range built of squared and coursed stone,
and the northern cross-wing, projecting southwestwards, of limestone rubble. The main range,
south-east of the main stack, was probably originally
timber-framed, and the plan suggests a medieval origin,
with a first period of improvement in the late 16th or
early 17th century when a stair turret was added at the
back. The house's parlour end, north-west of the main
stack, is 17th-century. In the earlier 19th century the
house was occupied by a farmer of some 60 a., but earlier
occupiers are not known. (fn. 101)
Most other vernacular buildings are of the 17th
century and later, built chiefly of coursed limestone
rubble with stone-slated roofs. (fn. 102) Some agricultural buildings and one or two cottages were still thatched in the
19th and early 20th century. (fn. 103) In 1662 two thirds of the
houses were small, taxed on only one or two hearths,
with another fifth taxed on three; seven larger houses
included the outlying Middlefield Farm (5 hearths) and
possibly a predecessor of Swanhall Farm (6 hearths),
which both had substantial estates and are described
below. (fn. 104) Other outlying houses include Shakenoak Farm,
a small L-shaped farmhouse of two storeys, whose
parlour and service ends abut adjacent sides of the main
room; the house was built on assart land in the early 17th
century for a small copyhold, increased in 1834 to 130
a., (fn. 105) though throughout the 19th century the house was
occupied chiefly by agricultural labourers and farm
bailiffs. (fn. 106) A barn to the east was converted into a house
before the 1990s. Gigley Farm, near the township's
northern boundary, incorporates in its rear (west) range
a three-bay 17th-century farmhouse of two storeys, and
some masonry which may be still earlier. In the 1770s
and 1780s the house was owned by the Batt family,
Witney surgeons, who inoculated there; in the early 19th
century a three-bay front range of two-and-a-half
storeys was added on the east, perhaps by the Batts or
their non-resident gentleman lessee Simon Sharpe. (fn. 107)
That range is of dressed rubble, and has endstacks and
segmental lintels with keystones over the main windows.
From the 1830s or earlier it was a tenanted farmhouse, (fn. 108)
and an attached farmyard with barn and cattle shelter,
contemporary with the front range, survives on the
south.
Seventeenth-century houses within the villages
include Winnings Farmhouse at Poffley End, Grass
Ground Cottage and Farm and Giernals Farm Cottage in
Middletown, Windrush Farmhouse north of University
Farm, and possibly Greystones at Delly End, the last with
chamfered stone-mullioned and transomed windows. (fn. 109)
The 18th Century
During the 18th century several farmhouses and
cottages were remodelled or rebuilt, among them
Ivydene, Greenside and Manor Cottage at Delly End, the
present Lamb and Flag and White Cottage in
Middletown, Home Farm at New Yatt, and Greyroofs,
Hill View, Swanhall Cottage, and Cornerways Cottage at
Poffley End. (fn. 110) Witheridge Farm, a modest 18th-century
farmhouse of three bays and two storeys south of Hailey
village, incorporates reused beams and joists from a late
16th- or early 17th-century house, and possibly its
chimneystack; it was refenestrated in the 19th century
when occupied by labourers or farm bailiffs, (fn. 111) and a
fourth, single-storeyed bay on the north was raised to
full height in the 20th century.
Hailey Manor House at Delly End was built west of
the green in the mid 18th century, perhaps for Simon
Wisdom (d. 1777) who moved to Hailey from Wilcote
House in North Leigh in the 1760s. (fn. 112) He was succeeded
by his cousin Ann Sharpe (d. 1780) and her brother
Simon Sharpe (d. c. 1817), who lived there until about
1814. (fn. 113) The main range, of seven wide bays and two
storeys, has a plain, ashlar-faced former entrance-front
facing south-eastwards, with stone margins and
keystones to sash-windows, and a modillion cornice. A
full-height canted bay-window at the south-west end
was added before 1816, when there was also a back wing
on an L-plan. (fn. 114) Dormers and plate-glass in the main
range were added in the mid 19th century probably by
the landed proprietor W. E. Lamb, who was presumably
also responsible for replacing the back wing with a
two-bay range facing south-west, and with a doubleheight kitchen in a north-west extension, the additions
being linked behind the main range. (fn. 115) The house was
occupied in the late 19th century by a farmer, and in the
earlier 20th century by the Phipps family, for a time the
township's dominant gentry; before 1948 they added a
billiard room to the south-west range, moved the
entrance to the north-east, converted the former central
entrance into a morning room, and changed the former
link-passage behind the main range into a staircase hall. (fn. 116)
An early 18th-century fireplace in the north-east reception room was inserted after 1948, and a single-storey
south-west wing, linked to an 18th-century former
stable to its north-west, was built after 1963. (fn. 117) The name
Hailey Manor House (formerly Hailey House) was
adopted in the later 19th century. (fn. 118)
The 19th and 20th Centuries
There was little 19th-century expansion of built-up
areas in the township's rural part, perhaps reflecting the
limited impact of inclosure and, from the 1850s to
1880s, economic difficulties and falling population. (fn. 119)
Several farmhouses and cottages were rebuilt, however,
among them Downhill Farm about 1806, (fn. 120) Turley Farm
about the same time, (fn. 121) Burycroft Farm, rebuilt by a
tenant about 1842, (fn. 122) and Merryfield Farm, rebuilt on a
new site before 1876. (fn. 123) A row of seven cottages fronting
Crawley Road was built before 1835, (fn. 124) and cottages on
Wood Lane before 1847. (fn. 125)
Inclosure of the heath at New Yatt had greater impact:
a commentator in 1861 noted 'many new and comfortable cottages' and a new 'neatness and cleanliness', (fn. 126) and
by 1876 several new buildings fronted the roadside. (fn. 127)
Some rebuilding there nevertheless predated inclosure, a
small stone-built cottage north of the road bearing a
datestone WKC 1834 (for William Kearse Cowley). (fn. 128)
Heath Holm Farm at New Yatt, a two-storeyed L-shaped
farmhouse of rock-faced stone with slated roofs, was
built east of New Yatt road on the site of an earlier
cottage between 1899 and 1921. (fn. 129) Merryfield House on
New Yatt road, designed by Oliver Hill in romantic
Cotswold style, was built in 1927 for the Witney
blanket-manufacturer Sidney Smith, and over the main
doorway has a carved stone panel by the sculptor Eric
Gill. (fn. 130)
New institutional buildings in the township included
the vicarage house (c. 1842) and church (1868–9) in
Middletown, the latter replacing an 18th-century predecessor; a National school (1848), also in Middletown;
and nonconformist chapels at Poffley End (1853) and
New Yatt (1864). Larger nonconformist chapels were
built at Middletown in 1908 and at New Yatt in 1912. (fn. 131) A
large detached police-house in traditional Cotswold
style was built north-west of Middletown after 1921, just
over the Crawley boundary. (fn. 132) A 'Peace Memorial' on
Delly green, in the form of a small domed temple
supported on four columns, was erected about 1920 by
Mrs Phipps of Hailey Manor, and a war memorial cross
near the church in Middletown about the same time. (fn. 133)
Land at Costalls or Costells, adjoining the Woodstock
road near Woodgreen, was sold as building land in
1879, (fn. 134) but intensive new building around Woodstock
road, West End, and Hailey Fields postdated their transfers to Witney in 1898 and 1932. (fn. 135) Most later development was confined to those areas, though there was also
some controlled new building within the rural township:
demand for building sites was commented on in 1943,
by which time land adjoining Hailey's main street
north-west of the school was scheduled for 13 new
houses of which two had already been built, and in 1945
land adjoining the Ramsden road at Poffley End was sold
with permission for building at a density of four houses
an acre. (fn. 136) A small housing estate on Foxburrow Lane
existed by the 1950s, and a larger one south of Hailey's
main street, between the former vicarage house and
Priest Hill Lane, by the early 1970s, most of the houses of
standard design and roughcast. At New Yatt there was
infilling on both sides of the road between the 1950s and
1970s, and a few houses were built north of Delly End on
Wood Lane, and within Singe wood near Whiteoak
green. (fn. 137) Plans in 1970 to build 25 houses at Hunters
Close Farm were vetoed following local protests, (fn. 138) and in
1999 the reduced township retained a distinctly rural air
despite its proximity to Witney. An old people's home
was built near Hailey church in the late 20th century,
and some agricultural buildings were converted into
houses, notably at University, (fn. 139) Downhill, and
Shakenoak Farms.
Services
A post office on Crawley Road in 1861 closed soon after,
to be replaced before 1899 by one in Hailey village. In
1921 the post office was opposite the Lamb and Flag, and
moved later to a house next to the former churchyard,
closing after 1976. (fn. 140) The Witney office remained the
nearest money order and telegraph office in 1939. (fn. 141)
Electricity and mains water, the former supplied by
the Wessex Electric Co., were available from about 1938,
though in the 1940s many farmhouses still relied on
private supplies. (fn. 142)
Social Life
Inns and Public Houses
An alehouse keeper in Hailey was mentioned in 1690. (fn. 143)
Up to ten inns or alehouses were licensed in the later
18th century, among which the Three Pigeons, the King
of Prussia, the Three Tuns, and probably several others
were at Woodgreen or West End. (fn. 144) Within the township's
rural part the Roebuck at Delly End was licensed probably by 1758, and the Bird in Hand at Whiteoak Green
by the 1760s. (fn. 145) The Carpenter's Arms in Middletown, so
called by 1803, was apparently the same as the Axe and
Saw mentioned from the 1770s, (fn. 146) and the Lamb and
Flag, also in Middletown, opened apparently between
1821 and 1841. (fn. 147) The Carpenter's Arms and the
Roebuck both closed in the 1960s or early 1970s, (fn. 148) but
the Lamb and Flag and Bird in Hand remained in 1999,
the latter having been extended into a small hotel with a
complex of chalet-style buildings at the rear.
The Saddler's Arms at New Yatt, opened by a family of
saddlers as a beer house before 1877, was rebuilt in the
mid 20th century and also remained in 1999. (fn. 149) The
Robin Hood at Hailey Fields, so called by around 1910,
opened as a beer house before 1899 and continued in the
1990s. (fn. 150) The Broadaxe, the Trout, and the Green
Dragon, all licensed in the later 18th century, have not
been identified. (fn. 151)
Clubs and Festivities
Maypole Acre, in the open fields, was mentioned in
1824, though its name may be a corruption of Maple
rather than referring to a maypole. (fn. 152) Rogation-week
perambulation of the manorial boundary, starting at
Burycroft gate in Hailey, was mentioned about 1600, (fn. 153)
and a payment of 5s. by the churchwardens on 5
November 1778 was presumably for bell-ringing at
Gunpowder-day celebrations. (fn. 154)
Hailey feast, in the early 18th century held in
September with Witney feast, (fn. 155) was transferred to early
August before the mid 19th century, when a Sunday
church-service was followed on the Monday by cricket
and dancing. (fn. 156) In the early 20th century festivities were
concentrated at Delly End: there were sports and games
on a field behind Hailey Manor, with separate lunches
for men and women, and a fair was held on the green.
During the same period there was carol-singing and
dancing at Hailey Manor on Christmas Eve, hosted, like
many such events, by the Phippses, and children's
Ascension day festivities included a procession from
Hailey Manor to the church. (fn. 157)
Benefit clubs at the Lamb and Flag, the Carpenter's
Arms, the Roebuck, and the Bird in Hand existed by the
late 19th or early 20th century, club-day celebrations at
Whitsuntide including a dinner, processions accompanied by brass bands from neighbouring parishes, and
sometimes a fair. There was a clothing club, and blankets
were supplied by local landowners presumably for
lending over winter. In the 1870s religious tracts were
circulated through a village library run by the vicar, and
in the early 1880s there was a short-lived Temperance
Society. A cricket club founded by 1869 continued in the
20th century, and in the 1940s played on a pitch near
Hailey Manor; (fn. 158) no early football club is known, though
an 11-acre close near Singe wood was called Football
ground in 1841. (fn. 159) A boys' club equipped with gamestables met in a loft over a stable adjoining the school
house in the early 1900s. (fn. 160)
A village hall, adjoining public playing fields south of
the housing estate in Hailey village, was built in 1963. (fn. 161)