FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

THE research, writing, and editing of this volume were undertaken between 1996 and 2004, alongside work towards other volumes in the Oxfordshire series. Research costs throughout that period were met chiefly by Oxfordshire County Council (which continued to fund a County Editor, half-time Assistant Editor, and Research Assistant), and by an independent VCH Oxfordshire Trust set up in 1998 (which funded two additional Assistant Editors from 1999 to 2004). The County Council staff are employed as part of the Council's Directorate of Learning and Culture (formerly the Department of Cultural Services) under arrangements described in the Editorial Note to Volume IX of the Oxfordshire History; Trust-funded staff were employed through the University of London, for which the Victoria County History is published. The University of London records it thanks to both the County Council and the Trust for their generous support, and to the University of Oxford and the Bodleian Library for accommodation and additional funding. The Trust's success was due in no small part to the efficiency and dedication of its honorary secretary Mrs Wendy Norbury, whose premature death in 2004 is recorded with profound sadness. Grateful thanks are also extended to Mr T.G. Hassall OBE, Trust Chairman from 1998 to 2003, to his successor Dr Kate Tiller, and to Mr Liam Tiller, Trust Treasurer and Acting Secretary.

Staffing arrangements during the writing of this volume were as described in the Foreword to VCH Oxfordshire XIV. Dr Virginia Bainbridge and Dr Veronica Ortenberg, both funded by the Oxfordshire Trust, left during 2004 to take up VCH posts elsewhere. Eleanor Chance, research assistant and administrator, took early retirement also at the end of 2004, after 38 years' service.

The help of numerous institutions and individuals, who gave access to documents or buildings or offered information or advice, is gratefully acknowledged. Many are mentioned in the footnotes, the lists of illustrations and abbreviations, and the note on sources; special thanks, however, are due to the Oxfordshire County Archivist and his staff; the Oxfordshire County Library Service, particularly the staff of the Centre for Oxfordshire Studies; the staff of the Oxfordshire Sites and Monuments Record; the staffs of the Bodleian Library, the National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office), the National Monuments Record, and the Department of Manuscripts of the British Library; the archivists and staff of Berkshire, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, and Lincolnshire Record Offices; the duke of Marlborough; the earl of Leicester, and his archivist at Holkham Hall; the earl of Scarbrough (d. 2004); the governing bodies and archivists of Christ Church, The Queen's College, and University College, Oxford; the governing body and archivist of Eton College, Berks. (formerly Bucks.); the dean and chapter and the archivist of Exeter Cathedral; Carterton Town Council; Mr R. Parkinson of West Oxfordshire District Council; Mrs J.M. Barnett; Mr K. Betteridge; Dr W.J. Blair; Mr G. Bowles; Mr R.A. Chambers; Mr P. Davis; Mr W. Gasson; Dr M. Gelling; Dr and Mrs P. and M. Holmes; Mr J. Hudson; Mr J.M. Kaye; Mr M. Hill; Miss K. Mair; Mr and Mrs C. and W. Morgan; Mr B. Rodgers; Mr W. Pack, FRIBA; Sir Peter and Lady Parker; Miss B. Schumer; Miss H. Squire; Mrs R. Taylor; Mr J. Willmer; Mr and Mrs C. and C. Yapp; and Mrs K. Zasada of RAF Brize Norton. The cost of the maps and illustrations was met by a grant from the Marc Fitch Fund, whose generous support is gratefully acknowledged; the maps were redrawn (from drafts by VCH staff) by Cath D'Alton and her colleagues in the Drawing Office of University College, London. The general editing at VCH Central Office was undertaken by Dr Alan Thacker, the Executive Editor.

The account of Kencot in this volume follows a new structure for VCH parish histories adopted in 2002, whose chief features are the inclusion of discrete sections on Social History (including education and poor relief) and on Buildings, and the combination of Church and Nonconformist history into a single Religious History section. Other parish histories in the volume were well advanced by the time the new guidelines were adopted, and most follow a modified version of the traditional VCH format developed from the 1960s. Sections on education, poor relief, and charities have been incorporated into a subsection on Social and Political Life at the end of the parish introductions, and Nonconformity and Church history have been combined, though discussion of buildings remains divided among the parish introductions, the accounts of Manors and Estates, and Religious History. A freer approach was adopted for Carterton, whose history, as a creation of the 20th century, is unique within the county. Information on the structure and progress of the VCH as a whole is available on the VCH website (www.englandpast.net), and in the published General Introduction (1970) and Supplement (1990) to the series.