| Lyford | |
|---|---|
St Mary the Virgin parish church, | |
  Lyford Location within Oxfordshire | |
| Population | 44 (2001 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SU3994 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Wantage |
| Postcode district | OX12 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
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Lyford is a small village and civil parish on the River Ock about 4 miles (6 km) north of Wantage. Historically it was part of the ecclesiastical parishofHanney.[1] Lyford was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White HorsetoOxfordshire. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's population as 44.[2] Lyford's name refers to a former ford across the river Ock, now replaced with a bridge on the road to Charney Bassett. "Ly" is derived from the Old English lin, meaning "flax". In 1034 it was recorded as Linford.[3]
There were two manors in Lyford: Lyford Manor and Lyford Grange.
The manor of Lyford dates from at least 944, when Edmund I granted six hides of land there to one Ælfheah. The manor was enlarged by a grant of a further two hides of land by King Canute in 1034. The Domesday Book of 1086 records Lyford as Linford.[1] The present manor house was built in the latter part of the 16th century and extended in 1617.[4] It is a Grade II* listed building.[5]
Lyford Grange, just east of the village, was originally a moated manor houseofAbingdon Abbey built in a quadrangle. The present house was built between 1430 and 1480. It is timber-framed, with a post-and-truss roof[6][clarification needed] including one queen post. It is a Grade II* listed building.[7] In the reign of Elizabeth I the Grange belonged to a recusant family, the Yates, who harboured a community of Bridgettine nuns.[1] In 1581 the house was searched; three priests were eventually found and arrested by the government agent, George Eliot: Thomas Ford, John Colleton and the renowned Jesuit, Edmund Campion.[8] They were subsequently tried and martyred.[1][9] The Mass is held annually in the village in commemoration of this event.[9] The raid and martyrdoms did not stop recusancy at Lyford. In 1690 an informer reported that a small estate in the parish had been reserved to build a nunnery "when Popish times should come".[1][10]
The Church of England parish churchofSt Mary the Virgin was built as a chapelry of Hanney in the first half of the 13th century.[1] There is a Mass dial scratched on the south wall. The wooden bell-turret was added in the 15th century;[1] it has a scissor-braced timber frame and three bells. The Perpendicular Gothic[11] clerestory was added either at the same time or early in the 16th century.[1] The church was restored in 1875 under the direction of the Gothic revival architect Ewan Christian. It is a Grade II* listed building.[12] St Mary's parish is now part of the United BeneficeofCherbury with Gainfield.[13] Rev. Michael Camilleri (c. 1814–1903), sometime vicar of Lyford, translated the New Testament into Maltese.[citation needed]
In the early 1960s the digging of a soakaway in a cottage garden opposite the vicarage unearthed a small pottery bottle from the late 13th or early 14th century, and a bronze scale-pan.[14]Anopen field system of farming continued in the parish until Parliament passed an Inclosure Act for Lyford in 1801.[1]
Oliver Ashcombe founded Lyford almshouses in 1611. The present quadrangle of brick-built almshouses and a chapel appear to be 18th century.[1][4] The quadrangle was completed as 20 houses, which were still tenanted as such in the early 1920s.[1] More recently they have been combined into eight larger units.[13]
On 8 April 1945 an Avro Lancaster B.I Special bomber aircraft, HK788 of No. 9 Squadron RAF based at BardneyinLincolnshire, had taken part in a raid on a benzole factory in mainland Europe. On its return flight the plane caught fire and crashed in a field barely 400 yards (370 m) south of the parish church and Manor Farm.[15] All seven aircrew were killed. Six were members of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. The seventh was a warrant officer from the Royal Canadian Air Force. All are buried in the Commonwealth War Graves section of Botley Cemetery on the outskirts of Oxford.[15] Flight Sergeant Gordon Symonds, who was born and raised in Wantage, was killed just a couple of miles from his home. In October 2008 the widow of one of the crew provided a plaque commemorating the seven dead. It was installed in the parish church; the actor Richard Briers attended the ceremony[16] and read Noël Coward's poem Lie in the Dark and Listen.[15][17]
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