Crowmarsh Gifford

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Crowmarsh Gifford is a village in Oxfordshire, England. It is near Wallingford, on the opposite side of the River Thames, and connected via Wallingford Bridge.

After the Norman Conquest most of the land was granted to Walter Giffard, later Earl of Buckingham. It later came into the possession of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and remained with his heirs until passing back to the Crown. Nearby Newnham Manor was originally granted by William the Conqueror to Miles Crispin, but by 1428 was owned by Thomas Chaucer. After his death it was passed to his daughter Alice, wife of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk. Other land was granted to Battle Abbey.

In 1139 King Stephen built the first of a series of wooden forts in Crowmarsh, in opposition to Wallingford Castle, which supported his cousin Matilda. These were dismantled under the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford of 1153.

In 1701 agriculturist Jethro Tull invented his revolutionary seed drill here. In 1770 nearby Mongewell Park was acquired by Shute Barrington, then Bishop of Llandaff. He was buried in Mongewell Church. Mongewell Park later became the site for Carmel College. Nearby North Stoke was the home of Dame Clara Butt, who was buried here in 1936.

In 1944 a Canadian Halifax bomber with a full bomb load caught fire over Wallingford. Most of the crew bailed out, but Flying Officer Wilding and Sergeant Andrew gave their lives to steer the plane away from the town and crash it into the fields of Crowmarsh. They are commemorated by an obelisk at the junction of Wilding Road and Andrew Road in Wallingford.

[edit] References

Pedgley, B. and Pedgley, D., (1990), Crowmarsh – A history of Crowmarsh Gifford, Newnham Murren, Mongewell and North Stoke, Crowmarsh History Group, ISBN 0-95163-050-4.