Kingston Bagpuize

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Kingston Bagpuize is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor, part of the Vale of the White Horse in the English county of Oxfordshire.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Ghosts
4 External links

[edit] Geography

The village is on the junction of the A420 (Oxford to Swindon) and A415 (Abingdon to Witney) roads. It is closely located and related to Southmoor and, less so, to Longworth. The village contains the residence of Lord and Lady Tweedsmuir, Kingston Bagpuize House.

[edit] History

The name Kingston Bagpuize is derived from the village's original name Kingston and the Anglicisation of Ralph-de-Bagpuis, a French nobleman who assisted William the Conqueror in his invasion of England in 1066.

During the Second World War, there was a satellite airfield of RAF Abingdon situated to the west of the village. Remnants of the control tower are still visible near the cricket club. The lower section of the avenue of trees leading down from Kingston Bagpuize House were cut down during this time for aircraft safety.

[edit] Ghosts

Common hauntings have been noticed in and around the area of Oxford Road in Kingston Bagpuize. It is said that in the late 1800s a farmer's wife was found dead in the farmer's cabbage patch, and the only culprit seemed to be the scarecrow. Ever since apparitions and ghostly happenings have been frequent, more recently a new housing estate has been placed in this area and the hauntings seem to have subsided.