Little Faringdon

Little Faringdon

St Margaret's parish church
Little Faringdon

 Little Faringdon shown within Oxfordshire
Population 63 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid reference SP2201
Parish Little Faringdon
District West Oxfordshire
Shire county Oxfordshire
Region South East
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Lechlade
Postcode district GL7
Dialling code 01367
Police Thames Valley
Fire Oxfordshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament Witney
List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire

Little Faringdon is a village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Lechlade in neighbouring Gloucestershire.

Contents

History

In the late Anglo-Saxon period Little Faringdon was part of a large estate that included Faringdon (formally Great Faringdon), from which it took its name. From 1204 until 1538 the manor was held by the Cistercian Beaulieu Abbey as part of its larger Faringdon estate. The manor was then held by the Bourchier and Perrott families. In about 1860 it was sold to Charles Ponsonby, 2nd Baron de Mauley, whose descendants hold it today[2].

Until the 20th century Little Faringdon was an estate village. In 1910 almost all the houses were owned by the lord of the manor[3].

Local government

Little Faringdon was historically a township of the parish of Langford, which until the 13th century was in Oxfordshire. For the next six centuries it was an exclave of Berkshire, until the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 returned it to Oxfordshire. In 1864 Little Faringdon was made a separate ecclesiastical parish and in 1866 a separate civil parish[3]. Since the 1974 boundary changes it has been part of West Oxfordshire District.

Parish church

The parish church was built in the Norman style in the 12th century as a chapel-of-ease of the parish of Langford.[4]. It has Norman lancet windows in the chancel.[5] In about 1200 the church was enlarged with the addition of a north aisle.[5] The arcade between the nave and north aisle is in a transitional style between Norman and Early English Gothic.[6] In the 14th century the porch and south door were added.[7] A south aisle seems to have been added at about the same time but has since been lost.[7] In about 1500 two Perpendicular Gothic clerestorey windows were added to south side of the nave. The west window of the nave is also a late Medieval Perpendicular Gothic addition.[7]

The church became the parish church when Little Faringdon became a separate parish in 1864. The vicarage to the south of the church was designed by the Gothic Revival architect William Butterfield and completed in 1867.[7]

The church's original dedication is unknown. In 2000 it was dedicated to St Margaret of England. The church is a Grade II* listed building.[8]

References

Sources

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Little_Faringdon Little Faringdon] at Wikimedia Commons