This is a study of the parish of Bloxham in North Oxfordshire. It is largely a summary of published work, with an emphasis on the 19th century.

Geography

Bloxham parish lies on gently rising ground 3 miles south-west of Banbury. The ancient parish, out of which the parishes of Bloxham (3142 acres) and Milcombe (1254 acres) were formed in 1854, covered 4397 acres and included Milcombe township. Its boundaries partly followed the meandering course of the Sor Brook in the north and east, and of the River Swere in the south. The soil and scenery are varied: the parish is covered for the most part by Middle Lias Marlstone; in the north and south, where the land lies on the 325 ft. contour, there are wide and fertile river valleys; in the centre the land rises gradually to 500 ft. at Hobb Hill, which is capped by Oolite rock, and to 525 ft. at Fern Hill and Rye Hill. Between a feeder of the Sor Brook, which crosses the centre of the parish, and the northern boundary lies a fertile plateau at c. 275 ft. There are no woods in this upland parish, but there has been considerable planting of trees in the hedges, probably in the 18th and 19th centuries. There are a number of disused quarries in the parish; the Oolite and Middle Lias rock was used for building stone and the Marlstone for its iron ore.

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Population

The population rose from 1358 in 1801 to a peak of 1577 in 1851 before falling to 1340 in 1891.

Economy

Although Bloxham was predominantly a farming community, its size and its proximity to Banbury encouraged other occupations. In the early 19th century there were shag-weavers and plush-weavers in the town, and the 1851 census listed 13 weavers, of whom 5 were employed in Edward Gascoigne's plush manufactory; the other 4 plush-weavers, 3 linen-weavers and a ribbon-weaver probably worked for Banbury masters. In 1864 there was a rope and twine maker in Bloxham.
In 1851 there were 11 stone-masons, 15 slaters, thatchers, carpenters and plasterers, and a brickmaker. One marble-mason, George Cakebread, was outstanding and was responsible for an elaborate classical monument to the Hitchcock family in the churchyard at Deddington. Throughout the later 19th century the Adkins family of masons was particularly prominent. In 1851 one master carpenter employed 6 men, and the Butler family of carpenters later introduced a saw-mill and timber yard which by 1900 employed 40 men.
The growth in trade and industry, and the existence of a boys' public school and girls' private school in Bloxham, led in the 19th century to an increased demand for shops. Already in 1851 there were 4 grocers and 15 tailors, besides several shoemakers and bakers, dress-makers and milliners, a coal dealer, and a watch and clock maker. By 1864 a chemist's shop had opened; later the Banbury Co-operative and the Gas Light and Coke Co. were established.
In the late 19th century there were 3 water-mills in the parish: Upper Grove Mill and Lower Grove Mill lay on the Sor Brook in the north and there was a third mill in Milcombe.
Although there was some agricultural progress in Bloxham in the early 19th century there was also much distress. There were many unemployed weavers, and large sums were spent on poor relief up to 1835. The townsmen allowed 15 per cent discount on the rent of some of the town's tenants in 1821, 1823, and 1830. The effects of the introduction of the Speenhamland system and of the inclosures were felt keenly: an unknown author in 1834 addressed the inhabitants of Bloxham on the inadequate supply of allotments, on pauperization, and the ill effects of inclosure. (fn. 329) Nevertheless, the feoffees and other responsible officers and inhabitants of Bloxham managed to keep the poor of Bloxham from participating in the disturbances at Banbury in the winter of 1830. The poor were rewarded for their law-abiding behaviour by a distribution of 20 fat sheep and 11 tons of coal which had been paid for by private subscription. The feoffees also acted quickly by making more land available for allotments. This, however, only partly solved the problem, for there were cases of arson and on one occasion the Court House was stormed and a meeting of the feoffees broken up.

Worship

The church of St Mary consists of a nave, north and south aisles, south chapel, chancel with north vestry, north and south porches and western tower. It is, as Rawlinson described it in the early 18th century, 'a very large and handsome' parish church.

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From the 17th century, nonconformity flourished and was closely associated with the dissenting movement in Banbury and the neighbourhood. In 1669 it was reported that Quakers and Anabaptists each had meeting places in Bloxham, though in neither case were the numbers 'considerable'. Nevertheless, seven years later 100 dissenters were recorded, 80 in Bloxham and 20 in Milcombe. Presbyterians began to meet in Bloxham c. 1700. It appears that no chapel was built, but that the Town House was used. The influential Councer and Huckle families were members of the sect and the Presbyterians rapidly became the most important body of dissenters in Bloxham. In 1738 the vicar stated that four of the congregation were among the richest men in the village. The meeting had its own minister, who also looked after the Milton meeting-house. Presbyterians from other parishes came to the Bloxham meeting-house and Anabaptists also, so that the vicar was unable to be certain of their respective numbers, but he estimated that there were 30 Presbyterians and that their number had much lessened 'of late years'. Nevertheless the vicar stated in 1768 that they formed a fifth of the parish and a very careful return made in 1808 recorded that they had formed as much as a third c. 1780. As late as 1805 they were still the dominant sect but by 1817, when the vicar reckoned that there were 8 or 9 families of Presbyterian Unitarians, they were losing ground to the Baptists, who built a chapel in 1859.
By the 19th century the Bloxham Quakers had almost disappeared. Only two family names are to be found in the Quaker registers and the vicar recorded only 2 families in 1802 and 1805. Thomas Gilkes, whose house at Milcombe was registered for meetings in 1835, may have been a Quaker.
No Methodism was reported in Bloxham before the 1820s. In 1823, however, there were said to be 9 or 10 Methodists, meeting at a house registered in 1821. In 1851 there was a congregation of between 120 and 150, but only 134 sittings and 'standing room'. Church people used to go there or to the Baptist chapel in the evening. There was also a Wesleyan Sunday school. The vicar would not give an estimate of numbers attending the chapel in 1854, but in 1866 he said there were 210 dissenters (presumably mostly Wesleyans and Baptists) and in 1878 c. 100 in Bloxham and 17 in Milcombe. A new Methodist chapel was built in 1868.

Inns

Several inns, built with courtyards and stabling sufficient in size to provide for travellers, lay on the main road as it passed through Bloxham. Five were licensed in 1753, and in 1782 and 1783 there were six, including the 'Hawk and Partridge', 'Joiners' Arms', 'Elephant and Castle', and 'Red Lion'. The 'Red Lion' seems to have been the leading 18th century inn and was used by the town feoffees for meetings. A Friendly Society was founded there in 1769.

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The present 'Red Lion', which is on a site different from that of 1783, was evidently built in the 1830s to serve travellers on the new highway, when the course of the main road through Bloxham was altered.

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The 'Bull and Butcher', the 'Crown', the 'Hare and Hounds', and the 'Unicorn', all 18th or early 19th century inns, have since disappeared. The 'Railway Tavern' in Queen's Street came into being after 1855 when work began on a single-line railway track between Banbury and Cheltenham.

Schools

By 1808 there were 4 schools in Bloxham: a day school where 40 boys were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and mensuration, and 3 schools for young children who were taught reading, needlework, and straw-plaiting. A Sunday school which had been started by the Presbyterians had ceased to exist by this date. Ten years later the number of schools in the parish had doubled. Four day schools were attended by 83 children, 9 of whom came from neighbouring parishes. Three infant schools taught 29 children under the age of seven. Another school had 37 pupils, mostly boys, and a further 27 young adults attended in the evenings. In addition to these schools a long established girls' boarding school now took 6 local girls as day pupils. Two Sunday schools, which were receiving the endowment from School Acre in the form of £1 worth of coal and candles, were the sole means of education for 34 children. They were also attended by 30 of the children who went to the day schools. The vicar considered it a matter for congratulation that 14 per cent. of the children in his parish were receiving some sort of education. He strongly recommended the establishment of a National school in the parish and the provision of more evening schools so that the children might be free to earn during the daytime.
Bloxham School, originally known as All Saints' School, was founded in 1853 by the Rev J. W. Hewett as a Church of England boarding school for the sons of 'the professional classes'. It was housed originally in the vicarage-house and from 1854 in a farm-house. In 1857 Hewett went bankrupt, his school came to an end and the derelict building was bought by P. R. Egerton, Curate of Deddington, who re-opened the school in 1860. With the financial help of his wife's family (Gould) and of the Duke of Marlborough he built it up until in 1896 he handed it over to the Society of the Woodard Schools. The original building was extended in 1860–3 at a cost of £28,000. The architect was G. E. Street and he built in the local stone in the Gothic style. The building was enlarged in 1864, 1869 and 1871 and now dominates the north end of Bloxham.

Travel

The principal road in the parish is a route of historic importance for it ran from Banbury to Chipping Norton and the wealthy wool producing area of the Cotswolds. Several roads connect Bloxham with the neighbouring villages of Barford, South Newington, Wigginton, Milton, Adderbury, and Tadmarton, and also with the road from Banbury to Shipston-on-Stour that skirts the western boundary of the parish. The chief bridges, for the upkeep of which money was left from medieval times on, were the Great Bridge (later Old Bridge) on the old High Street, and the Little Bridge to the west of the old High Street; there were also Cumberford Bridge, Wickham Bridge, and Bridle Road Bridge near Grove Mill.
In 1855 work began on a single-line railway track between Banbury and Cheltenham. The line was completed by 1887 with a station at Bloxham; but it was closed in 1950 for passenger traffic, and finally abandoned in 1964. The station has been demolished.
Three carriers plied daily between Bloxham and Banbury during the 19th century.

Families and Notable People

Of the 42 owner-occupiers in Bloxham South in the later 18th century, William Davis and George Councer held the largest estates, paying taxes of over £16 and £14 respectively. In Bloxham North, all the large farms were held by tenants: one belonging to George Warriner was rated at £23; another held by Elizabeth Cartwright at over £22.
In the enclosure of 1802, John Preedy and George Warriner received 386 acres, George Councer, Robert Potter, Henry Davis and the Bloxham feoffees received between 118 and 98 acres and 6 others received between 50 and 100 acres.

Resources

Trade directories
Census returns
A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 9, Bloxham Hundred, ed. Mary D Lobel and Alan Crossley (London, 1969), pp. 53-85. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol9/pp53-85
A Vision of Britain through Time https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10320562