| Cuddesdon | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Cuddesdon Location withinOxfordshire | |
| Population | 502 (parish, includingDenton) (2001 census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SP6003 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Oxford |
| Postcode district | OX44 |
| Dialling code | 01865 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Cuddesdon and Denton Community Website |
| |
Cuddesdon is a mainly rural village and formercivil parish, now in the parish ofCuddesdon and Denton, in theSouth Oxfordshire district, in the county ofOxfordshire, England. centred 5.5 miles (9 km) ESE ofOxford. It has the largestChurch of England clergy training centre,Ripon College Cuddesdon. Residents number approximately 430 in Cuddesdon'snucleated village centre and about 70 in the hamlets ofDenton and Chippinghurst (2001 census).[citation needed]
Cuddesdon'stoponym is derived from theOld EnglishCuddes Dune meaning "Cudde's Hill" or the "Hill of Cuthwine". WhenOxfordshire was administered in thehundreds, Cuddesdon parish was in thehundred of Bullingdon.[citation needed] Cuddesdon was anAnglo-Saxonlinear village along in what is now the High Street, but since the 19th-centuryChurch of England additions on the northern edge of the village and 20th-century residential developments (principally Bishop's Wood and Parkside), it has become a nuclear settlement centred on The Green.[citation needed] Since the 1950s many facilities and businesses in Cuddesdon, have closed, and most have been converted into housing. These include the petrol station, the shop, the school, the mill, the secondpublic house and various farm buildings. Thus, the village has turned into adormitory village.[citation needed]
In 1961 the parish had a population of 342.[2] On 1 April 1962 the parish was abolished and merged with Denton to form "Cuddesdon and Denton".[3]
The parish is bounded by theRiver Thame to the east and southeast, its tributary Cuddesdon Brook to the north, by the road betweenWheatley andGarsington to the west and by field boundaries to the southwest. The village is on a hill that overlookssouth Oxfordshire, northernBerkshire, theAylesbury Vale in centralBuckinghamshire and a small part of westBedfordshire.[citation needed] There are views of both theChiltern Hills and theNorth Wessex Downs AONB stretching fromIvinghoe Beacon in the east toDidcot Power Station in the west.
A free monthly parish newsletter is combined with social venues and events in the village, such as the annualGuy Fawkes Night fireworks, a summerfête and various groups that meet regularly such as the film club.[citation needed] Most social activities are organised or coordinated by theParish Council or its subsidiaries. TheChurch of England parish church ofAll Saints, the Bat and Ball inn, theVillage Hall, Ripon College Cuddesdon and the farms are economically active.[citation needed]
In November 2007 a public consultation was held on the proposed Parish Plan, a strategic document aiming to chart the hopes of the village for twenty years to come.[citation needed] Formal encouragement exists in civil parish and district planning policy to reopen a village shop, as yet unforthcoming.
Abingdon Abbey founded the Church of Englandparish church of All Saints in Cuddesdon in about 1180.[4] All Saints' parish belongs to the Aston and CuddesdonDeanery of theDiocese of Oxford.
Cuddesdon Palace was completed by 1634 forJohn Bancroft, who wasBishop of Oxford from 1632 until 1641.[5] In 1644 during theEnglish Civil WarRoyalist forces burned the palace to render it unusable by theParliamentarian forces besieging Oxford.[5] In 1676John Fell was made Bishop of Oxford and in 1679 he commissioned the complete rebuilding of the palace.[5] In 1846 BishopSamuel Wilberforce had the chapel of Saints Peter and Paul added to the Palace.[5] It was designed by theGothic Revival architectBenjamin Ferrey.[5] Successive Bishops of Oxford resided at the palace untilThomas Banks Strong retired in 1937.[5] For the duration of theSecond World WarQueen Anne's Bounty was evacuated from London and occupied the palace.[5] Thereafter, The Society of the Salutation of Mary the Virgin occupied the palace from 1946 until 1949.[5] In the 1960s the palace was in private use for a few years, but it burnt down before the end of that decade. The bishop's chapel escaped the fire and survives today.[6]
In 1854 Bishop Wilberforce founded Cuddesdon College on land opposite the Palace to train men to becomeAnglican clergy. In 1975 the college merged with Ripon Hall to formRipon College Cuddesdon. Due to the extent of past and present church connections, the village is also known as the "Holy Hill". It has been suggested that in Cuddesdon "the presence of the Church has been more strongly felt than perhaps anywhere else in England".[7]
After his retirement in 1991,Robert Runcie, formerarchbishop of Canterbury, a formervicar of Cuddesdon and college principal, was granted a peerage as Baron Runcie of Cuddesdon to remain in the House of Lords.
Media related toCuddesdon at Wikimedia Commons