| Tackley | |
|---|---|
 St. Nicholas' parish church from the north-east | |
  Tackley Location withinOxfordshire | |
| Population | 998 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SP4820 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Kidlington |
| Postcode district | OX5 |
| Dialling code | 01869 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Tackley – Oxfordshire |
| |
Tackley is a village andcivil parish beside theRiver Cherwell inOxfordshire, England. It is about 6 miles (10 km) west ofBicester and4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) north ofKidlington. The village consists of two neighbourhoods: Tackley itself, and Nethercott. The2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 998.[1]
The course ofAkeman StreetRoman road passes through the parish just south of the village.
Tackley has existed sinceSaxon times. After theNorman Conquest of EnglandWilliam the Conqueror granted the manor of Tackley toHugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester.[2] TheManor House was built in 1657 and Tackley Park, also known as Hill Court, was built late in the 17th century. Both houses have been demolished but their outbuildings, including athatched barn and twodovecotes, remain. Another 17th-century house, Court Farm (or Base Court), still survives but its interior was completely remodelled in the 1950s. Court Farm is near the site of a 12th-centurymoated house, and has a set of 17th century fish ponds,[2]constructed by John Harborne (1582–1651), a wealthy merchant from theMiddle Temple who purchased the manor of Tackley in 1612, and had embarked on creating there a new mansion with an elaborate water garden. The remains of one square and two triangular ponds, no doubt originally containing fish, are visible today.[2][3] The manor lay on a tributary of the River Cherwell, and Harborne may well have been a fisherman. He was a friend of the publisher John Jackson,[who?] who published in 1623 a plan of Harborne's water garden in its completed state, byGervase Markham in the third edition of hisCheape and good husbandry for the well-ordering of all beasts, and fowles, and for the generall cure of their diseases.[4][5]
TheChurch of England parish church ofSaint Nicholas iscruciform. It dates from the 11th century and has several remnants of its originalSaxon stonework. The southaisle, east windows and lower part of the tower are 13th century. In the 15th century thePerpendicular Gothicclerestory and upper part of the tower were built and bothtransepts were rebuilt. The north transept was rebuilt again in 1616 as a family chapel for John Harbourne.[6] In 1862 lightning struck and damaged the church,[6] and in 1864 theOxford Diocesan architect, theGothic RevivalistG.E. Street directed a restoration of St. Nicholas' that the 20th century critics Jennifer Sherwood andNikolaus Pevsner called"rather insensitive".[7]
The churchtower has aring of six bells.[8] Richard Keene ofWoodstock[9] cast the fifth and tenor bells in 1664 and the third bell in 1689.[10] John Warner and Sons ofCripplegate,[9] London cast the second and fourth bells in 1859.[10] Mears and Stainbank of theWhitechapel Bell Foundry cast the treble bell in 1924.[10] There is also aSanctus bell that was cast by an unknownfounder in 1792.[10] In the 12th century bothOsney Abbey andEynsham Abbey acquired lands in the parish. Eynsham Abbey's holdings in Tackley included thewatermill at Catsham (see below). However, by the timeThomas Cromwell made theValor Ecclesiasticus forKing Henry VIII in 1535, both abbeys had ceased to hold any property in the parish.[2] From 1725 everyRector of Tackley was also afellow ofSt John's College, Oxford. Several were distinguished scholars but most had several other parishes and wereabsentee rectors of Tackley.[2] Since 1976 St. Nicholas' has belonged to aunited Church of England Benefice with the neighbouring parishes ofNorth Aston andSteeple Aston.
TackleyMethodist church was converted from a barn built of locallimestone and dedicated in 1808. A brick extension was added in the 1840s. Tackley'sAnglicans and Methodists hold monthlyecumenical services together.
TheDomesday Book records that in 1086 there was awatermill, Catsham Mill, on the River Cherwell between Tackley and Northbrook 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north. A second mill had been built at Catsham by 1176. A stream between Tackley and Nethercott was being used to power anovershot mill by 1622. In 1767 it was still in use and was called Pullback Mill, but it was disused by the 1840s.[2] There was a bridge over the Cherwell at Catsham Mill. It was first recorded in 1338, needed repair by 1444 and had been replaced by aford by 1617. A wooden bridge replaced it around 1637 and a stone bridge had been built again by 1750. Today neither the bridge nor Catsham Mill survive.[2]
The parish originally shared a singleopen field system but later these were separated into two open field systems, one for each Tackley and Nethercott. Tackley's fields wereenclosed in the 16th and 17th centuries but open-field farming survived in Nethercott until 1873. The landowners rejected enclosure proposals in 1849, 1853 and 1861. A scheme was finally agreed in 1873 and aParliamentary Enclosure Act was passed for the parish[2]Balliol College, Oxford owned land at Nethercott and was one of the landowners who objected to the earlier enclosure proposals. Soon after the act was finally passed the college sold its holdings there. St. John's College, Oxford also owned land at Nethercott and objected to the earlier enclosure proposals. It sold its land toCorpus Christi College, Oxford in 1948 and 1953.[2] A map of 1608 records ahamlet at Whitehill, 0.5 miles (800 m) south of Tackley village.[11] Its lands were enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1795 and the hamlet seems to have quickly disappeared thereafter.[11]
The earliest known record of apublic house in Tackley dates from 1624. In 1774 the village had four public houses: the Ball, theChequers, thePole Axe and the Wheatsheaf. The Gardiner Arms dates from at least 1788 and the King's Arms in Nethercott was in business by the 1840s.[2] Today the King's Arms is a private house and only the Gardiner Arms remains open. During theEnglish Civil War in the 1640s askirmish, "The Battle of Tackley", was fought on the banks of the River Cherwell.[2] In 1787 theOxford Canal was extended from Banbury down the Cherwell valley as far south as Northbrooklock, 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Tackley. In 1788 the canal was extended past Tackley to the outskirts of Oxford.[12]
Early in the 19th century Tackley had twodame schools. In 1840 aNational School was built on a site provided by St. John's College, Oxford. It was extended in 1861. In 1927 it was reorganised as a junior school, and senior pupils had to travel to Steeple Aston. It also became a Church of Englandcontrolled school. A new school building replaced the original one in 1965, but the school was closed in 1981.[2] TheOxford and Rugby Railway betweenOxford andBanbury was built past the village in 1848-1849 but the nearest rail station provided wasBletchington, which was actually at thehamlet ofEnslow 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Tackley. TheGreat Western Railway took over the Oxford and Rugby Railway before the line opened, but did not open ahalt for the village until 1931.[2] It is at Nethercott but was named Tackley Halt. It is now calledTackley and is served byGreat Western Railway'sOxford Canal Line services. A stone quarry was opened at Whitehill in the latter part of the 19th century but had closed by the middle of the 20th. It now contains wildlife for which it has been designated asite of special scientific interest.[13]
TackleyFootball Club was founded in 1907.[14] It plays in Witney and District Football Association Division Two.[15] Tackley also has aCricket Club.[16] The village, and especially the Nethercott neighbourhood, has expanded considerably since the railway station opened in 1931. It has evolved from a primarily agricultural community into one with a significantcommuter population. In the south of the parish on Whitehill overlooking the River Cherwell is a satelliteground station[17] that theMarconi Company built forMercury Communications in 1986. Mercury was absorbed by its parent companyCable & Wireless in 1997, which continues to operate the station.[18] Tackley's last shops closed in 2001, so in 2004 the community opened a shop and post office, which share premises with thevillage hall and are partly staffed by volunteers.[19]
On Thursday 13 July 2006 aRoyal Air ForceHarrier GR9 aircraft flying fromRAF Cottesmore toRAF Fairford crashed about 1.2 miles (2 km) west of Tackley, near Sturdy's Castle public house. It would appear that the pilot having had a problem, and seeing Woodstock ahead, managed to turn around and eject at a low height. The pilotejected and survived uninjured. An off-duty policeman who was driving close to the scene of the crash sufferedshock when his car was hit bydebris. The Oxford — BanburyA4260 road was closed for several days as the crash was investigated and a team fromMOD St Athan removed the wreckage.[20]
Court Farm Barns are now the headquarters of the Oxfordshire Federation ofWomen's Institutes.[21]
