| Stanton St. John | |
|---|---|
 St. John the Baptist parish church | |
  Stanton St. John Location withinOxfordshire | |
| Area | 10.93 km2 (4.22 sq mi) |
| Population | 430 (2011 census)[1] |
| • Density | 39/km2 (100/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SP5709 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Oxford |
| Postcode district | OX33 |
| Dialling code | 01865 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | stantonstjohn |
| |
Stanton St. John is a village andcivil parish inOxfordshire, England, about 4.5 miles (7 km) northeast of the centre ofOxford. The village is 330 feet (100 m) above sea level on the eastern brow of a group of hills northeast of Oxford, in a slight saddle between two of the hills.
The course of the formerRoman road that linkedDorchester on Thames withAlchester passes through the western part of the parish. In 1953 excavations up to 300 yards (270 m) east of theparish church found evidence ofRoman occupation.[2]
TheDomesday Book records that in 1086William the Conqueror's half-brotherOdo,Bishop of Bayeux held themanor of Stanton St. John andIlbert de Lacy was his principal tenant.[2] De Lacy also held the manor in the adjacent parish ofForest Hill, but in about 1100 de Lacy's son forfeited both manors. After 1526 the manor of the village was granted toNew College, Oxford.[2]
TheChurch of England parish church of SaintJohn the Baptist was built in the 12th century. Thearcade between thenave and northaisle dates from this period[2] and is in the Transitional style betweenNorman architecture andEarly English Gothic.[3] Thechancel arch is also Transitional, but may have been rebuilt in about 1700.[2] The chancel was rebuilt around the beginning of the 14th century and is a high quality example of the transition from Early English (its side windows) to theDecorated Gothic (its east window, which has unusualtracery). The south aisle was built late in the 14th century, with aclerestory above its arcade to light the nave.[2]
In the 15th century all but one of the windows in the north aisle were replaced withPerpendicular Gothic ones and thebell tower was built.[2] The church furniture includes four early 16th century benches whose bench ends have unusual carvings of poppyheads, human heads andgrotesque animals. The tower has aring of five bells.[4] Ellis and Francis Knight of Reading[5] cast the treble and fourth bells in 1652.[6] Michael Darbie, an itinerantbellfounder,[5] cast the third bell in 1656.[6] Henry III Bagley ofChacombe,Northamptonshire cast the second bell in 1716,[6] possibly at his foundry atWitney.[5] Abraham IIRudhall of Gloucester cast the tenor bell in 1724,[6] completing the current ring.
The village retains several 16th and 17th stone-built houses, including Manor Farm and John White's house.[3] ThePuritan ministerJohn White (1575–1648) was born here. He was the vicar ofDorchester, Dorset, and was nicknamed the "Patriarch of Dorchester". White was instrumental in founding theNew England colony ofMassachusetts.[2] A later John White ran Manor Farm on behalf of New College, and repaired the Manor Farm house in 1660.[2]
During theEnglish Civil War,Royalist troops were stationed in the village in 1643 and 1644 as part of the defence of Oxford againstParliamentarian forces to the east. In 1646 Parliamentarian troops occupied the village during thesiege of Oxford.[2] Anopen field system of farming originally predominated in the parish. By 1706 a number of fields had beenenclosed, but more than 400 acres (160 ha) ofcommon land remained until they were enclosed by anAct of Parliament in 1777.[2]
In 1717 Dame Elizabeth Holford left a bequest to be invested until it was large enough to endow a free school for the parish. Trustees to set up the school were appointed in 1759[2] and it started teaching in the vicarage in 1764.[7] A school was built on land provided by New College and completed in 1767.[2] In 1874 the schoolrooms were demolished and rebuilt to comply with theEducation Act 1870.[7] By the 1950s the school was aChurch of England primary school.[2] The school closed in 1984 and became the Holford Centre in 1989.[7] It is now used by a pre-school and for other educational purposes.[7]
Stanton St. John and its surrounding area are the setting for Gladys Mitchell's detective novel 'Dead Men's Morris',[8] featuring her series detective Dame Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley. Many real locations are mentioned, including Stanton Great Wood, the church and the nearby Forest Hill and Shotover Hill. Pig-rearing plays an important part in the book, and piggeries can be found in the neighbourhood.
Stanton St John has avillage shop[9] and aWomen's Institute.[10] Stanton St. John has twopublic houses:
Media related toStanton St John at Wikimedia Commons
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