Chipping Norton - History Until The 17th Century

History Until The 17th Century

The Rollright Stones, a stone circle 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Chipping Norton, is evidence of prehistoric habitation in the area.

The town's name means 'market north town', with "Chipping" (from Old English cēping) meaning 'market'. It is not clear what the original Saxon settlement was north of, but John Blair, Professor of Medieval History and Archaeology at the University of Oxford, suggested in 2000 at a lecture in Chipping Norton Town Hall that Charlbury to the south, now a smaller town, was in the Anglo-Saxon era a more important minster town and that Chipping Norton's "nor-" prefix refers to this geographical and pastoral relationship with Charlbury.

Chipping Norton began as a small settlement at the foot of a hill on which stand the motte-and-bailey Chipping Norton Castle. Only the earthworks of the castle remain.

The Church of England parish church of St. Mary the Virgin was built on the hill next to the castle. Parts of the present building may date from the 12th century. It certainly retains features from the 13th and 14th centuries. The nave was largely rebuilt in about 1485 with a Perpendicular Gothic clerestory. This rebuilding is believed to have been funded by John Ashfield, a wool merchant, making St. Mary's an example of a "wool church".

The bell tower was rebuilt in 1825. The tower has a ring of eight bells, all of which were cast in 1907 by Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. St Mary's has also a Sanctus bell that was cast in 1624 by Roger I Purdue of Bristol.

In the Middle Ages wool production made the Cotswolds one of the wealthiest parts of England. Many of the mediaeval buildings built in the town as a result of that trade still survive. It became the new centre of the town and remains so today. There is still a weekly market every Wednesday and the "Mop Fair" in September. In 1205 a new market place was laid out higher up the hill.

Later, sheep farming was largely displaced by arable, but agriculture remained important in this part of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. Many of the original houses around the market place were re-faced in the 18th century with fashionable Georgian facades.

An inscription on the almshouses records that they were founded in 1640 as "The work and gift of Henry Cornish, gent".