Somerton, Oxfordshire - Economic and Social History

Economic and Social History

Somerton was farmed in an open field system of four fields until William Fermor secured an enclosure act from Parliament in 1765. Thereafter Somerton's population grew, reaching 400 in the 1821 census.

The stretch of the Oxford Canal between Banbury and Tackley was completed in 1787. It runs along the Cherwell valley, and at Somerton it passes between the river and the village. Somerton Deep Lock was built 0.6 miles (1 km) north of the village.

Construction of the Oxford and Rugby Railway between Oxford and Banbury began in 1845. By the time the line opened the Great Western Railway had taken it over. In Somerton the railway threads along the valley between the Oxford Canal and the foot of the hill on which the village stands, and a bridge carries it over the road to North Aston. The GWR opened a station just south of the bridge in 1855; originally named Somerton, it was renamed Fritwell & Somerton in 1907, although Fritwell is 2 miles (3 km) away. The station attracted the opening of a public house, the Railway Inn. British Railways closed the station in 1964. The Railway Inn has since followed suit.

Some of the land on which the railway was built belonged to the Free School, some of the money that the GWR paid to in compenstation was spent on repairs to the school. In the 19th century the village population grew and the school population grew with it. In a reorganisation of schools in 1930 the Free School became a junior school and senior pupils from Somerton had to go to Fritwell. The school was still open in the 1950s but has since closed.