Crowell, Oxfordshire

Archaeology

The Lower Icknield Way forms the low-lying northwestern boundary of the parish and The Ridgeway traverses the upland southeastern part. An earthwork about 750 yard long on a north – south axis ascends the Chiltern escarpment in Crowellhill Wood.

Manor

The Domesday Book records that before the Norman conquest of England one Alwin held the manors of Crowell and Emmington but by 1086 the Norman knight William Peverel held both estates. Crowell passed to Peverel's son-in-law Richard de Redvers (d. 1107) and then descended with his heirs the Earls of Devon until at least 1375. By 1376 it was effectively part of the Honour of Wallingford, which in 1540 became part of the Honour of Ewelme. Crowell remained part of the latter honour until the 18th century.

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of the Nativity of the Blesséd Virgin Mary is a small flint building. The church existed by the middle of the 12th century and the blocked-up Norman north doorway survives from this time. In the 13th century the chancel arch was rebuilt and the present south doorway was added. In the 14th century the chancel was rebuilt, made taller than the nave and given Decorated Gothic windows. The internal and external fabric of the building were repaired and renewed several times in the 17th and 18th centuries and notably in 1835–39 by one Richard Clark of Wallingford, whose work included renewal of the box pews and three-decker pulpit.

In 1878 the church was largely rebuilt to designs by the architects H.J. Tollit and Edwin Dolby. The Old Rectory is a Georgian house of three bays designed by John Rebecca and built in 1822.

Economic and social history

The parish originally farmed under an open field system. There had been several enclosures by agreement by the middle of the 17th century, including most of the land on Crowell Hill. The Reverend John Stopes, Rector of Crowell (d. 1668), bequeathed 4 acres of land whose income would be used to assist the poor of the parish. By the 1880s 64 per cent of Crowell's land had been enclosed: 638 acre. In 1844 Crowell's remaining open fields were called Great Lob, Little Lob, Great Berrylands and Little Berrylands. Crowell's inclosure act was not passed until the 1880s and the award was made in 1882, making it the last inclosure act for Oxfordshire. This may be because so little land remained to be enclosed: a total of only 358 acre of arable land and meadow.

Ellwood House is a mid-16th-century timber-framed farmhouse with a 17th-century extension and facade and some 18th-century features. Thomas Ellwood (1639–1713), who became a Quaker religious writer and a friend of John Milton, was born here. Crowell had a public house by 1753 and a map of 1797 shows one on the same site as the current village pub. In 1859 a fire destroyed several houses in the village and made eight families homeless. The most recent pub, originally called the Catherine Wheel, seems to have been built shortly after this fire.

In 1869–72 the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway was built through the parish, passing 600 yard southeast of the village. In 1883 the Great Western Railway took over the line and in 1906 the company opened , 1 mi south of Crowell. In 1957 British Railways withdrew passenger services from the line and closed the section between and Watlington that included Kingston. [[File:Shepherds Crook, Crowell - geograph.org.uk - 254720.jpg|thumb|The Shepherd's Crook pub, formerly the Catherine Wheel]]

Amenities

Crowell had a public house. It was called The Catherine Wheel until the 1990s, when it was renamed the Shepherds Crook and remained open until 2020.

Demography

The 2011 Census incorporated its figures into an output area accordingly used to enlarge the civil parish definition of Chinnor to the northwest due to Crowell's small population.

References

Sources

References

1. "Area selected: South Oxfordshire (Non-Metropolitan District)". [[Office for National Statistics]].
2. {{harvnb. Lobel. 1964
3. Archbishops' Council. (2010). "Benefice of Chinnor, Sydenham, Aston Rowant & Crowell". [[Church of England]].
4. "Welcome to the Shepherd's Crook".
5. (24 May 2023). "Shepherds Crook pub in Oxfordshire set for house conversion".
6. [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk Parish: Key Statistics: Population.] {{Webarchive. link. (11 February 2003 ([[United Kingdom Census 2011). 2011 census]] In particular the maps annexed to both definitions and data sets are identical. Retrieved 2016-05-04.