Adderbury

"ADDERBURY, a parish in the hundred of Bloxham, in the county of Oxford, 3.5 miles to the S. of Banbury. Deddington is the post town. It comprises the townships of East and West Adderbury, and the chapelries of Barford St. John, Bodicott, and Milton. It is situated on Sorbrook a branch of the river Cherwell, not far from the Oxford canal. In Domesday Book it is named Edburghberic, and a century later, was called Ebberbury and Abberbury... The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford, united with the perpetual curacies of Barford and Milton, value, £818, in the patronage of the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford. The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a cruciform structure, in the perpendicular style, with a tower surmounted by a lofty octagonal spire. The chancel was erected, by William of Wykeham, in 1385, and had anciently a grange attached to it. It contains some interesting specimens of early sculpture. The porch is of the decorated style; there are two fonts, and the church contains family monuments of the Oldys, Bustards, and Cobbs, of Adderbury Green. The bust of William of Wykeham, with his armorial bearings, is sculptured on the external walls, over the east window of the chancel, and his arms are also carved in the roof of the same. Here is a chapel for Wesleyans, and an endowed school for 50 boys, also a school for girls on the national system. The poor have the benefit of annual charities amounting to £100. In addition to the parish church, there is a district church at Bodicote, which is a perpetual curacy, value £150 in the patronage of New College, Oxford. The celebrated Rochester, who had the title of Baron Adderbury, had a seat here, at which he died. The mansion is now gone to decay. It was here that Pope visited the Duke of Argyll, who was occupying this seat at the time." [The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]