Eynsham / Ensham

"ENSHAM, a parish in the hundred of Wootton, county Oxford, 6 miles E. of Whitney, and 6 N.W. of Oxford, its post town. It is situated on the river Isis, and includes the hamlets of Barnard Gate and Freeland. This place appears to have been a stronghold of the Britons, from whom it was taken by the Saxons under Cuthwulf, who gave it the appellation of Egonesham, its present name. It was subsequently the scene of several severe engagements between the Britons and West Saxons, as evidenced by the barrows at Stanton Harcourt, and the stones called the Devil's Quoits. In the reign of Ethelred it was a royal village, and is styled 'Locus Celebris'."

"FREELAND, a hamlet in the parish of Ensham, hundred of Wootton, county Oxford, 5 miles N.W. of Oxford. The Wesleyans have a chapel here."

[The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]