Shirburn

"SHIRBURN, a parish in the hundred of Pirton, county Oxford, 6 miles S. of Tetsworth, its post town, and 1 mile N.E. of Watlington. The village, which is of small extent, is situated under the Chiltern hills, and is wholly agricultural. The soil is chiefly a chalky loam alternated with gravel. The tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents, under an Enclosure Act in 1805, and subsequently exchanged for a rent-charge of £80 to the vicar, and £14 10s. to the Earl of Macclesfield. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford, value £112. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is a stone edifice with a square tower containing a clock and two bells. The interior has several monuments. There is a Church school for both sexes. Shirburn Castle, the residence of the Earl of Macclesfield, is an ancient moated mansion with a drawbridge. It is built on the site of a still more ancient castle. There is a collection of paintings, and several portraits of eminent persons, including one of Catherine Parr. The Earl of Macclesfield is lord of the manor." [The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]