Somerton

"SOMERTON, a parish in the hundred of Ploughley, county Oxford, 8 miles N.E. of Woodstock, its post town, and 4 S.E. of Deddington. It is a station on the Oxford section of the Great Western railway. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the Oxford canal, near the river Cherwell, and is wholly agricultural. Archbishop Juxon was once rector of this parish. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford, value £275. The church, dedicated to St. James, is an ancient stone structure, containing tombs of the Fermors of Tusmore. The parochial charities produce about £2 per annum. There is Fermor's endowed boys' school, and a girls' and infant school endowed by the Countess of Jersey. The Earl of Jersey is lord of the manor." [The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]