South Newington

"SOUTH NEWINGTON, a parish in the hundred of Wootton, county Oxford, 6 miles S.W. of Banbury, its post town, and 7 from Chipping Norton. The village, which is small, is situated on the river Swere, and is wholly agricultural. The land is nearly evenly divided between arable and pasture. The soil is partly a fine sandy loam, and partly a strong clay. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment under an Enclosure Act in 1794. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford, value £231, in the patronage of Exeter College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, has an embattled tower crowned with pinnacles. It is situated on a hill. There is a National school for both sexes. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. The Earl of Shrewsbury is lord of the manor." [The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]