OAKLEY, in the hundred of Ashenden and deanery of Waddesdon, lies on the borders of Oxfordshire, about seven miles north-west of Thame. A manor in this parish, which was formerly in the family of Pole, is now the property of the Duke of Marlborough; the manor of Oakley was claimed by the late Mrs. Crewe, as an appendage of her manor of Shabbington, now belonging to her son-in-law, Lord Viscount Falmouth. At the time of the Norman survey, two hides in Oakley were held by a young lady, to whom they had been given by Godic the sheriff, for teaching his daughter to work gold embroidery.
The manor of Studley, a hamlet in this parish, which lies partly in Oxfordshire, is the property of Alexander Croke esq. a defendant of the celebrated Sir George Croke, who founded a chapel and hospital in the adjoining village of Beckley. Mr. Croke's seat is in Oxfordshire.
In the parish church are some monuments of the Tyrrells of Oakley, descended from Sir Timothy Tyrrell, of Shotover, master of the buckhounds to King James I. eldest son, by a second marriage, of Sir Edward Tyrrell, of Thornton, knt. and half-brother of Sir Edward Tyrrell, who was created a baronet in 1627. Among the monuments of this family at Oakley, are memorials of Sir Timothy Tyrrell, governor of Cardiff Castle, and general of the Ordnance for South Wales, who died in 1701, aged 81; his wife Elizabeth, one of the daughters and co-heirs of Archbishop Usher; Captain John Tyrrell of the navy, who died in 1692, having distinguished himself by his services in the East Indies, and been made an admiral in those seas; and James Tyrrell esq. author of the General History of England, who sold the family estate at Oakley; he was one of the commissioners at the peace of Ryswick, and was buried at Oakley in 1745. In Oakley church also is the monument of Baron Schutz, of Shotover, who died in 1757, and others of that family.
The rectory of this parish was given by the Empress Maud to the canons of St. Frideswide at Oxford, to whom the great tithes wer appropriated: they are now the property of Sir John Aubrey, who is patron of the vicarage.
Oakley was formerly the mother-church of Brill, Borstall, and Addingrave. The two first have been made separate parishes. Addingrave, still a hamlet of this parish, had a chapel of ease, which has been suffered to fall to ruins.
