History

HISTORICAL NOTES

In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village is called "Celgrave" which is believed to mean
"at chalk or limestone pit". The entry appears under "Land of Miles Crispin" and a translation reads:

"in the Half-Hundred of BENSON
CELGRAVE 10 hides. Land for 12 ploughs
Now in lordship 4 ploughs;   9 slaves
23 villagers with 10 smallholders have 9 ploughs,
5 mills at 60s;    meadow 3 furlongs long and
3 furlongs wide;    pasture 60 acres.
The value was £10;   now £12.
Thorkell held it freely".

The Stone Age axe found in Chalgrove and now on show at the County Museum in Woodstock is indicative of human habitation in the vicinity from a much earlier date, and aerial photographs suggest that pre-Roman settlements existed to the west of The Manor on the south side of the brook. Roman remains and coins have also been found.

Over the centuries there have been changes in the shape of the village and in the areas of occupation. The distance between St Mary's Church and the rest of the community has often been remarked upon and the field to the west of the church has archaeological evidence of occupation.   The reason for the movement of population to the High Street may have been flooding and/or the Black Death.

During the medieval period Chalgrove was divided into two manors.   From the early thirteenth century until 1485 one of those held by the Barentyne family who added a new chancel to the Norman church of
St Mary's.   They lived in the manor house which was excavated in 1976 at the Hardings Field site, and were an important family in local, county and national affairs.   The other manor was held by John de Plessis, Earl of Warwick who probably lived on the site of the present day Manor in Mill Lane.

During the English Civil War the Battle of Chalgrove Field took place to the north-east of the village in 1643.   Lord Nugent erected the Monument, two hundred years later, to John Hampden who was mortally wounded at the Battle.

The medieval open field agricultural system remained here until 1845.   Because of the dependence on farming and the agricultural depression the villagers were in a desperate state and many families emigrated or moved to industrial towns.   In the 1920's the motor works at Cowley provided employment and by the 1950s a large proportion of villagers worked there.

During the Second World War the aerodrome was constructed and photographic units flew unprotected sorties over Germany. A monument was erected at the entrance to the present day airfield in 1993 to commemorate those who served.

The main growth in the village population occurred in the 1960s.   Before World War II numbers had never exceeded 700, but by 1971 there were 2,433 persons recorded in the census.    The current population is 3,000.

All materials and information are supplied by Chalgrove Local History Group and used with their permission.