Untitled - Council for British Archaeology

The most important group of public buildings, not all of which have
survived, surrounded the church. The Court House (PRN. 11,761) on the
SW corner of the churchyard is a two-storeyed building of coursed ironstone
rubble with a thatched roof. It was rebuilt in the 1680's and repaired
again in 1885-6, but it retains some recognisable medieval features, a
14th century N. doorway and window on the E. gable. The building housed
the parish fire-engine from 1875 to 1938, and after. 1888 was used 'as
a clubhouse and reading-room. Immediately E. of the Court Houae stood
the Old Grammar School (PRN. 11,770), built in 1610 under the
endowment of William and Mary Hartley, closed and demolished except for
its doorway in the late 18th century. Further E. again stood another
ancient building of unknown function (PRN. 11,781). A drawing by
J.C. Buckler made in 1823 shows a timber-studded first storey
supported by a row of stone corbels which still survive in the churchyard
wall. For a time the building was used by the Presbyterians. It was
demolished before the middle of the 19th century.
On the N.side of the church stood a group of almshouses
(PRN. 11,771), said in 1603 to have belonged to the village 'beyond the
memory of man', and demolished in the mid-19th century. Poorhouses (PRN.
11,784) which formerly stood on The Green were swept away by the road
alterations about the same time. The parish Workhouse (PRN. 11,806) a
17th century cottage now called Oriel Cottage in Workhouse Lane, receives
frequent mention in the overseers' accounts from 1736 to 1834, when
Bloxham was included in the Banbury Union. A house at the N.end of Workhouse
Lane, now called the Old Jail (PRN. 11,782), was probably the prison of
Bloxham Beauchamp manor. A Pesthouse (PRN. 11,783) opened in 1766 and
still used in 1836 stood by the stream well outside the village, 500 m. W.
of Cumberford; it was in decay in 1890, and the stone .f rom it was sold off
in the 1930's.
A mixed National School (PRN. 1054) was built in Church Street in
1864 by J. Livock of London for 300 children, superseding the earlier
Boys' Free School and Girls' Church Day Sehool. An infants school founded
a couple of years later moved into a new adjoining classroom in 1875.
The first Village Hall built in Workhouse Lane by the Co-operative
Society in 1899 still survives (PRN. 11,801). The Ex-Servicemens' Hall
(PRN. 11,800) in High Street, lloxham North, was opened after the
First World War, and the Ellen Hinde Memorial Hall in Chapel Street
(PRN. 11,793) in the 1930's.
Domestic Buildings:
One of Bloxham's greatest assets is the enormous wealth of smaller
domestic buildings, representing a fine range of local vernacular architecture
of the 16th and 17th centuries. Most are built of the local marlstone
or ironstone, and many still have thatched roofs. It is impossible to
describe all the individual buildings of interest here, but SOME of the
salient features may be summarised.
Of the two principal medieval domestic buildings, the two manorhouses,
nothing survives. Bloxham Beauchamp Manor House (PRN. 11,122)
probably stood on or near the site of Park Close, within a large walled
and hedged enclosure. In 1592 its gardens, orchards and park (PRN.11,124)
covered 24 acres (9.7 ha). The St. Amand manor house (PRN. 11,773)
probably stood near the present Godswell. The prison for Bloxham Hundred
appears to have been attached to it. In 1285-6 the St. Amand demesne
farm included a dovecote (PRN. 11,827), which may have stood nearby.
The house seems to have survived into the 18th century.
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