Stonesfield is a village and civil parish about north of Witney in Oxfordshire, and about 10 miles (17 km) northwest of Oxford. The village is on the crest of an escarpment. The parish extends mostly north and northeast of the village, in which directions the land rises gently and then descends to the River Glyme at Glympton and Wootton about to the north-east.

South of Stonesfield, below the escarpment, is the River Evenlode which touches the southern edge of the parish. At the centre of Stonesfield stands the 13th-century church of St James the Great as well as a Methodist chapel, Stonesfield Methodist Church, slightly further west.

The village is known for Stonesfield slate, a form of Cotswold stone mined particularly as a roofing stone and also a rich source of fossils. The architecture in Stonesfield features many old Cotswold stone properties roofed with locally mined slate along with some late 20th-century buildings and several properties under construction. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,527.

Name

The Domesday Book of 1086 records Stonesfield as , meaning "fool's field".<!--provide a source that this was related to stones in any way--> It was still spelt "Stunsfield" as late as 1712 and Stuntesfield in 1854 before mutating to its present place name under the influence of the fame of the Roman mosaic discovered in one of its fields, its slate quarries, and the dinosaur fossils discovered there.

Geology

thumb|left|[[Megalosaurus bucklandii fossils from Stonesfield in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History]]

Stonesfield is on the Taynton Limestone Formation, a type of Cotswold stone that until the 20th century was mined as a roofing stone called Stonesfield slate. It is common on roofs of older buildings in the Cotswolds and Oxfordshire. Many of the older buildings of the University of Oxford have Stonesfield slate roofs. The quarries were also one of Britain's richest sources of Middle Jurassic vertebrate fossils.

History

thumb|right|250px|William Lewington's depiction of the Stonesfield Mosaic, now lost

Under Roman rule, a road was constructed from Watling Street just north of the former Catuvellauni capital Verlamion (Roman Verulamium and modern St Albans) to the Dobunni capital Corinium (modern Cirencester), probably incorporating older British trails. Because Fosse Way continued to Aquae Sulis (Bath), known as Aquamannia in the early Middle Ages, this major thoroughfare became known as Akeman Street. The portion of the road passing just southeast of Stonesfield is now preserved as part of the Oxfordshire Way.

Due east of the modern village, a major Roman villa was built just north of the road, probably in the 3rd or 4th century although coins as early as the 1st-century reign of Vespasian were possibly discovered nearby. It has been variously identified as the home of a wealthy Romanized Briton, the estate of an officer of the Romano-British rebel Allectus, and the estate of an officer of Count Theodosius and his imperial dynasty. About south of Stonesfield, on the other side of the River Evenlode and in the next parish, the remains of the North Leigh Roman Villa survive in the care of English Heritage.

thumb|right|250px|The "[[Megalosaurus" displayed with the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs in 1854]]

Lying near Oxford University, Stonesfield's slate quarries produced the first fossils to be formally identified as those of a non-avian dinosaur. A partial femur found in 1676 was published by Robert Plot as belonging to a Roman war elephant and then to a Biblical giant; the specimen was lost but later identified from Plot's illustration and description as belonging to a megalosaur. Other Stonesfield fossils were acquired by the physician Christopher Pegge, the chemist John Kidd, and the geologist William Buckland. With guidance by the French anatomist Georges Cuvier, Buckland eventually realized they came from a bipedal lizard-like carnivore unlike any now living, publishing his description in 1824 with the name Megalosaurus, the "great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield". The fossils used by Buckland are now displayed at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. Other species later found at Stonesfield include the crocodile Steneosaurus, the pterosaur Rhamphocephalus, and the type specimens of the theropod genus Iliosuchus and the quadruped Stereognathus.

Between the chancel and north chapel is a screen that is partly Perpendicular Gothic. The Perpendicular Gothic east window in the chancel is 15th-century. Fragments of 15th-century stained glass survive in the window, including a figure that has a 14th-century head and may represent Saint Peter, and symbols of the evangelists St John and St Mark. In the west window of the west tower is late-15th-century stained glass of four family coats of arms. In one of the south windows of the chancel is 16th-century stained glass of two coats of arms: one of a manorial family and the other of the Worshipful Company of Mercers. There is also mid-16th-century stained glass of two family coats of arms in one of the 17th-century south windows of the clerestory. The Jacobean pulpit was made in 1629.

In 1743 a clock was installed in the church. It was said to have been made for a local manor house in 1543, and transferred to the church after the house was demolished. The clock has since been moved from Stonesfield, rebuilt, and installed at Judd's Garage at Wootton. In 1825 the north aisle was greatly enlarged,

Methodist

Stonesfield Methodist Church is a Wesleyan chapel with capacity for 100 people, located at the junction of Boot Street and High Street.

thumb|Wesleyan chapel built in 1867

The current church was first opened for worship in July 1867 and still remains in use today. The current Reverend is Rev Rose Westwood, Witney and Farringdon Circuit Superintendent and Minister for Long Hanborough, Charlbury, Stonesfield, and Sutton Churches.

The church contains a four and a half octave single keyboard organ with foot pedals and seven stops. It bears two plaques recording two last members who helped arrange for its purchase and installation; both plaques are dedicated to the Glory of God 30 April 1966. and an early 17th-century survey records that not every farmer had strips in Church Field. In 1232 the parish almost doubled in size by acquiring King's Wood, a nearby detached part of Bloxham parish. It was in this wood that people from Stonesfield created Callowe by clearing woodland, a process called assarting. By the time of the Hundred Rolls in the 1270s, every tenant in Stonesfield held assarted land.thumb|A [[Spoil tip|spoil mound from former Stonesfield slate mining|left]]

By the first decade of the 17th century Stonesfield had at least four fields. Church Field is taken to be ancient like Home Field,

The White Horse

thumb|The White Horse in January 2021 with a fundraising board outside showing amount of money raised for Back The White Horse

The White Horse, Stonesfield's final pub, is at the top of the village green on The Ridings. The pub has served the community since its opening in 1876, despite an extended period of closure between 2020 and 2023. Previously called the White Lion, from 1847 its licensee was John Lardner, who lived in one of the three cottages making up the pub's buildings. Following John's death in September 1865 the licence was transferred to his son, Henry Lardner, in October 1865.[[File:The White Horse Inn, Stonesfield in the 1940s.jpg|thumb|The Ridings in the 1940s, showing The White Horse on the left</blockquote>

From 1876 to 1907 various landlords took on the role of running the pub until the licence was passed on to the Oliver family. The family ran it from 1907 under Edward Oliver until 1962 under Minnie Oliver. Local residents formed a community benefit society to attempt to raise money to save the pub via a shared ownership concept. £430,000 was eventually raised. Despite this, a private sale took place in early 2021. The pub was then closed for repair and refurbishment in January 2024, with a plan to fully reopen later in the year. On 1 June 2024, Craig Tipper and his business partner Barbara took over tenancy over the pub, with the aim of creating “a proper pub that’s accessible to everyone”. On Friday 14 June 2024, The White Horse was fully reopened as a community-owned pub, with a new website and menu.

The Black Head

thumb|The Black Head for sale in 2012

Originally named The Black Boy, The Black Head was a pub on Church Street. The pub burnt down in around 1850 during the ownership of Thomas Stewart. During the 21st century the pub was owned by the Nomura Bank of Japan, owner of the Wellington Pub Company. and 2014 for planning permission to turn the Black Head into a private house. The building is now a private residence.

thumb|Advert for the sale by public auction of Maltster and Shovel

A public house which now forms part of Prospect Villa, The Marlborough Arms, opened on the Woodstock Road in 1838 and served customers until 1875.]]

The Swan Inn

The Swan Inn is thought to have been up the Tewer and served from around 1865 until 1877, although evidence is limited especially compared to the other Stonesfield pubs.

The Churchill Arms

The Churchill Arms is another public house with limited information regarding its details. The Oxford Journal mentioned the pub in 1826 and 1828 regarding the auction of an 'estate at Stonesfield'.

The Boot Inn

The Boot Inn was also among Stonesfield's previous pubs. The community hall contains a stage, small 50-capacity club room, kitchen and has a car-parking area outside. Stonesfield Parish Council meetings are regularly held at the village hall.

thumb|Aerial view of Stonesfield's sports pitch, playground, and village hall

Sports pitch and playground

The adjacent sports pitch accommodates cricket and football matches as well as three tennis courts in the far north corner. This is the home ground of Stonesfield Strikers F.C., a youth football club with a number of mixed-sex and girls-only teams. The club is FA Charter Standard and is affiliated with Oxfordshire FA, boasting teams in all local leagues.

There is also a small playground, Stonesfield Play Park, next to the library and sports pitch. The playground is fully grassed and has equipment such as three slides, five swings, and a zip line on a small mound.

thumb|Stonesfield's tennis courts

Stonesfield Tennis Club is a community tennis club which was established more than 50 years ago. The club's relatively small, friendly group of members play on the aforementioned tennis courts on the sports pitch, which were re-laid in 2018.

Stonesfield Cricket Club, also known as Stonesfield CC, are a community cricket club which play on Stonesfield's sports field each season. The club has a 1st XI, 2nd XI, under 15, under 13, and indoor team. Stonesfield CC beat East & West Hendred in 2005 to win the Telegraph Cup. The 2nd XI also won the Keith Crump Centenary Cup by beating Hook Norton 2nd XI in 2007's final.

Village shop

thumb|Pendle Court showing Amlu's General Store (left) and Salon Copenhagen (right)

Stonesfield's village shop, Suriya Express, is located in Pendle Court in the centre of the village and is a Best-one store. It was previously known as Amlu's General Store, from the Tamil word ‘Amlu’, meaning ‘darling’. The shop was run by Sri Vairamuthu and his family for over ten years before they moved to London. Adjacent to the shop is a hairdresser called Salon Copenhagen.

Primary school

Stonesfield Primary School is a community primary school located in the centre of the village on the High Street. It caters for pupils age 4 to 11 from the ward of Stonesfield and Tackley and has capacity for 150 students. Its current headteacher is Ben Tevail and there are currently over 100 students. The approximately sports field and playground behind the school, backing onto Peaks Lane, form an iconic part of the village.

thumb|Entrance to Stonesfield garage showing the forecourt and office

St James’ Centre

Found on the High Street opposite Stonesfield Primary School and behind St James the Great Church, The St James’ Centre, previously the village school, is used for exhibitions, workshops, education classes for adults, meetings, family gatherings, fundraising events and children's parties.

Allotments

Stonesfield Allotment Association, chaired by Jon Gordon, controls the allotments within the village. Churchfield Allotment is an allotment in the south of Stonesfield extending down into Stonesfield Common. The allotment's plot is about in length by in width. Having raised over £3000, in February 2019 the allotment holders helped to instal the infrastructure needed for four new water troughs to be installed to supply the allotment with fresh water via the Thames Water network. The second, slightly smaller allotment plot is the Woodstock Road site located in the north east reaches of Stonesfield, surrounded by fields.

1st Stonesfield Scouts

thumb|Stonesfield Scout Hut before it was destroyed in 2019

1st Stonesfield Scouts are a Beaver, Cubs and Scout group running in Stonesfield since 1948. The group caters for local children between the ages of 6 and 14 and has over 100 members with some getting put on a waiting list due to high demand. The Stonesfield Scout Hut, known as Andy's Den, was in Stonesfield Common’s woods at Stockey Bottom and could be found by taking a path off Church Fields opposite St James the Great Graveyard in the south west of Stonesfield. The scout hut was originally temporary wartime accommodation at RAF Bicester. In 1958 it was dismantled and transported via lorry to its new location. The group now aim to build a new Outdoor Education and Environmental Wellbeing Centre, fundraising for a target of £175,000. The Bodleian Library, who believe the Slate to be one of the longest running local magazines, keeps copies of the publication for its archive. There have been four publishers since 2020. Richard and Dale Morris took over from Gordon in January 1998 and held the publisher role for the next seven years, bringing the publication fully into the digital age. Jenny and Simon Haviland were presented with a framed Stonesfield slate on 29 February 2020 to celebrate the 500th issue of the publication and recognise their efforts as publishers of the magazine since 2004.

Transport

Train

The nearest railway station, Finstock railway station, is away in the nearby village of Finstock on the Cotswold Line. There is an alternative train service to London from Oxford Parkway on Chiltern Railways.

Bus

thumb|Stagecoach Gold S3 bus at [[Oxford railway station|Oxford Station]]

Stonesfield has four main bus stops: Combe Road, Prospect Close, Boot Street, and Green which are all used by Stagecoach S3 gold and 7 gold buses as well as The Villager V26 bus. The S3 and 7 provide the hourly bus service between Charlbury, Woodstock and Oxford which serves Stonesfield. Worths' Coaches of Enstone operated the route from the 1920s until 2004, when Oxfordshire County Council awarded the contract to Stagecoach in Oxfordshire. The Villager community bus service operates the V26 route between Oddington and Witney via Stonesfield.thumb|Oaklands Farm AirstripStonesfield is on the Oxfordshire Way long-distance footpath, which runs for from Bourton-on-the-Water to Henley. The Oxfordshire Cotswolds' Step into the Cotswolds walk three is a route through Combe and Blenheim Great Park, starting and ending in Stonesfield. Stonesfield also features in the AA’s rated trips with a 1.5-hour long walk through the village and south west of the parish down to the River Evenlode. Oaklands Farm Airstrip lies in a field on the outer south west regions of Stonesfield. It's a 400-metre long, 12-metre wide, grass, private airstrip in one of Oaklands Farm's crop fields. The airstrip is thought to have featured in a flight sequence in the 2009 British film 31 North 62 East. Both poems are from the collection In Polygonia and were both published in The Stonesfield Slate. The first was published in April 2018 and was simply called "Stonesfield" while the second was published in March 2020 on the back page of issue 500 of The Stonesfield Slate and had the title "Stuntesfeld".

Notable people

  • Ed Atkins, an artist and teacher at Goldsmiths College London, famous for his multimedia poetry and video installations, was raised in Stonesfield.
  • Rev. Walter Brown, rector of Handborough and St James the Great Church in Stonesfield, chaplain and librarian at Blenheim, held two residences but resided in Stonesfield in the early 1800s. Walter is credited with repairing the paving and the west end of the chancel of St James the Great Church.
  • Basil Eastwood, British Ambassador (Syria 1996–2000; Switzerland 2001–2004), lived in Stonesfield until retirement, and founded the charity Cecily's Fund in the village. A Cecily's Day picnic is held every year on the lawns of Stonesfield Manor.
  • Rupert Friend, actor, director, screenwriter and producer. Raised in Stonesfield and good friends with Ed Atkins.
  • Nicholas Timothy Hooper, BAFTA Award-winning composer, has lived in Stonesfield since the 1980s. He runs his company, Nicholas Hooper Music Limited, from Sanders Gate, Churchfields.
  • Robert Sherlaw Johnson, composer, lived in Stonesfield from the late 1960s until his death in 2000.
  • Caroline Lucas, former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, lived in Stonesfield until her election as an MEP in 1999. She owned this house in Stonesfield for five years.
  • Gordon Rudlin, founder of The Stonesfield Slate village magazine in December 1976 and financial officer for Oxfam in Oxford for 13 years. Died at the age of 97 in 2005.
  • Sir William Strang, 1st Baron Strang of Stonesfield (1893–1978), succeeded by his only son Colin Strang. Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1949–1953) and subsequently the first Convenor of the Crossbench peers in the House of Lords from 1968 to 1974.

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • .
  • Stonesfield Village: Official Parish Council website
  • Stonesfield Parish Council Council Transparency Portal: previous official parish council website