Ascott, Oxfordshire

This article is about the hamlet and manor house near Stadhampton. For the village near Burford, see Ascott-under-Wychwood.

Not to be confused with Ascot, Berkshire; Ascott, Buckinghamshire; or Ascott, Warwickshire.

Ascott
A farm in Ascott, with part of Ascott Manor and its gardens visible on the left
Ascott Location within Oxfordshire
OS grid reference	SU6097
Civil parish	Stadhampton
District	South Oxfordshire
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Oxford
Postcode district	OX44
Dialling code	01865
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Henley

Ascott is a hamlet and manor house in the civil parish of Stadhampton, in the South Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. Ascott lies close to the River Thame north-east of Dorchester, about 8 miles (13 km) to the south-east of the centre of Oxford.^[1]

The original settlement dates to at least the Anglo-Saxon period, and the name ‘Ascott’ is derived from the Old English ēast (east) and cot (cottage). Ascott is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as one of two knight's fees under the lordship of the Bishop of Lincoln, at that time part of the neighbouring parish of Great Milton.^[2] The settlement was held until the middle of the thirteenth century by the D'Oyly family until it came under the ownership of a John Fiennes or Fynes, one of the lords of the manor of Ascott, in 1316.^[3]

Paul Nash's Pillar and Moon (1932-1942), collection of the Tate

Ascott remained in the hands of the Fiennes family until the fifteenth century, including under the ownership of James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele, a celebrated English soldier and statesman of the Hundred Years' War and Lord Chamberlain to Henry VI of England. By 1510, Ascott was in the possession of the Dormer family, and it remained one of the seats of the family for many generations, alongside Rousham House.^[4] A substantial house built by Sir William Dormer may have been attacked during a Parliamentarian raid on Ascott during the English Civil War in 1642, and subsequently burnt down. The site of this house forms part of Ascott Park.^[5] One of the gateway pillars of Ascott Park is the subject of surrealist painter and war artist Paul Nash's 1932–1942 oil painting Pillar and Moon,^[6][7] while the gateway itself (as well as its wrought iron gates) is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum and is on display at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.^[8]

Ascott was formerly a hamlet in the parish of Great Milton.^[9] In 1866 Ascott became a separate civil parish, but on 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Stadhampton.^[10] In 1931 the parish had a population of 55.^[11]

The current Ascott Manor was built circa 1620 in the reign of James I and extended circa 1800. The house is Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England.^[12]

References

1. "Parishes: Stadhampton | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
2. "[Great] Milton | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
3. "Parishes: Great Milton | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
4. "Parishes: Great Milton | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
5. "ASCOTT PARK, Newington - 1001086 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
6. "Wrecked Planes & Magnolia Trees: Paul Nash in Oxford". blogger.com. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
7. "Paul Nash, Pillar and Moon, 1932–42". tate.org.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
8. "Gateway, from Ascott House, near Stadhampton, Oxfordshire". vam.ac.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
9. "History of Ascott in South Oxfordshire". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
10. "Relationships and changes Ascott CP/Hmlt through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
11. "Population statistics Ascott CP/Hmlt through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
12. "ASCOTT MANOR, Stadhampton - 1368741 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2022.