WROXTON ABBEY or PRIORY, 3 miles north-west of Banbury, was founded by Michael Belet; it passed into the hands of Sir Thos. Pope after the troubles of the Reformation time, and thence by marriage to the Earls Guildford and North. It is the seat of Lord North, and is famed for its beautifully terraced gardens and park. The chapel, which is supposed to date from the time of King John, contains a window in the Decorated style, with old glass, and the carved woodwork is of the best in the neighbourhood. The other part of the mansion was re-built in 1618, excepting a wing which has been added within the last few years. On the west front is a good porch, in the Italian style, of the time of James I. The principal features of the hall are the carved woodwork of the gallery, the fireplace, and the stag’s head brackets and pendants. The ceiling of the dining-room is a beautiful specimen of the classical work of the Stuart period. Amongst the paintings are some portraits by Vandyke, Holbein, Jansen and Kneller, and landscapes by Wouvermans, Hobbema, and others. The famous “Garden Party,” by Watteau, is one of the collection. King James and King Charles I. visited Wroxton, the latter at the time of the meeting of the King and Queen at Kineton in the year following the battle of Edge Hill. A medal was struck to commemorate the meeting. Pleasant paths to Banbury and Broughton lead across the fields.

All Saints’ Church, Wroxton, is of plain Gothic style. The chief points of interest are a good decorated font, two sedilia, and a tomb with effigies of Sir W. and Lady Pope, erected about the middle of the 17th century.

ADDERBURY.—Altitudes: high town 342, low town 300; population, 1132; 3¼ miles south of Banbury. It retains its old mansions and homesteads and the wide margin of its ways to a fuller degree than other villages in the north of the shire. The old rectory house, the manor house, formerly Lord Rochester’s home, and others on the south side of the green, are good buildings. Nothing remains of the Cross once standing on the green, and of Sir Thos. Cobb’s famous house there remain but the gateways and kitchen. The village during the time of the Great Rebellion was held as a Royalist outpost in the Banbury area. Mr. Wilmot, afterwards Lord Rochester, with his local troops of horse fought on the left wing of the Royalists’ Army at Edge Hill. A cavalry fight took place during the war near Bodicot, on the Banbury road, when Fiennes had some success.

St. Mary’s Church is remarkable for its elegant chancel, built by William of Wykeham. The chancel windows are in the early style of perpendicular architecture, and are fine illustrations of the architect’s skill. His arms are to be seen above the exterior of the east window. The north door is in the decorated style, and is rich in mouldings and crocketed canopies. A good example of perpendicular work is to be seen in the square-headed vestry door. The spire dates from the 14th century, and is massive and imposing. The frieze under the cornice of the north wall is filled with grotesque sculpture. In the interior, the timber roof of the nave, the clustered columns, and the sedilia and piscina are excellent specimens of work of the decorated period.

HANWELL.—Altitudes: 476-416; population, 176; 3 miles north-west of Banbury. The village winds in one long street down-hill. It rests on the ferruginous red rock of the Middle Lias. Midway in the village an old oak tree covered the village stocks and the outflow of an aquaduct, probably the Saint Ann’s Well of past time. Pleasant footways follow the hill side on the north to Shotteswell and on the south to Banbury. When King Charles took the Castle after the battle of Edge Hill it would seem that it was not without a fight. An old rhyme runs:

Hornton in the hollow,
Long Horley on the hill,
Frowsty little Drayton,
Bloody Hanwell hill.

Hanwell Castle during its tenure as a farm house lost much of its old work in successive alterations. Two massive octagonal turrets and the facing of the west front remain of the old building. The right-handed stairway, a flight of eighty steps in the north turret, is of very thorough Hornton stone work, but the turrets and front are of the good flat red brick in use in Tudor time, with stone quoins. It would appear that the right hand stairway lent itself better to defensive uses; the upper rooms are entered from the turret stair. In the angle of the south turret a small room shows some old oak panelling, and in an adjoining room a hearth and chimney piece of local stone are in the south-east angle. The once “gallant house of Hanwell,” and, according to Dr. Plot, the home of Sir Anthony Cope, the most eminent artist and naturalist, may be seen figured as in its original state by Skelton in his “Antiquities of Oxfordshire,” who says the mansion was quadrangular with two towers at each angle. The stonework of the doorways of the room adjoining the south entrance and most of the masonry of the west side has been preserved. The Copes came into early possession of the Hanwell estate, and John Cope, cofferer to King Henry VIII., built the house which was so well spoken of by Leland. In Tudor and Stuart times they were busy politicians, and James I. and his Queen are said to have visited the Castle. The Copes were with the people in the time of the Great Rebellion, and after Edge Hill the Castle was taken by the Royalists. Subsequently Sir Anthony Cope found residence for the eminent Puritan pastors Harris and Dod, who, with Whateley of Banbury, ministered to enlarge the religious zeal of the neighbourhood. The pool and plantation lie to the east of the grounds, and the plantation below is worth mention from the number of rare plants found therein, amongst them the Bistort, Lungwort, Green Hellebore, and Saracen’s Woundwort.

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HANWELL CASTLE.