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St Mary's
church, which largely
dates from the 14th and 15th centuries, allegedly has the tallest spire in
Oxfordshire. It stands at 60m and is reputed to have been commissioned
by Cardinal Wolsey. Thanks to a lottery grant, the spire has been
illuminated at night and can now be seen from miles around.
St
Mary's is
remarkable for a Norman doorway, the remains of mediaeval paintings,
fine stone carvings, the perpendicular architecture of the Milcombe
Chapel, and the east window by William Morris and Burne-Jones. A
tapestry screen of 114 panels crafted by villagers has been placed
across the entrance to the tower.
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The first written evidence of the church is
the charter whereby William I granted it, with the Rectory Estate, to Westminster Abbey in 1067. In
1547 Edward VI gave the living to Eton College, who hold it to this day.
The rood (cross) screen [see above] separates the chancel from the nave. The panels represent the
four doctors of the Church in order of rank: Gregory (Pope), St Jerome (Cardinal), St
Ambrose (Archbishop) and St Augustine (Bishop).
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There is a small cottage to the
south of St Mary's church that is known as the court house. It is still
owned by the Bloxham Feoffees, trustees of the ancient Bloxham charities.
It dates from 1689 and is now used as the village hall. Bloxham
village museum is housed in the undercroft of the court house and is
open to visitors every Sunday afternoon and bank holiday from Easter
to October and every other Sunday afternoon from October to Easter.
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The main road used to pass
through along Old Bridge Street and through the coaching arch that now
forms the entrance to the car park of the Elephant and Castle pub.
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Did you know that Queen Street was called Grub Street until Queen
Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, when it was decided to rename the street after a splendid celebratory precession passed through. Similarly
Tank Lane was renamed King's Road in honour of King George V's Golden Jubilee in 1935.
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According to legend,
St Mary's
church in Bloxham was
partly built by the devil and
accordingly it has a number of outstanding gargoyles and
the seal of Solomon on one of its windows.
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Bloxham
has been a settlement for a great many years. There is recorded
evidence of several Roman farm settlements including a burial ground,
which date from the first to the fifth centuries. The name of the
village derives from the Anglo Saxon ‘Blocc’s Ham’, i.e. home of
Blocc, from the sixth century when the banks of the brook became a
Saxon settlement. Later, from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries
the village name mutated into Blockesham, Blocchesham and Blokesham,
until in 1316 it is recorded as the now familiar Bloxham. In the
thirteenth century the manor of Bloxham was divided; Lord Saye and
Sele now holds both halves of the manor, Bloxham Beauchamp and Bloxham
Fiennes.
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Bloxham
is built over caves, which may in part have led to the numerous
stories of tunnels under the village. These caves and tunnels may be
due to water erosion of the underlying ironstone or may be due to
quarrying. There is no disputing, however, the existence of at least a
small number of manmade tunnels, for example there is a bricked-up
tunnel under Ashwell House and another leading from the cellar of the
Hawk and Partridge pub.
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From Bloxholm in Lincolnshire and Bloxham in Oxfordshire comes the English
surname of Bloxsome and its variants. The surname of Bloxsome is of toponymic origin, being derived from the place where the
original bearer lived or held land. In this instance, the surname Bloxsome signifies "one
from Bloxholm or Bloxham" . Variants of the surname include Bloxsom, Bloxham, Bloxom and
Bloxam. References to the surname Bloxsome or to its variants are found in English documents that
date back to the twelfth century. Robert de Bloxeham was recorded in the "Pipe Rolls"
of Lincolnshire in 1130. William de Blokesham and Alexander de Bloxam were listed in the
"Hundred Rolls" of Oxfordshire in 1279. Nicholas Bloxam of Glocestershire was
registered at the University of Oxford in 1621. Samuel Bloxham and Mary Smith were married at
St George's Church at Hanover Square, London, in 1725.
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In 1991 there were 2796
residents in Bloxham
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Bloxham is the 22449th most
popular surname in the USA!
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There is another Bloxham in
Florida in Leon county; located at 30°23'18"N, 84°37'51"W.
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