24 miles from Broadway
Shipton Court
Private Residence |
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Shipton under Wychwood is a village in the West
Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire. It is on the south bank of the River
Evenlode and is named for its location in the historic forest of Wychwood.
Shipton is the largest of the Wychwoods (the others are Ascott and Milton).
Shipton has a wide village green, railway station and access to the Oxfordshire
Way long-distance footpath. It is a village of medieval origins, established
around Shipton Court, the estate of the Lacey family. Shipton Court is one of
the largest Jacobean houses in the country. The parish church of St. Mary has a
tower of circa 1200-1250 and a 15th century vaulted porch. The mainly 15th
century Shaven Crown Hotel overlooks the wide village green and was once a
guest house run by the monks of Bruern Abbey, and is claimed to have had a
licence since 1384. About 2 miles south-east is the farmhouse of Langley, a
largely mid-19th century building on the site of a royal hunting lodge built
for Henry VII. Most of the Tudor monarchs stayed there when hunting in the
Wychwood Forest. Shipton takes its name from the Old English meaning 'sheep
town'. William the Conqueror was a landowner here and, in 1086 AD, the village
was listed as a royal manor in the Doomsday Book. Most of the village dates
from the 17th century and its history is rich and varied. The area was
inhabited in pre-history too, and the local Rollright Stone Circle dates from
the Neolithic period.
