Culham

The toponym comes from the Old English ''Cula's hamm'', referring to the village's position in a bend of the Thames. Culham is known to have existed by the reign of King Coenwulf of Mercia early in the 9th century, by which time the manor belonged to Abingdon Abbey. Soon after the Norman conquest of England part of the manor was seized by William the Conqueror, but the land was restored to the abbey and remained in its possession until the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. The west wing of Culham Manor was built in the 15th century as a medieval grange for Abingdon Abbey. It is half-timbered, with a stone ground floor and timber-framed first floor. In 1610 it was extended with a new north front and east wing. The east wing was later demolished but the 17th-century north front survives. In 1685 a dovecote was built for the manor house. It, too, is now Grade II* listed. North of the house is a 17th-century sundial mounted on a 13th-century column. ==Parish church==

Several records suggest that Culham may have had a chapel since the 9th century. A parish church dedicated to Saint Paul was built in the 12th century. It was cruciform, having a chancel, nave and north and south transepts, and had features from the Early English and Decorated periods. There was a tower, and this was demolished and replaced in 1710. In 1852 the whole church except the 1710 tower was demolished and replaced with a new Gothic Revival building in 13th century style designed by Joseph Clarke. During the rebuilding, heraldic stained glass installed in the north transept in 1638 was transferred to a window in the north aisle of the new church. The tower has a ring of six bells, but currently for technical reasons it is not possible to ring them. Mears and Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast or re-cast five of the bells in 1921, and cast the present tenor bell in 1926. St Paul's also has a Sanctus bell cast in 1774 by Edne Witts of Aldbourne, Wiltshire. St Paul's parish is now part of the Benefice of Dorchester. In 1486 brothers Sir Humphrey and Thomas Stafford sought sanctuary in the church after they had fled from the newly crowned King Henry VII after the brothers were defeated at the Battle of Bosworth. On 14 May 1486, sixty of the King's men entered the church and arrested the two brothers who were tried for treason. Sir Humphrey Stafford was executed; however, Henry pardoned the younger brother Thomas. Culham House is a mid-18th-century brick Georgian house, built to replace an earlier rectory. It was probably designed and built by John Phillips of London. ==Economic and social history==

In 1416–22 the Abingdon Guild of the Holy Cross built Culham Bridge over the narrow Back Water between the village and Abingdon to carry the main road between Abingdon and Dorchester. Road traffic between Culham and Sutton Courtenay crossed the Thames via Culham Ferry until 1807, when Sutton Bridge was built. In 1809 the Thames Navigation Commissioners built the long Culham Cut, a navigation that bypasses a difficult stretch of river past a watermill at Sutton Courtenay. Sutton Bridge was extended to span the cut, and Culham Lock was built on the cut just above the bridge. ==Europa School, UK==

In 1851 Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford founded the Diocesan Training College for Schoolmasters (Culham College). The building was designed by Joseph Clarke and completed in 1852. The building was altered and extended in about 1960. The college became Culham Institute, a charitable research organisation associated with the Church of England housed in the Educational Studies Department of Oxford University. In 1978 the European School, Culham was founded in its former buildings before closing in 2017. Since 2012 the entire campus has gradually been subsumed by the Europa School UK. ==Culham Science Centre==

In 1941 The Admiralty closed the airfield in 1956 an 800,000 square metre scientific research site that most notably includes two major nuclear fusion experiments: JET and MAST. The START Nuclear Fusion Experiment was also conducted on the site until MAST succeeded it in 1999. ==See also==