Fritwell

De Lisle After the Norman conquest of England in 1066 William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford held a manor of 10 hides of land at Fritwell. William's son Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford inherited his estates when William died in 1071, but in 1075 Roger took part in the Revolt of the Earls, was defeated by William I and imprisoned. The Crown confiscated and redistributed Roger's lands and seems to have given Fritwell to Roger de Chesney. The manor descended in the de Chesney family until 1160 by which time Maud, Daughter of William de Chesney, had become married to Henry II's chamberlain Henry FitzGerold. Henry and Maud's son Warin FitzGerold had inherited the manor by 1198 and died in 1216. The manor then passed to Warin's daughter Margaret, who was married to Baldwin de Redvers, son of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon. The manor remained in the de Redvers family until Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon died in 1293. One of the Countess's heirs was Warin de Lisle, a descendant of Margaret de Chesney. Warin's son Robert was created 1st Baron Lisle of Rougemont. In 1368 Robert de Lisle, 3rd Baron Lisle surrendered all his lands to Edward III. From then onwards the tenants of the de Lisle manor were tenants-in-chief. The de Lisle manor house was probably built late in the 16th century and rebuilt in 1619. Robert Barclay Allardice (1779–1854) lived at the house, by then renamed Fritwell Manor. The architect Thomas Garner restored the house in 1893 and made it his home until his death in 1906. Sir John Simon (1873–1954) bought the house in 1911, had a west wing added in 1921 and lived there until 1933. Ormond In 1086 there was a second manor at Fritwell. It had six hides of land and its feudal overlord was Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. This manor later became known as Ormondescourt. In 1519 Richard Fermor, a merchant, acquired the Ormond manor. Richard remained at his house in Easton Neston and put the Ormond manor in the charge of his younger brother William Fermor who already owned the manor of nearby Somerton. The Ormond manor remained in the Fermor family until the last member of the family, William Fermor of Tusmore Park died in 1828. The Ormond manor house seems to have been at the southern end of the village. It was still standing when Fritwell was assessed for the hearth tax in 1655 but seems to have been demolished by 1677, when a map of the village was made that showed no trace of it. Dovehouse Farm seems to have been built on its site and incorporating fragments of the old house. A large dovecote was built for it in 1702 and was still standing in 1897. By 1955 the dovecote had gone and the farm had been renamed Lodge Farm. ==Churches==

of south doorway, showing the tree of life flanked by beasts Church of England The earliest known written record of the Church of England parish church of Saint Olave is from 1103. cast the second bell in 1612 and the tenor bell in 1618. G. Mears & Co of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast the third bell in 1865 Roman Catholic The Fermors were Roman Catholics and throughout the 18th century they let the Ormond manor to fellow-recusants. Fritwell's Roman Catholic population increased and was served by a priest visiting the village from the Fermor chapel at Tusmore. The Roman Catholic Relief Act was passed in 1791 and a Roman Catholic school had been opened in Fritwell by 1808. However, after 1817 the Catholic population declined and from 1854 no Catholics were recorded until 1897, when Thomas Garner converted to Catholicism and got permission for Mass to be said at the manor house. Wesleyan By 1853 a stone-built chapel for a different branch of Methodism, the Methodist Reform Church, was being completed in Fritwell. ==Economic and social history==

A watermill belonging to the parish was recorded in 1235 and again in the 14th century. The parish has no stream large enough to power a mill, so it is likely to have been outside the parish on the River Cherwell. Early in the 19th century the parish had a windmill north of the village near the road linking Fritwell with Souldern. Its site is still called Windmill Ground Field. George's third son Nicholas Harris (1657–1738) succeeded to his father's business. Nicholas mended the church clock at St. Peter and Vincula, South Newington in 1674 and made the clock at St. Mary's parish church, Great Milton in 1699. Fritwell had further clock and watchmakers in the 18th century: Thomas Jennings (1722–73) and his younger brother William Jennings (1716–80). Public houses By 1735 Fritwell had three public houses. These may have been the King's Head and the Wheatsheaf, both of which are 17th-century buildings, and the George and Dragon which is first mentioned by name in a record from 1784. In 1955 all three pubs were still trading but the original George and Dragon had been replaced with a modern building. has since been turned into a home. Cherwell District Council has granted planning permission for the George and Dragon to be demolished and replaced with three houses. In 1892 a Temperance Hall was built Transport history The main road between Bicester and Banbury was made into a turnpike by an Act of Parliament passed in 1791. The section through Fritwell parish between Bicester and Aynho ceased to be a turnpike in 1877. Ardley Tunnel. The tunnel's southeastern portal is in Fritwell parish, close to where the tunnel passes under the Portway. The railway is now part of the Chiltern Main Line. ==References==