Cuddesdon

Cuddesdon is a small hill-top village lying on part of the Midvale Ridge, one of several hill-top villages in this part of the county. It is some 6 miles south east of Oxford lying between the B480 Oxford to Watlington road and the A40..

The centre of the village is a small triangle of roads, the oldest of which is the High Street. Here is the parish church of All Saints, built in about 1180 over the foundations of an earlier 12th-century church. The church originally had only a single nave and the side aisles were added in 1240. Further alterations were carried out in the 14th century when the roofs of the aisles were raised, the the south porch added and the chancel rebuilt.

The village is well-known as the home of Ripon College, an Anglican theological training college. The principal of Ripon College is also vicar of the parish and over the years practically all who have held this post have become bishops, notably the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Runcie, who held the post between 1960/69. After his retirement in 1991, Robert Runcie took the title Baron Runcie of Cuddesdon. The Old Palace at Cuddesdon used to be the official home of the Bishops of Oxford but was burned to the ground in the mid-20th century.