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Fyfield and Tubney Fyfield is a very small village lying just off the busy A420 Oxford to Swindon road about a mile east of Kingston Bagpuize. It is centred on St. Nicholas's Chuch and the old Manor house. Although the west end of the nave of St. Nicholas's dates from the 13th century, much of the church was rebuilt in the 14th century. The north arcade was rebuilt in the 15th century and the lower part of the west tower was perhaps built at the same period, but the octagonal upper stages are modern. Much of Fyfield Manor House is 14th century and the upper part of the hall block is Elizabethan. The house was restored in 1868. In front of the church and manor house is a small green with some attractive trees where, within memory, stood the village stocks. The "White Hart" pub in the village was formerly a chantry house and was built in the 15th century. Tubney is now not really a village and the houses there are very scattered. In fact it is a "lost village". So perhaps Tubney should not really be included in this Oxfordshire showcase, but I've been there and photographed it, so why not? Most of the houses that make Tubney a settlement today are along a lane that links the A420 with the A338 Wantage road near the Frilford Heath Golf Club. Many of these houses are large and set well back from the road. It would appear that the centre of the village used to be around the junction with the narrow lane that leads to the parish church, and around here there are two or three attractive old thatched houses. The church itself, the Church of St. Lawrence, is beside the A420. It is a stone building in the 14th-century Gothic style, not very old having been consecrated in 1847. The manor house belongs to Oxford University and Tubney House is the home of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit. |
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