Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor

The now-combined villages of Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor are on the A415 Abingdon to Witney road five miles west of Abingdon just off the A420, which now bypasses the villages. On the edge of the village on the approach from Frilford and Abingdon is the C17 Kingston House.

The original Saxon name for Kingston was Cingestun and Bagpuize is thought to be derived from the Norman lord of the manor, Ralph de Bachepuise, who was granted one of the manors of Cingestun after the conquest. The area now known as Southmoor, originally known as Draicote, was part of the parish of Longworth and was then the township of Draycott Moor. A map of 1761 shows Kingston Bagpuize to have been centred on Kingston House and there were two village streets on either side of the house, whereas Southmoor was centred on the Town Pond area of the village. The two villages were connected by two footpaths. The boundary between the two villages is beside the Waggon and Horses.

Kingston House, a Charles II manor house set in mature parkland, is on the Abingdon side of the village. The house was originally built between 1660 and 1670 and was probably remodelled from the ground floor up in the 1720s. Until 1865 the house was approached down an avenue from the east side with entrance gates and a screen where the ha-ha now is. In 1865 the gates were moved to their present position, near the church.

The parish church, the Church St. John the Baptist, stands next to Kingston House. The first church was built on the site shortly after the conquest (between about 1076-1099). The church was built jointly by Ralf de Bachepuise and the Lord of the other Kingston Manor, Adelelm and was consecrated by Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury. The church was largely rebuilt in the early 18th century in the same style but in 1799 it was demolished and rebuilt again, this time modelled on a church in the Apennines in Italy.

In Southmoor there is a Methodist church.