Northmoor

Northmoor is a small, quiet village about 6 miles west of Oxford and almost 6 miles south-east of Witney. The village is within a large bend in the River Thames, about a mile away to the south and east. The River Windrush is about a mile to the west.

If you are looking for an attractive, peaceful village then look no further than the village of Northmoor. But you would really only see Northmoor if you had reason to go there. It is approached by single track lanes from both directions and is on the route to nowhere. But if you do go to Northmoor you are rewarded by an extremely attractive little village with grassy verges and, in the Springtime, pretty daffodils.

In the centre of the village is the parish church, the Church of St. Denys. The original church dedicated to Saint Denys at Northmoor was built in the middle of the 12th century but nothing survives of this building except the font. The chancel of the present church is the earliest part of the building and this is Early English and was built in the 13th century. The present nave and north and south transepts were built early in the 14th century and the bell tower over the west bay of the nave was added in the 15th century.

Near the church is is the Elizabethan Rectory Farmhouse, built in the 16th century. A date-stone over the entrance records alterations in 1629. The farm has also a half-timbered granary on stone stooks and a timber-framed dovecote, both from the 16th or 17th centuries.

To the north of the Northmoor between the village and Stanton Harcourt there are a number of disused gravel workings which are now used for fishing and other aquatic sports. Because of its location the village has a history of flooding but this has been reduced since a system of drainage ditches was dug by prisoners of war during the Second World War.

To the south-east of the village on the River Thames is Northmoor Lock, built in 1896 to replace an earlier flash lock about a mile upstream.

The village of Appleton is about 2 miles away to the south-east, and can be reached by footpath across the fields by way of a footbridge over the Thames.