Oxfordshire Historical Facts

Hornton stone, a ferruginous limestone, was quarried in several places near the village and, apart from its use in the building of cottages, houses and churches, etc. in Hornton and all the other nearby villages it was also used in buildings such as St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Canterbury Cathedral and university buildings in Oxford and Cambridge.

Woolstone has a 17th-century timber-framed public house, the White Horse Inn

The common lands of Uffington, Baulking and Woolstone were enclosed in 1776

A watermill at Woolstone is recorded in 1325, however it was demolished in about 1850 and replaced with a house, Woolstone Lodge.

Steam ploughing in 1884 revealed remains of a Roman villa built of clunch in a field just west of Woolstone village, Oxfordshire. In 1884 excavation found three human skeletons in the corridor of the Roman villa, which are thought to have been Saxon burials.

The Blewbury citizens are often called Blewbarians

In the English Civil War in the 17th century, the village of Blewsbury, in Oxfordshire, was in no man's land between the forces of King Charles I in Oxford, and the Parliamentarian troops. It is noted that one day a troop of Royalist cavalry arrived at Hall Barn in the village, and demanded lunch. They sat and ate their fill, then not long after they left, a troop of Parliamentarians arrived with the same request, and were served at the same tables as their enemy.

Blewbury Mill on Mill Brook is said to be where blotting paper was discovered.

The almshouse, built circa 1738 in the village of Blewbury, Oxfordshire, was built for the oldest man in the village. The second almshouse was built 100 years later in 1838.

Hook Norton's 18th century hand-pumped fire engine, which was in use until 1896, is preserved in St. Peter's parish church within the village.