North Moreton

The medieval manor of North Moreton is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. The manor house, where the Stapleton family lived was situated East of the church but can now only be identified by the remains of a moat. North Moreton retains many houses from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, despite the devastating fire in 1807 which destroyed one quarter of the village including one whole side of the main village street. North Moreton has always been a village existing solely within Berkshire boundaries until 1974 a year which saw comprehensive reorganisation of local government in England and Wales. An indication as to how deeply North Moreton was embedded within Berkshire is indicated by the fact that Abingdon was the county town of Berkshire until 1867. Reading only became the new county town in that year taking over from Abingdon which remained part of the county until 1974. On this date several of the historic counties disappeared, new counties were created and all had significant boundary changes. North Moreton was swallowed up within Oxfordshire and despite losing the title of being within the 'Royal' county of Berkshire it is probably safer for the village to be within Oxfordshire. "The first record of North Moreton is in the year 944 and it is one of many villages in historic Berkshire whose name ends with ton meaning a homestead'. The mor signifies, simply, a fen. With the arrival of the Normans in 1066 there came in due course Norman rule and a Norman church. North Moreton seldom had a resident lord of the manor though influential families such as the Stapletons played an important role over three centuries. The Stapletons largely rebuilt the church in the thirteenth century, endowing Stapleton's Chantry with some unique glass from the period." The subsequent centuries have not been without their high and low points. "At the very end of the sixteenth century there was a ‘ cause celebre' in the famous witch-craft case bringing North Moreton to the national stage and leading to the allegedly-bewitched Anne Gunter going before the Court of Star Chamber and before King James I himself. An unusual feature of the Cromwellian period was the high number of marriages performed in All Saints church probably attributable to the lords of the manor being relations of Oliver Cromwell. North Moreton became acceptable for church weddings even when nationally they were forbidden. Village life for centuries produced its even tenor of the rotati on of crops and the struggle for existence - North Moreton was never a rich village as the lack of any monuments in the church testifies. But change in many directions came in the last one hundred and fifty years. The Enclosure Award (late- in 1849 ) stablilised the economy of the village. The growth of Didcot and the development of railways gave employment and a new vicar, Albert Barff brought fresh vigor to the community. The village paid its debt to the nation in two World Wars and the later twentieth century has seen a change in population with many professional people making their way to London daily as commuters. But, in the end, the sounds of sheep bleating, combine harvesters at harvest time and of tractors down the High Street, remain evocative of a North Moreton whose eternal roots are in the soil." Is now a home but was originally a 15th century detached chantry chapel with a priest's hole and a secret underground passage. A chantry was defined as the endowment of one or more priests to say or sing Mass for the soul of the endower, in this case Sir Miles Stapleton. Unfortunately Edward VI's reign resulted in the loss of the chantry during the abolition of Chantries in 1547. Is a 17th century building with a cross wing dating from the 14-15th centuries. For many years known as the old Rectory, It was only used by the rector until 1562 when the Archdeacon of Berkshire leased it out to tenants, one of whom was a local resident known as Brian Gunter. Locals have been having fun in