Swinbrook

Swinbrook

St. Mary the Virgin parish church
Swinbrook
Swinbrook shown within Oxfordshire
Population 135 (parish, with Widford) (2011 Census)
OS grid reference SP2812
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Burford
Postcode district OX18
Dialling code 01993
Police Thames Valley
Fire Oxfordshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament

Swinbrook is a village on the River Windrush, about 2 miles (3 km) east of Burford in Oxfordshire, England. The village is in the civil parish of Swinbrook and Widford. Widford is a hamlet about 0.5 miles (800 m) west of Swinbrook. The 2011 Census recorded Swinbrook and Widford's parish population as 139.[1]

History

One of the Fettiplace monuments in St Mary the Virgin parish church

The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin dates from about 1200.[2] Its unusual open-sided bell-tower was added in 1822.[2] The church is noted for its 17th-century Fettiplace monuments.[3]

David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale had Swinbrook House built 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the village.[4] Four of his six daughters (the "Mitford sisters") are buried in the parish churchyard: Nancy, Unity, and Diana are buried side by side, while Pamela is buried northwest of the tower.[5] There is a tablet in the church commemorating their only brother, Tom, killed in March 1945 in Burma.

St Mary's also has a monument to the officers and men of the Royal Navy submarine HMS P514, and especially its commander, Lieutenant W.A. Phillimore, whose parents lived at Swinbrook. In 1942 P514 failed to identify herself to the Royal Canadian Navy minesweeper HMCS Georgian. The Canadian ship therefore assumed the submarine to be an enemy vessel and rammed P514, sinking her with the loss of all hands.

Swinbrook Cricket Club[6] has two teams. They play in division 5 and 10 respectively of the Oxfordshire Cricket Association.[7]

References

HMS P514 monument in St Mary the Virgin parish church
  1. ↑ "Area: Swinbrook and Widford (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  2. 1 2 Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 799.
  3. ↑ Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 800.
  4. ↑ Ottewell 1999, p. 71.
  5. ↑ Pearson 2004, p. 93.
  6. ↑ Swinbrook Cricket Club Archived 18 July 2012 at Archive.is
  7. ↑ Oxfordshire Cricket Association

Sources and further reading

  • Case, Humphrey (1958). "Swinbrook, Oxon". Oxoniensia. Oxford Architectural and Historical Society. XXIII: 138.
  • Hinton, David A. (1971). "Medieval Pottery from Swinbrook, Oxon". Oxoniensia. Oxford Architectural and Historical Society. XXXVI: 107–110.
  • Ottewell, Gordon (1999). Literary strolls around the Cotswolds and the Forest of Dean. Wilmslow: Sigma Leisure. p. 71. ISBN 1-85058-687-X.
  • Pearson, Lynn F (2004). Discovering Famous Graves. Oxford: Shire Publications. p. 93. ISBN 0747806195.
  • Sherwood, Jennifer; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974). Oxfordshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 799–800. ISBN 0-14-071045-0.

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