Caversfield

Caversfield is a village and civil parish about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) north of the centre of Bicester.

[1] Before the Norman Conquest of England the manor was held by one Edward, who was a man of Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria.

[1] The Domesday Book records that in 1086 Caversfield was one of the manors owned by William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey.

[1] She was the wife of David II Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl, who although Scottish had become a peer of England after King Robert the Bruce deposed and exiled him for rebellion.

Caversfield remained with the Earl of Atholl's descendants until 1375, when it passed to the heirs of a different branch of the de Warenne family.

[1] In the 13th century the Gargate family owned a watermill, a windmill and a house where the manorial court was held.

[1][3] In the 18th century the north and south aisles of St Laurence church were demolished and the two arcades blocked up.

An open field system of farming prevailed in the parish until 1780, when the Stratton Audley and Caversfield Inclosure Act 1780 (20 Geo.

Finally the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 transferred Caversfield to Oxfordshire for all remaining purposes.

[9] The architect William Wilkinson designed the neo-Tudor style Brashfield House, which was built in 1872–75 in the east of the parish by the Roman Road.

The parish also now includes accommodation for USAFE personnel serving at the RAF Croughton communications base in Northamptonshire about 5 miles (8 km) north of Caversfield.

Saxon window in the south side of St Laurence's church tower
CWGC graves in St Laurence's parish churchyard
St Laurence's parish church and churchyard from the southwest, with the Commonwealth war graves visible beyond the tree centre left