[1] Evidence of a Romano-British settlement has been found near the parish boundary on Iron Down, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the present village.

After the Norman Conquest of England, William the Conqueror granted the manor to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who was both his step-brother and one of his military commanders.

A few years later William granted the estate to Ralph Ivals, after whom the village was called "Newington Jewell".

When the priory was suppressed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 its property at South Newington passed to the Crown.

Its artistry is not of the same standard as the paintings in the north aisle, but it is of interest and some of its pictures show scenes not seen in passion cycles elsewhere.

St Peter ad Vincula is now part of a single Church of England benefice with the parishes of Bloxham and Milcombe.

The Sheriff of Oxford issued a warrant requiring that the £12 be paid, but the Calendar of State Papers Domestic records that French and Thomas Roberts, a very vocal opponent of the tax, replied "No money has been or can be gathered in the parish till the sheriff makes known to them a law or statute binding them unto".

Roberts discouraged any residents of the hundreds of Bloxham and Banbury from buying the animals, and thereby still prevented the sheriff from realising the £12.

[8] In October 1636 Charles I issued a third writ for Ship Money, provoking the more famous resistance of John Hampden, the Member of Parliament for Wendover in Buckinghamshire.

Meanwhile, the South Newington case dragged on, and in May 1638 Roberts and another non-payer, Thomas Hall of Bodicote, were arrested and brought before the Privy Council charged with "undutiful speeches against the Board in general and Mr Comptroller in particular".

[2] Charles I's attempt to raise a tax without seeking parliament's approval continued to divide the Kingdom and was one of the factors that led to the outbreak of the English Civil War in January 1642.

[10] In the 18th century the village had four public houses: the Horse and Jockey, the Pole Axe, the Wykeham Arms and the Three Goats.

[2] The Wykeham Arms survived until the early 21st century, when its historic name was removed and it was turned into a restaurant called the Duck on the Pond.

The main road between Banbury and Chipping Norton crosses the River Swere in South Newington.

South Newington's current bridge over the Swere includes an 18th-century stone three-arched structure that may have been built by the turnpike company.