The village of Ambrosden (meaning 'Ambre's hill'), was established during the Roman occupation of the British Isles. Many Roman coins and fragments of pottery from that era have been found in and around the settlement.

Shortly after the Norman Conquest, King William I gifted the manor of Ambrosden to his butler, Hugh D'Ivry, who subsequently gave it to a woman called Lady Elveva to manage it on his behalf. During the time of King Edward the Confessor, it was recorded that Elveva 'held freely an estate assessed at 10 hides in Ambresden' (10 hides was a unit of land measurement, with 1 hide equating to roughly 120 acres).

When Hugh D'Ivry died in around 1101 AD, the estate was inherited by his nephew, Roger D'Ivry; it was then passed down through the generations until approximately 1194, when Ambrosden and the neighbouring hamlet of Blackthorn were recorded as being held by the St Valery family.

In 1539, the manor became the property of the Crown, before ownership was transferred to John Denton of Blackthorn in 1542 (you may remember from one of my previous posts that John also acquired Bicester House during his lifetime). John was the son of Thomas Denton of Caversfield, and married Magdalen Brome, who was in turn the daughter of Sir John Brome of Holton (Holton is situated approximately 5 miles from Oxford).

Shortly before John's death in 1576, he bequeathed the manor of Ambrosden to his son, Edward Denton (who married Joyce Carlton of Brightwell Baldwin). Eventually, the estate fell into the hands of a woman called Margaret Whethill, who became the second wife of Sir Thomas Mildmay of Chelmsford, and left the manor to him in her will. When Sir Thomas died two years later, his son Walter Mildmay was the beneficiary of his estate.

When Walter died, he bequeathed the manor to his son, Francis Mildmay; however, due to Francis being very open about his Roman Catholic and Royalist beliefs and being in a lot of debt, the estate was sequestered, being bought by John Warre of London not long afterwards.

In 1673, Sir William Glynne of Bicester (who's ancestors had been Welsh) acquired the estate, and rebuilt the original manor house which had existed within the village of Ambrosden for centuries prior. William was succeeded in 1690 by his son, also called Sir William Glynne, who in turn passed the manor down to his brother, Sir Stephen Glynne of nearby Merton.

Unfortunately, due to there being a lot of debts tied to the land, Sir Stephen's family were forced to sell it in order to unburden themselves shortly after his death in 1729. The buyer was a man called Sir Edward Turner, who had married Mary Page (daughter of Sir Gregory Page of East Greenwich, the powerful and immenseley wealthy director of The East India Company) in 1718.

Later generations of the Turner family also enjoyed incredible prosperity and success, and the manor house in Ambrosden became a popular meeting place for politicians and other high-society people of the day.

When Sir Edward's grandson, Sir Gregory Turner, inherited the estate, he changed his surname to Page-Turner (in homage to his noble ancestry). As well as inheriting the Turner fortune, Gregory also inherited the estates of his great uncle, Sir Gregory Page.

Amazingly, the manor of Ambrosden remained in the Page-Turner family all the way up until 1930.

Ambrosden was presumably a pit-stop for Vikings, who may have passed through it on their way to Oxford; human remains of Danish origin were unearthed in or close to the village in the 1800's. The Danes probably used the ancient Roman road, known as 'Akeman Street', which runs straight through the parish.

During the 15th century, inhabitants of Ambrosden and Blackthorn enjoyed pasture rights in nearby Bernwood Forest (which at one time would've been a lot closer than it is today!).

By the end of the 18th century, Ambrosden - once the home of the wealthy - was now an overpopulated, largely poverty-stricken hamlet; although it is fair to say that the village was still much better off than some of its neighbouring villages, such as Blackthorn and Arncott!

In 1829, horse races were held in Ambrosden, and the Oxford Journal newspaper reported that 'a thousand idlers' attended, 'characterised by their dullness and stupidity and brutal and disgraceful fighting'. Apparently, many of the upper-class ladies who attended the event were rendered 'quite faint' by this spectacle, and visiting members of the gentry were also appalled by the lewd behaviour they had witnessed.

In 1817, the villagers of Ambrosden formed 'The Ambrosden Amicable Society of Tradesmen'; the aim of the society was to improve social conditions within the parish. Local pub The Turner Arms (named in honour of the aforementioned Turner family) became its monthly meeting place, and at one point it had amassed 101 members, all paying a fee of 2s 6d per meeting, and a monthly subscription of 2s. Using this money, stewards were appointed to visit and tend to the sick or infirm, and members were entitled to receive unemployment or sickness benefits, which undoubtedly helped enormously.

Prior to the Second World War, most of the village's inhabitants worked as agricultural labourers, aside from a few who were employed by the brick and tile works or quarry (all located in Blackthorn).

There's quite a lot more information regarding this village to go through, so stay tuned for another post soon!

The photograph below was probably taken in the early 1900's, although sadly I don't know any of the people's names!