Situated roughly 3 miles from Bicester lies the hamlet of Bainton.

It's name is derived from the Old English 'Bada's tun', meaning 'Bada's farm'.

In 1086, the Domesday Book recorded that a Norman lord called Ghilo de Picquigny held the manor of Bainton.

In 1279, Bainton was comprised of 17 households; by the 1950's, the population of the hamlet had fallen dramatically - there were now just 4 farmhouses and 1 cottage!

In 1530, Bainton was sold to Edward Peckham ('cofferer', or treasurer of the Royal household, to King Henry the Eighth). By 1613, Edward Ewer of Bucknell held the manor of Bainton, but sold it to Sir William Cope, 1st Baronet of Hanwell, shortly afterwards for the sum of £5,300. Some sort of legal dispute between the two men ensued, resulting in Ewer recovering the manor from Cope in 1628; however, the Ewer family could not afford to keep it, so Bainton was sold yet again in 1637.

One reason for the dramatic population decline in Bainton is that, by the mid-17th century, much of its land had been converted from arable farming to pasture - therefore, less labour was required in order to maintain it. This encouraged many residents to move elsewhere, in search of work.

Bainton Manor Farm was constructed in either the latter part of the 16th century, or early 17th century, and was originally the local manor house. By 1783, John Warde (founder and first master of the Bicester Hunt) was using it as a hunting base. Joseph Bullock of Caversfield had bought the manor, and together, the two men installed stables and kennels there.

330 yards north-west of the hamlet, an obelisk (pictured below) marks the grave of a foxhound called Lady - it was erected in 1812 by Sir Thomas Mostyn Bart MP, who was master of the Bicester Foxhounds from 1800 - 1830. Lady had been his favourite hound.