Situated roughly 11 miles from Bicester is the village of Yarnton, which was originally known as 'Erdington' when it was first recorded in 1005 AD - the manor of 'Erdington' and adjacent lands were given by the then King Ethelred to the Benedictine Abbey at Eynsham! The Domesday Book of 1086 subsequently recorded the village's name as 'Hardington'.

'Erdington' may have been derived from the Old English for 'Earda's farm'. It was perhaps due to the local dialect that the name evolved to become 'Yardington', and eventually, 'Yarnton'.

Archaeology in the area suggests that humans had settled about a mile south of the present village as early as 2700 - 1700 BC; late Iron Age and Romano-British artefacts have also been found.

A Chapel was recorded as existing in Yarnton in 1009, although the current St Bartholomew's Church was built following the Norman Conquest; some Saxon features do, however, remain.

The village lays claim to a unique custom, known as 'Lots for the Common Land', in which thirteen balls - made of cherry or holly - were inscribed with the names of medieval tenant farmers who had rights to the nearby meadows of Oxhey/Oxney, Pixey and West Meads on a prescribed day each year. The strips were allocated by the drawing of named balls (similar to how lottery numbers are picked!). Whoever's name was drawn would then be responsible for mowing that strip of land on that particular day. This tradition ceased in 1817, when some farmers brought in labourers from elsewhere in order to get the mowing done quicker, which resulted in riots taking place! A man was killed, leading to the practice being stopped, although it appeared to continue in a symbolic/ceremonial manner all the way up until 1978.

In 1344, the vicarage in Yarnton was sacked by angry villagers, who believed that the vicar was implicated in getting the then abbot of Eynsham removed from office.

In November 1900, an elderly gentleman called William Savage - who resided at Paternoster Farm, on the Cassington Road - was shot by his adopted son, Richard Hopcroft, following a heated argument; Hopcroft travelled to Oxford, where he gave himself up to the authorities. He was sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment, and was lucky not to receive a death sentence for the crime.

Two public houses known as The Red Lion and Grapes Inn were first mentioned in 1750, although the present Red Lion dates back to 1957, and The Grapes Inn had its name changed to The Turnpike Inn as of 2001.

The old village green disappeared during the mid 20th century, but it is said that three giant elm trees stood at each corner, and that stocks were originally placed in the centre of the green.

The image below shows an old map of Yarnton.