A walk from Ascott-under-Wychwood to Leafield in Oxfordshire
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Oxfordshire Cotswolds this time, to Ascott under Wychwood which, along with Milton under Wychwood and Shipton under Wychwood are little villages collectively known as The Wychwoods in what was originally the royal medieval hunting forest of Wychwood.
Ascott-under-Wychwood
For such a relatively small village it is well served, having a pub, a church, a primary school (built in 1871) and a community shop. There's been a railway station in the village of Ascott-under-Wychwood since 1845 and also a castle, which built between 1129 and 1150, but sadly virtually nothing remains of it these days.
Holy Trinity Church, Ascott-under-Wychwood
Holy Trinity Church was built around 1200 and improved in the 14th and 15th centuries. It's Grade 2* listed.
The Ascott Martyrs
This circle of benches around a tree on the village green is a memorial to an important event which still impacts on us today. In 1873, a group of workers was sacked for forming a branch of the National Union of Agricultural Workers and their employer brought in workers from neighbouring villages to take their jobs.
Some local women stood up for their menfolk and tried to dissuade the replacements from taking their jobs only to be arrested, tried, imprisoned and sentenced to hard labour.
These convictions caused rioting in Chipping Norton and eventually to a Royal Pardon from Queen Victoria, leading to a change in the law to make picketing legal.
Heading from Ascott towards Leafield
From the green, we turned right towards Leafield along a quiet road leading out of the village to a T junction with a busier road.
We turned right again here but only for a short distance before turning left to Leafield and back onto a quieter road.
This next mile is through lovely countryside and fields of cows and sheep, with the occasional odder creature!
Leafield Technical Centre
After a mile, it's a left turn at the T junction where you'll pass the Technical Centre. From 1912 to 1993, the centre was run as a radio transmission operation for the GPO and then a training college for BT. After that, it was taken on by various Formula 1 teams - Tom Walkinshaw Racing (The Arrows F! Team), the Super Aguri F1 Team and the Caterham F1 Team. After Caterham declared bankruptcy in 2015, the site was abandoned.
Leafield
Like Ascott, Leafield had a castle. The Barrow to the north of the village was the probable site of a motte and bailey castle. This position would have been ideal for defence, but only earthworks remain now.
The village is set within the limits of the medieval Forest of Wychwood. It's spread around the village green and lies midway between the valleys of the rivers Windrush and Evenlode. There are the remains of a medieval preaching cross and a famous visitor to the village, in August 1605, was King James 1.
The village Primary School was built in 1839 and added to three times between 1871 - 1904.
St Michael and All Angels church was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and consecrated in 1860. The church is Grade 2* listed and the entrance to the church grounds, the War Memorial Lychgate, is Grade 2.
Again, like Ascott, the village has a community shop selling fresh baked bread and a selection of local food and drink.
The Wychwood Way
The Wychwood Way passes through the village of Leafield and, if you wanted to use the footpaths, it's possible to make your way back to Ascott over the fields.
This was a gentle walk through some of the lesser known parts of the Oxfordshire countryside and certainly worth the effort.
Last updated: 23 August 2023 - Please note: This blog was first written over a year old and things may have changed since the blog was written.
