Oxfordshire Way Points of interest from Shipton-under-Wychwood to Charlbury

E Ascott-under-Wychwood links the Points of interest two settlements of Ascott Earl and Ascott d’Oyley. It has a small and

A simple early thirteenth century church. Shipton-under-Wychwood has stone- The manor house stands on an built houses around a triangular green, ancient site, within the bailey of the mostly dating from the thirteenth and castle of Ascott d’Oyley, built in the fourteenth centuries. It has two middle of the twelfth century. It is outstanding buildings; Shipton Court mainly a sixteenth- and seventeenth- and the Shaven Crown Inn. Shipton century building, but still has some Court is one of the largest early medieval buttresses. Some of the Jacobean houses in the country, built original wooden mullioned windows about 1603 by the Lacy family. have survived, and the farm buildings Although it has undergone a include a seventeenth-century barn considerable amount of modernization, with a dovecot in the gable and a brick its essential character remains. The and half-timber granary standing on entrance front, facing west and visible staddle stones. from the A361, is elegant and well-

proportioned. The Shaven Crown, F built originally as a hostelry, became a Charlbury lies in the valley of the guest house for Bruern Abbey and later Evenlode. The gloving industry an inn, and so has a five-hundred-year- flourished here until quite recently. The old tradition of sheltering and Great Western Railway arrived in 1853 sustaining travellers. The warehouse at and Charlbury station, designed by Shipton railway station is a reminder Brunel, became an important stop on that Shipton was once an important the Paddington/Worcester line. Almost stopping place on the line. the whole of the centre of town forms a conservation area. The church was

originally Norman, but enlarged in the B Langley Mill, beyond the winding river, thirteenth century and restored in 1874. is set in the angle of an ancient weir, Church Street used to be the site of enclosed by willows. the market. The fountain in the green was erected in 1897. Anybody interested in the history of the area can C Look for the grassy terraces and visit the small museum adjacent to the hollows between here and the river Corner House. bank – all that remains of the motte- and-bailey castle of centuries ago.

D Ascott Mill is no longer in use as a mill, but has been converted into a private house in a delightful riverside setting.