Steventon, Oxfordshire

Steventon's toponym evolved from Stivetune in the 11th century via Estiventona in the 12th century, Stiveton, Stivington, Estiventon, Stiventon, Stuvinton and Steveington in the 13th century and Stephyngton in the 16th century before reaching its present form.[2]

Steventon Priory was founded early in the 12th century in the reign of Henry I. It was an alien priory, controlled by the Benedictine Bec Abbey in Normandy. In the 14th century alien priories became unpopular with the Crown, and in the reign of Edward III the abbey was allowed to sell Steventon Priory to an English squire, Sir Hugh Calveley.[3]

69–81 The Causeway, a row of timber-framed houses built probably in the 16th century [9] [10] [11]

The Causeway is a medieval cobbled path and former road nearly 1 mile (1.6 km) long running almost east–west through the village linking St Michael's church with the Abingdon – Newbury main road. The south side of the Causeway is lined by houses, a number of which are medieval timber-framed buildings.

Steventon is on what used to be the main road between Oxford, Abingdon and Newbury. The section from Oxford and Abingdon through Steventon to Chilton Pond was turnpiked in 1755.[12] From the 1920s it was classified the A34 road. In the 1970s the A34 was re-routed as a dual carriageway bypassing Abingdon, Drayton and Steventon, and the section between Steventon Hill and Abingdon was detrunked and reclassified as the B4017.

The route of the abandoned Wilts & Berks Canal passes through the west of Steventon parish, about 1 ³⁄₄ miles (2.8 km) west-northwest of the village. Building had begun in 1796 at Semington Junction in Wiltshire and reached West Challow in 1807.[13] The final section, from West Challow through Steventon to Abingdon, was completed in 1810.[14] There was a Steventon Lock in the parish. Traffic on the canal had virtually ceased by 1901 and the route was formally abandoned in 1914.[15] The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust is currently restoring the canal.

Priory Cottages, 123–127 The Causeway, have 14th-century origins and were developed in the 15th and 16th centuries. They are Grade II* listed.[16]

In June 1840 the Great Western Railway opened Steventon railway station. It was the main station for Oxford, 10 miles (16 km) to the north, until in 1844 the line from Didcot to Oxford was opened. British Railways closed Steventon station 1964. The nearest station is now Didcot Parkway, about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Steventon.

Steventon was the last place in North Berkshire to continue open field farming. Parliament passed an inclosure act for Steventon's common land in 1807–08, but it was not implemented. In 1880 Parliament passed a second act to enclose the parish. The enclosure award was made in 1883 and implemented in 1885.[3]

During a party in the early hours of New Year's Day 2003 Robert Tyrrell, the then landlord of the North Star pub in Steventon, bulldozed part of his own pub after his barman refused to serve him. Tyrrell was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and fined more than £3,000.[17] The pub was repaired and re-opened by December 2003. The North Star is a 17th-century timber-framed building, is Grade II listed,[18] and its restoration cost Tyrrell more than £100,000. In 2007 the work won a Vale of White Horse Design Scheme Award for Andrew Townsend, a local architect from Faringdon who designed the pub's restoration.[19]

The Cherry Tree pub

Steventon has three public houses: the Cherry Tree[20] controlled by Wadworth Brewery, The Fox[21] and the North Star (see above). The North Star retains many 19th-century features, including a serving-hatch instead of a bar, and ale being poured directly from casks instead of drawn by hand pumps from a cellar.[17]

Steventon has a bakery, a Co-Operative store and a village hall.

Steventon has a Sports and Social Club and the village green has a cricket pitch.[22] The Fox, the North Star and the Sports and Social Club all have Aunt Sally teams that play in the Abingdon and District Aunt Sally League.[23]

The Truck Festival is an annual music festival held near Steventon each July.

The Fox Inn

• Dalby, L.J. (2000) [1971]. The Wilts and Berks Canal (3rd ed.). Usk: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-562-4.
• Ditchfield, P.H.; Page, W.H., eds. (1907). A History of the County of Berkshire. Victoria County History. 2. London: Archibald Constable & Co. pp. 112–113.
• Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds. (1924). A History of the County of Berkshire. Victoria County History. 4. assisted by John Hautenville Cope. London: The St Katherine Press. pp. 365–369.
• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 227–228.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Steventon, Oxfordshire.

• Steventon Oxfordshire Village Web