Elsfield
{{Short description|Village in Oxfordshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{infobox UK place
|official_name= Elsfield
|coordinates = {{coord|51.788|-1.219|display=inline,title}}
|os_grid_reference= SP539101
|static_image_name= Elsfield StThomasC NW 01.JPG
|static_image_caption= St. Thomas of Canterbury parish church
|label_position= top
|area_total_km2=1.53
|population= 191
|population_ref= (2011 census, includes Woodeaton){{cite web |url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ |title=Area: Elsfield: Parish: Key Statistics: Population Density |work=Neighbourhood Statistics |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=5 May 2016 |archive-date=11 February 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030211201309/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ |url-status=dead }}
|civil_parish= Elsfield
|shire_district= South Oxfordshire
|shire_county= Oxfordshire
|region= South East England
|country= England
|post_town= Oxford
|postcode_district= OX3
|postcode_area= OX
|dial_code= 01865
|constituency_westminster= Henley and Thame
|website=
}}
Elsfield is an English village and civil parish about {{convert|3|mi|0}} northeast of the centre of Oxford. The village is {{convert|310|ft}} above sea level on the western brow of a hill with relatively steep sides above the River Cherwell. For relative reference purposes, the Oxford alluvial flood plain is at 60 metres above sea level.
Parish church
The chancel arch of the Church of England parish church dates from at least the latter part of the 12th century. The church formerly had a north aisle that may also have dated from this period. There is a canonical sundial on the south wall. In about 1273 the church was remodelled and rededicated to St Thomas of Canterbury. The Decorated Gothic east window was added in about the 14th century.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=592}} Either side of the south doorway are two Perpendicular Gothic windows that were added in about the 15th century.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=592}} The pulpit is Jacobean.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=592}}
In 1849 the church was heavily restored in an Early English Gothic style.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=591}} Until then, the blocked arcade of the north aisle was visible in the north wall of the nave.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=591}} During the restoration the arcade seems to have been removed; there are 12th-century capitals in the Vicarage garden that may have come from it.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=591}} The floor and seating were renewed in 1859 under the direction of the Gothic Revival architect G.E. Street.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=591}} In about 1860 a mosaic reredos by Salviati was added in the chancel.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=592}} St. Thomas's is a Grade II* listed building.{{NHLE |num= 1369209 |desc=Church of St Thomas a Beckett |access-date=13 August 2012}}
{{clear left}}
Notable inhabitants
The novelist John Buchan (Governor General of Canada, 1935–1940) lived at Elsfield Manor from 1919 until 1935. His ashes are buried in St Thomas's churchyard.
References
{{reflist}}
Sources and further reading
File:The Manor, home of John Buchan - geograph.org.uk - 65476.jpg
File:Elsfield HomeFarm house.JPG, built in the early or mid-18th century. Its porch was added early in the 19th century]]
- {{Cite book |editor-last=Lobel |editor-first=Mary D |editor-link=Mary Lobel |series=Victoria County History |title=A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5: Bullingdon Hundred |year=1957 |pages=116–122 }}
- {{cite book |last=Masheder |first=Mildred |title=Carrier's Cart to Oxford |year=2007 |publisher=The Wychwood Press |location=Charlbury |isbn=978-1-902279-28-2 }}
- {{cite book |last1=Sherwood |first1=Jennifer |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=The Buildings of England |title=Oxfordshire |year=1974 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=0-14-071045-0 |pages=591–592 }}
External links
{{Commons category-inline|Elsfield}}
{{South Oxfordshire}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Villages in Oxfordshire