Hardwick, West Oxfordshire

Hardwick
The former St Mary's parish church;
now Cokethorpe School chapel
Hardwick
Location within Oxfordshire
OS grid referenceSP3705
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWitney
Postcode districtOX29
Dialling code01993
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament

Hardwick is a village in the civil parish of Hardwick-with-Yelford, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. The village is on the River Windrush and the A415 road, about 2.5 miles (4 km) south-east of Witney.

History

Hardwick was historically a township in the ancient parish of Ducklington. The township was also a chapelry, with the chapel of Cokethorpe House, dedicated to St Mary and built in the 15th century, also serving as a chapel of ease for Hardwick.[1][2]

The township of Hardwick took on civil functions under the poor laws from the 17th century onwards. As such, it became a separate civil parish from Ducklington in 1866 when the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws.[3][4]

In 1932 Hardwick was merged with the neighbouring parish of Yelford, subject to some adjustments to the boundaries with the neighbouring parishes of Ducklington and Standlake, to form a new civil parish called Hardwick-with-Yelford.[2][5] At the 1931 census (the last before the abolition of the parish), Hardwick had a population of 97.[6]

References

  1. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Mary (Grade II*) (1368277)". National Heritage List for England.
  2. ^ a b Baggs, A. P.; Chance, Eleanor; Colvin, Christina; Day, C. J.; Selwyn, Nesta; Townley, S. C. (1996). "Ducklington: Introduction". In Crossley, Alan; Currie, C. R. J. (eds.). A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 13. Victoria County History. London. pp. 110–118. ISBN 978-0-19722-790-9. Retrieved 15 October 2025.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume I, Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. p. xvi. ISBN 0901050679.
  4. ^ "Relationships and changes Hardwick Ch/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Witney Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  6. ^ "Population statistics Hardwick Ch/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  • Oxfordshire. Street Atlas. London: Philip's. p. 118.