95 AD

Roman road from Dorchester to Alchester already in use, as a bridge over River Ray recently dendro-dated to that year.
Roman pottery kilns established locally as part of one of the largest such enterprises in the land; also ochre quarrying on the high ground above the village.

400

End of large-scale pottery production as monetary system collapses. Possible limited production for an unknown time afterwards. Currently under investigation by Jemma Underdown.

956

Saxon land charter mentions Hollow Brook as the boundary to the south.

1086

Domesday Book entry for "Horspadan".

1298

First delineation of the Royal Forest of Shotover.

1377

19 taxpayers in Upper, or Old Horsepath, 41 in Lower, or Church, Horspath. (Poll Tax returns).

Late 14th early 15th c

Old Horsepath disappears from official records. Worsening climate probably major factor. 1349 Black Death implicated, but not prime cause. Some continued occupation noted in Hollowbrook valley up to 18th century.

1400

Church tower, arch built and corbel figures carved.

1452

Church appropriated to the Hospital of St John the Baptist in Oxford. (i.e. the later site of Magdalen College). It became a perpetual curacy with Magdalen College until the 1950s.

1480s

Oak felled in Shotover for Henry VII's navy - and the chancel roof at St Mary's.

1524

Subsidy rolls: 20 taxpayers.

1539

Henry VIII's Muster Roll compiled for Horsepath.

1552

Edward VI's Church Inventory of Church Goods compiled.

1555

Highways Act.

1561

Existing Parish Registers begun.

1576

Mileways Act; (Horsepath not affected as more than 5 miles from Oxford).

1602

Oldest existing bell cast with Elizabeth 1st's cipher.

1605

Corpus Christi Estate Map showing land in Horsepath.

1611

Present tenor bell cast.

1613

Bailiwick of Shotover passed to Sir Timothy Tyrell. Much oak felling for construction (Bodleian, Oxford Prison).

1624

Earliest known date for the Chequers Inn, evidenced by small plaque on the front exterior.

1629

Shotover surveyed for oaks for naval construction: 24,000 trees in census.

1630

Thomas Westbrook (shepherd) left £20 for the village poor.

1635

John lanquett (Lancott ?) paid £1 for tenement bought by Westbrook executors.

1642

(onwards) Much fuel taken for the Siege of Oxford.

1642

13 burials in the parish this year. Normally two or three on average. County Trained Bands disarmed on Bullingdon Green by the Royalist army.

1644

Charles 1 reviewed troops on Bullingdon Green. 16 burials in the parish this year, including "Captain James Playfott (sic) of Portsmouth - of the King's armie".

1645

Review of Parliamentarian troops on Bullingdon Green by the Earl of Essex.

1648

George Nicholson, Curate, deprived of his demyship for abusing Parliamentarian soldiers.

1660

Shotover disafforested [reduce (a district) from the legal status of forest to that of ordinary land].

1661

Parishioners given 30 acres to make up for the loss of common rights.

1663

Turnpike Act.

1665

Hearth Tax compiled.

1676

One Nonconformist recorded in the village.

1687

William Joyner fled to the Manor House; seized as a catholic priest, but later released as a "mere lay papist".

1713 - 1728

Curate Reynolds Walker recorded as neglecting services at Horsepath.

1719

Old Road made a turnpike road.

1738

Nine poor children educated at a cost met by the minister, Robert Seeley. (Defunct by 1759) Bishop Secker holds the Visitation for St Giles Church.

1739

(October) Charles Wesley held up on the Old Road up to Shotover.

1740

President of Magdalen College gave the Copcot window to the Church. Painted by William Price who was working at New College at the time. Copcot a Horsepath name, John Copcot studying at The Queen's College.

1745

Shotover Estate purchased by Augustus Schultz from the Crown.

1789

Old Road abandoned as the main route to London.

1801

Population 205.

1802

Another school established.

1803

Poor Rate assessed at £93-18s-7d.

1808

One Anabaptist recorded in the village.

1811

Population 241.

1812

Magdalen consented to some inclosure on condition that a tithe free piece of land be provided.

1813

Arthur Young describes Horsepath land usage.

1815

Fourteen children recorded at the day school.

1821

Population 164.

1825

Dr. Ellerton (Vicar, from Magdalen) bought two cottages with land attached - devised by will to Magdalen - one a house for a schoolmistress, and the other rented to pay for schooling 12 to 15 poor children.

1826

Resolved to grow one furlong of clover. Day labourers assessed for the first time.

1828

A cow keeper appointed. Only four people on Parish Relief.

1829

John Henry Newman rents a cottage for his mother & sisters from a Mr. Charles Talmage.

1829

Parish found work for those on Parish Relief - a small daily wage from a lump sum provided by farmers.

1831

Population 275. Militia Roll prepared - 51 names entered.

1837

Dr. Ellerton's Charity to Horsepath of £30 established.

1840

Chancel found to be out of alignment and demolished. Early English windows preserved with some of the mediaeval glass in the new chancel.

1841

Census - first one to list names, ages and occupations.

1842

Another school is recorded.

1844

Gallery removed from west end of the Church, again revealing the mediaeval arch of 1400.

1847

Tithe Schedule.

1849

Tithe Award and map prepared. Church described as "being in a dilapidated state".

1850

Revd. J H Parker reviews the church of St Giles.

1851

Census: Population 333. Two wings added to Shotover House.

1852

Church restored.

1854

Oxfordshire Landowners Return compiled. Bishop Samuel Wilberforce holds a Church Visitation.

1856

Magdalen advance £100 to the present school.

1858

Open fields enclosed with 18 acres set aside for the labouring poor. The remaining strip system disappears as enclosed fields replace them. Fields to the west of the village largely unaffected (The Meadow, Upper & Lower Charley, Hill Ground, Peril). Cuddesdon Road laid out, also Sandy Lane as new enclosure roads. Gateley linked by road to Littleworth, and Blenheim Road extended to Old Road.
Present School opened. Village Green registered, after compulsory purchase from the Churchwardens for £105.18s.

1860

Railway excavations begun, with Railway Cottages begun.

1861

Census - population 334.

1863

Outbreak of Scarlet Fever in the village - ten children buried this year.

1864

Thame to Oxford railway line opened Oct. 24th. Nearest station to Horsepath at Wheatley!
Magdalen advance £50 for a schoolmistress' house.

1866

Old Vicarage demolished. New one built to the rear of the original. Revd. Bramler provides a new treble bell, making the tower a six-bell ring.

1871

Census - population 373. Revd. Bramley publishes his 2nd. collection of Christmas Carols with Sir John Stainer. First Methodist Chapel opened on Oxford Road. School records 48 children in attendance.

1873

Horspath NALU [National Agricultural Labourers Union] Branch serve notice on farmers Eeley & Herman for wage increase by threat of strike. Wage rise agreed without recourse to strike action. School enlarged with 48 pupils recorded.

1874

NALU Meeting on village green & collected 14s. 10d. for lockout fund.

1876

NALU Meetings held at the Chequers - many attended.

1881

Census - Population 324. Westbrook & Deane charity established.

1883

Horsepath rail tunnel relined. (Illustrated as "Wheatley Tunnel", but entirely in Horsepath parish!).

1885

Manor extended.

1891

Census - Population 330.

1894

4th December: First Parish Meeting at the Schoolroom, and first Parish Council Meeting on 13th December. Land for a cricket ground purchased from Corpus Christi College.

1895

Cricket Club applied for ground within the Recreation Ground, which was bought from Corpus Christi for £50 an acre.

1898

Church purchases land to the north of the existing churchyard as a new burial ground.

1901

Census - Population 333.

1903

Old Horsepath Farm built.

1906

Average school attendance was 73 for a new Chapel.

1908

Farmer Wm Lindsay occupies College Farm & buys land from Corpus Christi (£25) for a new Methodist Chapel.

1909

New Methodist Chapel begun, built by A.E. Vallis.

1910

Teacher's house remodelled. First service in the new Chapel on 10th January.

1911

Census - Population 382. Chapel opened. The Pound added to Parish Property. Old Chapel becomes the Parish Reading Room. Also, a small railway Halt opened at the same site as the later (1933) one.

1912

Parish Council adopt "HORSPATH" as accepted future spelling.

1914

Church redecorated, with the frieze painted over; Tower re-roofed (£750 ?) and attempts to repair the blacksmith's clock unsuccessful.

1917

Horspath Halt closed as a wartime economy measure.

1918

The Pound is demolished.

1920

"Ribbon development" begins at the bottom of Gidley Way, on the left-hand side going up.

1921

Census - population 361. Foot & Mouth disease in the village. Village World War One Memorial unveiled on 13th November in the Church.

1923

Council decide to buy an ex-army hut as a village hall. Brought from Wendover.

1924

Village Hall opened on October 3rd. Parish Council acquire recreation ground adjacent.

1925

Pond filled in before the church south wall due to diphtheria outbreak.

1926

Horspath Song & Dance Club formed.

1928

Parish boundaries changed, with Open Magdalen Wood and Brasenose Wood added from Headington, and also extended north to the Littleworth Road.

1931

Census - Population 540.

1933

A new Horspath Halt is erected from railway sleepers with a tin pagoda, and opened on June 5th. The Church changed from gas to electric lighting around this time.

1935

School milk scheme started.

1936

The Queen's Head catches fire from sparks from the thatched cottage opposite by the Vicarage.

1937

Horspath Womens' Institute formed in October. Cdr. Wrightson DSO moves into the Manor House.

1938

Boy Scout troop formed by Cdr. Wrightson, resident of the Manor House. Slade Camp started within part of parish for the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry.

1939

Horspath Local Defence Volunteers formed with 30 men from the village. Warden's post is the Manor House with Mrs. Wrightson the Billeting Officer. The Village Hall becomes the Rest Centre, and 50 evacuees come to Horspath in August from Rosebery Avenue School, Holborn. ARP lectures begin in the Village Hall. List of village nicknames compiled.

1940

Horspath Branch of the Mother's Union formed by Mrs. Robinson. Horspath Common and the Plain used as a tank testing ground. Part of No. 1 MPRD is situated over the southern boundary of the village. June 16th., Church bells ring for the last time during hostilities (except for invasion or parachutists).

1941

No Census taken this year.

1943

Regular School canteen opened, and the Manor cowhouse used as a British Restaurant. During the war years a village choir sang.

1946

Child Welfare Clinic started. Senior children begin to go to Wheatley or Littlemore. Horspath School reorganised as a Church school for juniors & infants. Older children transferred to Littlemore County School.

1947

Horspath British Legion Branch formed. MPRD area to south of village closed.

1948

Population now 549. (There had been no 1941 census, due to the war).

1949

British Legion standard dedicated to St Giles on 22nd May.

1950

A womens' section of the British Legion formed on 24th May. Also, a Workers' Education Association was formed.

1951

Census - Population now 937.

1952

Mark Hassall discovers Roman head-making mould in the Row (Rough) Field.

1953

New road established to North of Manor Farm (Blenheim Way). Brasenose sells land (due to compulsory purchase) to Oxford City Council for allotments. Coppocks open the village shop.
Roman coin found at Blenheim Road at the foot of the hill. (AD 330) "At entrance to bungalow".

1954

College Way council housing. - 18 houses to begin with.

1955

Roman coin found on the steep track to Shotover. Identified as Constantine the Great, c. AD 330. "Horspath Scrapbook" completed by Miss Callard, the schoolmistress. A valuable account of the village and a comprehensive social document of the village in the 1950s, illustrated with photographs.

1956

Horspath Cycle Speedway founded. "Horspath Hammers".

1956-7

Church has electric heating installed, the old boiler removed. Font is moved from near the ringing room to its present position in the nave by the north wall. Land bought for the expansion of the School; Mains water comes to the village. Sewage plant installed on the north side of Oxford Road.

1958

Chapel extended to include a kitchen and toilet.

1960

Houses built opposite Village Hall in Oxford Road. Butchers shop opens on the Green. Four bungalows built on the allotments W. Of the Church. Horspath Cycle Speedway track built. Chapel holds its Golden Jubilee.

1961

Census - Population 1540.

1960s

Manor House land sold and much bungalow expansion. Blenheim Road, Butts Road, Manor Drive and Manor Farm Road all receive new housing, and ribbon development up the east side of Gidley Way. The northern hamlet of Blenheim is joined by development to Horspath.

1963

Bells are rehung by Whites of Appleton in a new oak frame, with new fittings and bellropes.

1964

Railway closes after 99 years of operation. Line still used occasionally as a diversion, or for "football specials".

1965

Old Village Hall demolished and a new purpose brick built one erected; Much of the money raised by local turf accountant Gwyn Morgan providing an interest-free loan of £4000.

1966

Horspath Senior Residents Club established.

1969

Rail tracks taken up. Roman kiln found in Open Brasenose.

1971

Census - Population 1561.

1974

Church roof reslated by Nathan & Franklin Ltd. Shotover Preservation Society formed.

1978

Brasenose Wood sold by the college to BBONT.

1981

Vicarage sold on the death of Revd. Bird, (May, 1980). Horspath combines with Garsington under a single priest living at Garsington. (Revd. Christopher Butler MA).

1982

Parish Council buys a 5 acre site near the tunnel for £700.

1986

Horspath Scout Band become Division One champions of the British Youth Bands contest.

1989

Horspath wins the Marlborough Trophy .. Best kept village.

1991

Peter & Valerie Zarecky purchase the "Queen's Head" as a free house.

1994

Mothers Union Wall Tapestry completed and hung in the Church, depicting village organisations. Horspath Parochial Charities formed from the Ellerton & Westbrook/Deane charities.

1995

Church boundary wall completely taken down and rebuilt, topped with York stone flags, largely at the instigation of Mr Colin Mutton. Revd Christopher Butler leaves his ministry in June. Residents move into Butler Close in July - named after Rev. Christopher Butler. (Affordable housing project).

1996

Revd. Richard Cowles installed as Vicar. Village Hall renovated.

1997

Village Hall re-opened.

1999

Illegal "rave" held in railway tunnel. Shotover Wildlife Conservation Area formed.

2000

Millennium Project : Nature Reserve. Horspath Village Sports Association formed. Traffic calming scheme installed - a chicane on Oxford Road & also along Cuddesdon Road.

2001

Horspath comes second in Best Kept Village competition. OS Map of the village installed on the Green.

2002

Tunnel becomes a bat hibernaculum, and the tunnel sealed off at each end for this purpose by O.C.C. The Salesian Field renamed Bowley Field in honour of Mr. Norman Kenneth Bowley, for long Chairman of the Parish Council.

2004

New two-lancet window dedicated 20th November. New Burial ground opened north of the sports fields, on land provided by Mr. Bob Walker of Manor Farm. Village placed first in large village section of Best Kept Village in Oxfordshire. Cricket Club reformed after 3 year merger with Oxford Cricket Club.

2005

Stan & Janet Hawkeswood take over the Queen's Head. Horspath wins Calor/CPRE Best Kept Village winners class. Scout Hut transferred to Village Hall charity; Horspath Village Sports Association formed.

2006

BBC record Sunday Worship from St Giles, 3rd December. Village wins the fight to retain the Railway Bridge.

2007

Revd. Richard Cowles leaves to be Vicar of Bray, Berks.

2008

Revd. Emma Pennington installed, 19th August.

2009

Shotover Brewing Company established at Coopers Yard, Manor Farm.

2011

"Sheldonian Head" bought by Mensun Bound and displayed at the entrance to the Manor House.

2013

Methodist Chapel put up for sale. Friends of St Giles list it as a Community Asset and purchase successful so that it becomes Horspath Hub.

2016

December. Parish loses its bus service as part of national and thus SODC spending cuts. Shotover Brewery changes hands.

2018

New Church paths laid with concrete edging. Land between the old railway embankment and Oxford Road developed as a sports facility. The original Pressed Steel Sports Ground passed to BMW for expansion of the factory.
New Parish War Memorial erected on the village green; erected at the instigation of Keith Brooks and carried out by the Parish Council. Formally unveiled on 11th November.

2019

Rev. Emma Pennington leaves (for Canterbury Cathedral as a Canon). Revd. Karen Charman appointed in her place. List of Vicars since 1747 compiled. Horspath Archaeological and History Group established.