Tetsworth History

Map published by Patterson's in 1785

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Do you know any local history? Please get in touch

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Tetsworth has always had an important part in the communication network of the country. The lane that you will see next to our village school (opposite The Mount) is called Judds Lane. If you were to keep walking on it you would arrive at Moreton, and then Thame itself. Judds Lane is part of the original 13th century road that connected Thame to Wallingford, it was then known as the Wallingford way.

Little is known about the early church, which was built by the 11th century. It is said to have contained work of Anglo-Saxon date. It is recorded that the Church was cleared of all ornaments and goods as early as 1553. The present Church building was started in 1841, a little further to the north of the original.

An unusual feature of the village is the network of cobbled paths that run through the village and lead up to the church. Where the paths run from the church to Silver Street, the path is known as The Jitty.

Tetsworth flourished in the 18th and early 19th centuries as it was a staging post on the main route to London, and the Swan on the High St was an important Coaching Inn. The Swan is one of the 10 listed buildings in the village. In the 17th century the Swan was owned by Sir Charles Sedly, and the name was changed to the Sedly Arms. By 1719 the name reverted back to the Swan.

There are many interesting buildings in the village that you will pass on your way round. They include “Robertlyn” (the thatched cottage in Chiltern View which dates from 17th century), “Pond Villa” opposite the Old Red Lion (a rubble stone house of the 1600s), “The Gables” in Silver St (built in 1640), “The Old Kings Arms” in the High St (another 17th Century building), “Knapp Cottage” in Chiltern View (Used as the village pest house in 1852), to mention but a few!

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My source is Association Records of the Particular Baptists of England, Wales and Ireland to 1660 ed. B.R.White (1974) Part 3. The Abingdon Association Baptist Historical Society 215pp.
This publication gives transcribed minutes for 23 General Meetings of messengers from like-minded independent Baptist churches around the region. The first two meetings, on 8 Oct 1652 and 3 Nov 1652 [using modern dating] were in Wormsley, with meetings 3 to 23 all being in Tetsworth . Thus the period 1653- 1660 had folk travelling to Tetsworth 21 times.
It seems not to be known where the meetings took place. Dr White’s footnote about Tetsworth [p 207] says
“ …there is no evidence that there was ever a Baptist church there. It was a coaching stage with several notable inns, among them being the Swan, during the seventeenth century. ‘The Compton census of 1676 recorded three nonconformists, but otherwise there is no record of Protestant dissent there before the 19th century’, Victoria County History for Oxfordshire vol VII, p 159”
Initially attendees comprised one or two from each of the churches at Abingdon, Reading, Henley, Kensworth and Eversholt. Subsequently the numbers grew e.g. by 1656 the churches from Wantage, Kingston [Oxon], Watlington, Hadnam, Oxford, Hempsteed and Pirton came too. At the meeting on 16 Sept 1656 the Tetsworth gathering considered a letter from their fellow church as far away as North Warnborough, Hants, and that church subsequently was represented occasionally at Tetsworth. That same meeting sent from Tetsworth a letter to another association of 7 Baptist churches about to meet up in Alcester, Warwickshire. At the following Tetsworth meeting the delegates wrote to the Baptist church at Petty France in Westminster.
At a 3 day meeting in May 1657 the association answered a letter with a question of doctrine from the Andover church, which later joined the association. When they met on 30 March 1658 they had a letter before them from “Nathanaell Strange, written at Barnstaple in Devonshire “ just 11 days before [which letter spells out how a written reply could be delivered to him]. By 1659 churches from Longworth, Newbury, Wallingford and the neighbouring Herts, Beds and Bucks association were added to the attendance list.

So it seems that Tetsworth was a small-scale conference centre in the 1650s! And clearly the locality’s hospitality was appreciated

Frank

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KELLYS 1931 DIRECTORY – OXFORDSHIRE.

© STEVE GARTON GENEALOGY www.stevejgarton.co.uk

TETSWORTH is a parish and village situated partly in a valley, on the high road from London to Oxford. 4 miles south from Thame station on the oxford and Wycombe section of the Great Western railway. 13 from Wycombe, and 12 south-east from Oxford, in the Henley division of the county hundred, rural district and county court district of Thame, petty sessional division of Bullingdon, rural deanery of Aston and archdeaconry and diocese of Oxford. The Church of St. Giles, rebuilt in 1855 on the site of the old church, is a small and plain edifice of stone, but retains a few Norman features, and consists of chancel, nave, south aisle and a tower at the south-west angle, surmounted by an octagonal spire and containing 6 bells; the south doorway is Norman; there are 422 sittings. The register dates from the year 1604. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £300. with 2 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of the Peache trustees, and held since 1931 by the Rev. Sidney James Nightingale, of Church Missionary College, Islington, who is also vicar of Sydenham. The congregational chapel was built in 1890; the old chapel is now used as a Sunday school. In the centre of the village is a cross erected by public subscription, in memory of the men of the parish who lost their lives in the Great War, 1914-18. The land is mainly owned by farmers. The soil is clay; subsoil clayey. The land is mostly grazing. The area is 1,179 acres; the population in 1921 was 297 in the civil and 323 in the ecclesiastical parish.

• Sexton, John Parrott.
• Post, M. O. T. & T. E. D. office. Letters through Oxford.
• Police Station.
• Carrier.-Alfred William Folley, to Thame, tues. & fri.

PRIVATE RESIDENTS

• Bradfield Joseph, Harlesford far.
• Dodd Miss, The Falklands
• Graham Mrs
• Leveson – Gower Rev. Frederick Archibald Gresham M.A. Harlesford House
• Monk Jn. Gordon Archer, The Laurels
• Nightingale Rev. Sidney James (vicar), The Vickarage
• Rideout Mrs. The Limes

COMMERCIAL

• Early closing day, Thursday.
• Brice Frank, motor engineer. T N 14
• Clark Grace Mary (Mrs.) shopkeeper, The Bungalow
• Daniels Geo. Farmer
• Dodwell David, farmer, Home farm
• Eles George, baker
• Folley Alfred William, motor car hirer, engineer, garage proprietor & carrier. T N 15
• Gosling Sidney T. registrar for births & deaths Thame Registration District & relieving officer for Thame Area Guardians Committee. TN 8
• Griffin Walter, farmer
• Hutt. Hy, farmer, Mount hill
• Lathom Blanche May (Mrs.) Goldpits farm.
• Lindars Albt. King’s Arms P.H
• Peasley Joseph, smallholder, Sion hill
• Prossor Leonard Wm. Grocer
• Rideout Cecil Herbt. Poultry house mkr
• Sherridan Hy. Red Lion P.H
• Stone Frank, baker
• Swan Hotel (Jas. Fras. Witney)
• Ward Benjamin, blacksmith
• Wilkins Henry, farmer, Manor farm

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Tetsworth History LINKS

History of The Swan

The Swan Inn was founded in the middle ages by the monks of Thame who were locally renowned for their brewing exploits.

1382 Tetsworth marked on the earliest known map of England.

1447 Hermitage founded at Tetsworth to maintain and repair road.

1482 Innkeeper of The Swan was indicted for selling victuals at excessive prices.

1500's John Bonyer was tenant of The Swan.

1580's It is rumoured that Queen Elizabeth I stayed at The Swan. During the late 16th Century the Petty family were owners.

1600's It was recorded that four armed men attacked a coach and opened strong boxes on the road at Tetsworth. The original parts of the existing building were built: a two storey 'L' shaped timber frame structure with three chimneys. During the 17th century the area around Tetsworth was well noted for the abundance of highwaymen and footpads and this was considered a particularly dangerous stretch of road between London and Oxford.

1643 During the Civil War, Major Gunter's cavalry was stationed at Tetsworth prior to the Battle of Chalgrove.

1644 King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria stationed themselves at Tetsworth from where they were able to set up headquarters in Oxford. The French Ambassador stayed at The Swan when his coach broke an axle on his way to Oxford.

1660's Sir Charles Sedley owned The Swan and changed its name to 'The Sedley Arms'. He was a courtier of Charles II, playwright and noted for his debauchery which was chronicled by Pepys. The Swan was extensively remodelled adding the ballroom and providing a brick facade.

1718 The road became a turnpike.

1727 Dr Edmund Hailey stayed after visiting Oxford.

1832 Queen Victoria visited Oxford on 'Progression' with her Mother and visited The Swan on her return journey.

1840's Due to the establishment of the railways and consequent decline of road traffic, part of The Swan was converted into a post office.

1879 The horse Sir Bevys, which was stabled at The Swan, won the Derby for Baronne Helene de Rothschild.

1950's William (Wicked Willy) Palmer bought The Swan from Halls Brewery.

1960's Jim Tuck and Frank Grierson were landlords.

1988 The Swan closed. Furniture and fixtures were stripped out and windows boarded up.

1995 On January 2nd The Swan at Tetsworth was launched as a quality Antiques Centre, Restaurant and Bar.

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Tetsworth History on Thame's Website

Tetsworth sits on a very ancient road, leading from the nation's capital over the Chiltern Hills towards the 'crossroads of England' at Oxford.

The name Tetsworth is Anglo Saxon. It is made up of a person's name, assumed to be 'Taetel' from early spellings, and the common Anglo Saxon place name ending 'worth' meaning enclosure.

When place names became permanent, with the advent of civil administration during the late Anglo Saxon period, the name of the current local leader or family group often became enshrined in the place name. This was the case with Taetel, although Taetel may not have created Tetsworth.

The name Taetel may have Scandinavian origins. This doesn't mean that Taetel was a Viking. In the tenth century many settled English landowners were of Danish origin, such as Oskytel, the Bishop of Dorchester who died at Thame in 971, and his brother Thurkytel, Abbot of Bedford.

Tetsworth does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, but it did exist at the time. It was part of the manorial land of Thame and as such belonged to the Bishop of Lincoln. This means that it once belonged to Oskytel, Bishop of Dorchester, who may well have granted it to Taetel, although this is pure speculation.

As well as being on the route from London to Oxford in very early times, Tetsworth connects with Thame and points north via Moreton. It also sits on an ancient route south, via Stoke Talmage, towards the river Thames at Wallingford.

Tetsworth's early associations with important roads are further emphasised by the act of Richard Quartermain in setting up the Guild of St Christopher at Thame in the year 1447.

As part of the foundation of the guild, Richard Quartermain specified that a hermit was to be employed, to live at a hermitage at Tetsworth, and to maintain the road from Stokenchurch to the Wheatley Bridge, which in those days would have gone from Tetsworth through Rycote, where Richard Quartermain lived, towards Wheatley.

The Swan Inn at Tetsworth has existed at least from the year 1482, when its keeper was indicted for having excessive prices.

The road through Tetsworth towards Oxford was turnpiked early in the eighteenth century, cutting across previously open countryside towards Milton Common. This road became the A40 and it put Tetsworth on a major traffic route, effectively taking such places as Latchford and Great Haseley off the map.

When the M40 opened, Tetsworth itself lost the majority of its through traffic, and as a living community has not really survived the associated loss of trade.

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Tetsworth In Camera ISBN 0860233502 Buy from Amazon

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Map published by Owen & Bowen in 1720