This volume contains the histories of five ancient parishes in Oxfordshire, comprising the small town of Bampton and some 13 villages and hamlets. Full treatment is accorded to Bampton, centre of an Anglo-Saxon royal estate, site of a late Anglo-Saxon minster and formerly a market town.

This volume contains the histories of five ancient parishes in the west of Oxfordshire near the river Thames, comprising the small town of Bampton and some 13 villages and hamlets. Though chiefly looking to markets at Witney and Oxford the area was long dominated by Bampton, the centre of a large Anglo-Saxon estate, site of a late Anglo-Saxon minster, and formerly a market town. A detailed account is given of the town's topography, buildings, and economic development, and the organization of the local landscape from an early date is explored. Most villages were nucleated, and despite some controversial early inclosures, notably at Northmoor, open-field farming prevailed until the 19th century. A few scattered hamlets and farmsteads resulted probably from woodland clearance or late colonization, and several settlements were shrunk or deserted in the late Middle Ages. Standlake had a medieval market and fair, and until the late 17th century there was textile and leather working notably at Standlake and Bampton. Important buildings include the former Bampton castle, the 15th-century timber-framed manor house at Yelford, and Cokethorpe House. Bampton church is of unusual size and quality, and carvings in Ducklington church may be associated with a late medieval cult of the Virgin. Cote was an important centre of religious nonconformity from the 17th century.