Roads, Paths and Houses

Oxford Journal, Saturday 17^th July 1802, BUCKLAND INCLOSURE.

The following is an extract, the full entry can be viewed as a PDF Buckland to Charney and other places.

PUBLIC CARRIAGE ROADS.

Buckland to Charney and other Places.

Beginning at the West End of Summer Side Street, in the Village of Buckland, and extending Southward, in its present Course, to the London Road, and after crossing that Road, then through and over the Common Fields and Buckland Downs to the Road next after described leading from Stanford to Pusey; and after crossing that Road, then extending South Eastward to a Gateway in the Boundary Fence of Ganfield Farm, which Road is to remain of the Breadth of forty Feet.

Oxford Journal, Saturday 28^th July 1804, CHARNEY INCLOSURE.

The following is an extract, the full entry can be viewed as a PDF Charney Inclosure 28th July 1804.

One public Road, of the Breadth of thirty Feet, leading out of the Severals, at Pack Gate, and extending Across the Little East Field, nearly in its present Track into the Liberty of Lyford, and called Lyford Way.

One other public Road, of the Breadth of forty Feet, leading from the Village of Charney, in its present Track into the Liberty of Hinton, at Grove Mead Stream, and called Sheephouse Field Way.

One other public Road, of the like Breadth of forty Feet, leading from the Village of Charney, in its present Track of Ganfield Gate, and called Faringdon Way.

One public Bridle Road and Foot Path, of the Breadth of twelve Feet, leading out of Faringdon Way, at Butt Lane End, in its present Track into the Liberty of Pusey, and called Pusey Way.

One other public Bridle Road and Foot Way, of the like Breadth of twelve Feet, leading out of the Village of Charney, near Nighat Gate, in a westwardly Direction on the North Side of Nighat Hedge into the Cow Common, and extending from thence its present Track into the Liberty of Stanford, and called Stanford Way.

One public Foot Path, of the Breadth of six Feet, leading from the Village of Charney, at Tomkins’s Gap, in its present Track into Grove Mead, and called Longworth Path.

One other public Foot Path, of the like Breadth of six Feet, leading from the Village of Charney, at Tomkins’s Gap, in its present Track into the Liberty of Longworth, at Red Mead Stile, and called Abingdon Path.

And one other Foot Path, of the like Breadth of six Feet, leading from the Village of Charney, at Nighat Stile, across Nighat Common, in its present Track into an old Inclosure in Charney called the Pens, and called Goosey Path.

A Topographical Dictionary of England. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848.

CHARNEY, a chapelry, in the parish of Longworth, union of Farringdon, hundred of Ganfield, county of Berks, 4¼ miles (N. by W.) from Wantage; containing 275 inhabitants, and comprising 1159a. 2r. 16p. The chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, is of early Norman architecture. Here is a circular fortification called Cherbury Castle, surrounded by a double trench, resembling the fortification of Badbury, in Dorsetshire, and traditionally said to have belonged to Canute the Great.

New Road and Houses c1860s

The Bouverie Pusey family of Pusey Estate owned the land around Charney and had New Road and its houses built for their estate and farm workers sometime before 1870. Soon after the 1870 Education Act they also built Charney school for the village. It could be that the houses were built pre-1855. There were three brothers in the Pusey family, Phillip, Edward and William. Phillip Pusey was a very well respected, experimental farmer who developed things like new irrigation techniques. He was also an MP and it is thanks to him that we have Tenancy agreements today.

Edward Pusey, worked in the Church and was one of the main promoters of Oxfordianism through The Oxford Movement. He was so highly respected in the church that he is buried in the aisle of Oxford cathedral. Edward Pusey is unlikely to have had the time nor the need to build labourer’s cottages because he was so heavily involved in the Church. Philip Pusey died in 1855, hence the suggestion that the houses were built pre-1855.

The answer is probably contained in the Pusey papers in the Berkshire Records Office.

The houses are each a little different and apparently utilised some recovered older materials eg stone mullions and lintels. Each property had a jointly shared well, a garden, and store with closet and hovel in the garden. In Black Bourton there are ‘Model cottages built c. 1863, to designs by W.C.C. Bramwell‘ which are of a similar type of design. [W.C.C. Bramwell lived at No. 43, Broad Street, Oxford from 1866 to 1869]. However, rather than Bramwell the designs may have been by a gentleman called Edward Bruton, who specialised in Gothic Style property. At the time of the 1861 census Edward (35) was living at 14 Beaumont Street, Oxford. The houses have a hint of a church because he worked predominantly on churches throughout Oxfordshire, he also worked on a lot of the University Buildings and places such as Banbury Town Hall, St Edburg’s Hall, Bicester and the entrance to Saint Sepulchre’s Cemetery in Jericho. In fact, it is rather appropriate that Edward Bruton is now buried in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery. This is his grave, it is believed he designed the headstone himself, hence the Gothic arches on it.

The ‘Charney for Sale’ papers describe each lot sold eg:

Example description from sale

There was also a stone built forge and shoeing room, which had its access of Main Street rather than New Road:

The houses were numbered following on from the existing numbering of houses in the village so that each dwelling in the village had a unique and consecutive number.

The houses predating New Road were numbered as follows (based on the Charney for Sale document):

Number	Name
1	Willow Cottage (half of), The Green
2	Willow Cottage (half of), The Green
3	Green Farm, The Green
4	Cottage on the Green (half of)
5	Cottage on the Green (half of)
6	Straddlestones
7	Timings
8	Stoneleigh (half of)
9	Stoneleigh (half of)
10	Byways (third of)
11	Byways (third of)
12	Byways (third of)
13	Brook Cottage (half of)
14	Brook Cottage (half of)
15	Cottage at entrance to Byways and Brook Cottage
16	Wick Cottage
17	Former thatched-cottage (half of) opposite Wick Cottage
18	Former thatched-cottage (half of) opposite Wick Cottage
19	First house on Bridle Way (third of whole house)
20	The Well House (third of whole house)
21	House by postbox (third of whole house)
22	The Well House
22-33	Pusey worker's 'gothic' houses in New Road
34	Hazeldene (half of), Chapel Lane
35	Hazeldene (half of), Chapel Lane
36	Milkwood (half of), Chapel Lane
37	Milkwood (half of), Chapel Lane

The New Road cottages were described in the CBA Newsletter 8 of 1978 as follows:

There are several photos of the road and houses in the gallery and there will be further information to be found in the Pusey Estate papers which are held in the Bershire Records Centre. If anyone has any more information please let us know.

The Green 1937

Contract to The Mechanical Tar Spraying and Grouting Co Ltd, 118 Victoria Street, Westminster, London. 12 August 1937

Charney Bassett Road to Manor Farm 190yds £255. Drainage and at least one catch pit to be constructed and connected to existing drain.

Omit southern fork.

Orchard Close 1966

Orchard Close was built in 1966.

Click to enlarge and scroll: