England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Fifield St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Fifield lies in the extreme west of Oxfordshire forming part of the border with neighbouting Gloucestershire. Fifield is located about 6 miles south of the small Gloucestershire market town of Stow on the Wold and sits a half mile east of the A424 road which links Stow on the Wold with Burford. Fifield is a small and compact village with most properties loosely arranged around a square of lanes. Ffield's economy would have been dominated by farming, a mixed regime with both arable and pastoral present in roughly equal measure. Fifield is drained eastwards by a small tributary of the River Evenlode which is joined at Shipton under Wychwood, the Evenlode eventually reaches the Thames northwest of Oxford passing through the latter and the capital to reach the North Sea. Fifield is sited at around 160 metres above the sea, land rises till higher westwards reaching over 210 metres on the ridge followed by the A424. Fifield was a relatively small parish of just over 1,200 acres in which there would have been roughly 200 parishioners. In Domesday times Fifield was an equally unremarkable place, a holding of Henry de Ferrers offering 7 ploughs plus the usual meadows and pastures.

The Church

St John the Baptist's church sits on the western side of the village on the northern side of Church Street. The church has its origins as early as the 13th century, a fact revealed within the chancel where the chancel arch shows Early English Gothic styling as well as the chancel having lancet styles windows on its northern wall. The south face of the chancel shows the slightly later Decorated style windows of the early 14th century. Also of the 14th century is the unusual octagonal western tower that is the church's iconic stand-out feature, topped by a small spire, this is a far from normal design for such a tower. The nave, however, is a product of an early Victorian rebuild dating from 1840 whilst the church also saw a major restoration in 1897, despite these restorations the re-use of old features enables that piece too to be confidently dated in origin to the 14th century. Church Street is narrow but fairly quiet allowing for careful street parking outside the churchyard. A low local stone wall surrounds backed by prominent large confiers but once through there are no obstacles for the photographer.