Wykham (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Wickham Park

In the civil parish of Banbury.
In the historic county of Oxfordshire.
Modern Authority of Oxfordshire.
1974 county of Oxfordshire.
Medieval County of Oxfordshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: SP44083783
Latitude 52.03718° Longitude -1.35859°

Wykham has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are uncertain remains.

This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Licence to crenellate issued to Robert de Arden, in 1330, for Wykham Oxfordshire. Presumably this is Wykham Park near Banbury. The current house, used as a school, is mainly C17 with some early parts.

Wickham was held by tenants for military service at an early date. In 1279 it was held of the bishop for the service of 1 knight's fee, suit of court at Banbury, and 40 days' duty at Banbury castle in time of war. ... Robert de Wykeham who was lord in 1279 is probably identifiable with Robert de Wykeham who in 1316 held Swalcliffe and Wickham jointly with Simon Danvers. This joint tenure may be early evidence of the division which appears in the manor soon afterwards. At his death in 1331 John of Bloxham held knight's fee in Wickham, his heir being his brother William, son of Robert Hikeman of Bloxham, who was over 60 years old. This family does not appear again in connexion with Wickham, and its share was probably merged with that of the Ardens who held the other half of Wickham. Possibly Sir Robert Wykeham granted half to the Ardens along with Swalcliffe manor in 1323, to solve his financial difficulties. Sir Robert Arden was granted free warren in Wickham in 1327; on his death in 1331 the marriage of his son and heir Giles and the custody of his lands was granted to Nicole, his relict, who married Sir Thomas Wale. Wickham then became the subject, along with Swalcliffe and other Arden lands, of a prolonged law-suit between the Wale family and Elizabeth Wykeham, relict of Sir Robert Wykeham, who attempted to recover her husband's property. The Wykehams were finally successful and in 1346 Sir Robert Wykeham was returned as lord of Wickham. ... No trace survives of the medieval manor-house which Robert Arden was licensed to crenellate in 1330. According to Beesley the house contained a chapel from which the Dashwoods recovered armorial glass, placing it in the chancel of Kirtlington church. (VCH)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1330 May 2 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1283504
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 337038.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 11118.

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 211
  Crossley, Alan (ed), 1972, VCH Oxfordshire Vol. 10 p. 47 online transcription
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 409 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 2 p. 268 online copy
  Beesley, A., 1841, History of Banbury p. 107, 160-1, 349
  Skelton, J., 1823, History of Oxfordshire, Banbury Hundred p. 6
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1891, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1327-30) Vol. 1 p. 515 online copy

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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