SHIFFORD
AN estate at Shifford, conterminous with the
later township (775 a.), existed by 1005. From
'summer ford' at the estate's south-eastern corner the boundary ran westwards along the river
Thames and along a stream forming Chimney's
north-east boundary, before turning north and
then east along 'the way'; it then than ran
southwards to the Thames along a meandering
stream canalized c. 1850 at the inclosure of
Standlake and Brighthampton. Cynlaf's stone, a
landmark on 'the way', may have marked a kink
in the western boundary west of New Cottages,
where a possible relict roadline intersects, and
Kentwin's tree, also on 'the way', perhaps
marked Shifford's north-west corner. The
southern part of the western boundary was
evidently adjusted later, presumably after the
truncation or suppression of 'the way', and in
the 19th century followed field boundaries.
Small deviations from the Thames, notably near
Great brook, presumably represent the river's
earlier course. (fn. 31)
Figure 10:
Shifford in 1849
Cropmarks in the south-west suggest trackways
associated with Romano-British settlement,
extending westwards towards Cote and eastwards towards Standlake. (fn. 32) Later roads focused on the ford from which Shifford ('sheep ford')
is named, (fn. 33) discernible in 1992 south of Old
Shifford Farm, and recorded in 958 as 'stone
bridge', a term probably denoting a paved
causeway. (fn. 34) Both Cote Lane and 'the way' along
the township's western boundary, the latter
perhaps identical with the 'royal way' adjoining
North field c. 1360, (fn. 35) originated presumably as
routes to that crossing and thence into Berkshire,
and further north 'the way' continued along
Aston's eastern boundary to meet Abingdon
Lane, an ancient route leading north-westwards
towards Brize Norton. The ford's importance
was presumably diminished by the building
of Newbridge (in Northmoor parish) in the late
14th century or early 15th, and in 1629 the
northern continuation of 'the way' was suppressed because of frequent flooding, together
with a branch road to Brighthampton which
crossed Shifford's northern edge near Shifford
Marsh, Claxhurst, and Stoneham hook. The
part of 'the way' bordering Shifford had disappeared by the later 18th century. (fn. 36) The
Aston-Brighthampton road, crossing Shifford's
eastern boundary brook at Knight Bridge and
running across the former open fields, was a
bridleway until 1629 when it became the chief
carriage route, and since Knight Bridge was
recorded in the 13th century was presumably of
early origin. (fn. 37) A ferry across the Thames to
Longworth, held with a cottage for rent and
service, was noted from the mid 13th century to
the mid 15th; a testator in 1593 owned a boat, (fn. 38)
and in the mid 18th century some farm produce
was transported by water. (fn. 39)
Undated cropmarks have been noted on the
township's western edge north of Coldharbour
Cottages, north-west of New Shifford Farm, and
south-east of Old Shifford Farm. (fn. 40) Excavations
in the south-east near Brighthampton cut
revealed a small Iron-Age and Romano-British
settlement occupied from the 1st century B.C. to
the 1st or early 2nd century A.D., supported chiefly
from animal husbandry; immediately to the north
was a settlement occupied from the late 3rd century to the late 4th, but apparently unconnected
with the first. Finds on the later site indicated
mixed but still predominantly pastoral farming,
and traces were found of large rectilinear fields
enclosed within ditches. (fn. 41) No evidence was
found of later occupation.
A late Anglo-Saxon spearhead, seax, and
prick-spur were dredged from the Thames near
Shifford in 1914. (fn. 42) There was a settlement at or
near the ford presumably by 1005 when the vill
or township (villa) was granted to Eynsham abbey,
and 13 tenants, each presumably representing a
household, were recorded in 1086. (fn. 43) By 1279
there were 23 tenants including 13 cottagers, and
the apparently recent division of some holdings
suggests increasing population; 11 landholders
excluding the abbot of Eynsham were taxed in
1306, 14 in 1316, and 15 in 1327. (fn. 44) Though there
was evidently depopulation later in the century,
Shifford seems to have suffered less than many
Oxfordshire parishes: 18 tenants were listed c.
1360 when only one cottage holding remained
vacant, and in 1377 there were 50 persons over
14 liable for poll tax. (fn. 45)
Fifteenth-century contraction may have
affected the population more seriously, perhaps
chiefly at the expense of cottagers and smallholders, (fn. 46) though in the 16th and 17th centuries
Shifford remained almost as populous as Lew:
12 inhabitants were taxed in 1542-4, (fn. 47) and in the
later 17th century there seem to have been 15-23
houses including 4-5 cottages, and an adult
population of at least 50-60. (fn. 48) A survey of 1755
listed 7 farmhouses and 7 cottages, (fn. 49) but inclosure of the township by the Harcourts soon after
left only two farmhouses, one (Old Shifford
Farm) near the site of the former village, the
other (New Shifford Farm) built c. ¾ mile to the
north in the former open fields c. 1758. (fn. 50) Other
houses mentioned in 19th-century censuses were
agricultural labourers' cottages. (fn. 51) In all, the township contained 7 houses occupied by 8 families
in 1801, 9 in 1831 and 1841, 8 in the 1860s and
1870s, and 10 in 1881, the population rising
during the same period from 38 to 70. During
the 1880s it fell sharply to 31 as a result of
agricultural depression, and in 1891 there were
5 vacant houses; by 1901 it was 40 accommodated
in 9 houses, but fell to 22 by 1921. There were 39
inhabitants by 1931, and 27 in 1951, the last year
for which separate figures are available. (fn. 52)
Though Shifford chapel was rebuilt in the 19th
century its medieval predecessor, documented
from the early 13th, seems to have occupied the
same site. (fn. 53) A much-damaged limestone column-base found north of Old Shifford Farm,
the corners hacked off giving it an octagonal
appearance, was evidently not in situ and may
not be medieval. (fn. 54) House platforms, with what
may be former drainage ditches running between
them, survive south of the chapel on the edge of
the narrow gravel terrace, and extend south of a
boundary ditch into what in the 17th and 18th
centuries was common pasture; (fn. 55) a villein's
house immediately east of the chapel was
mentioned c. 1360, (fn. 56) and in the 15th century
buildings associated with Eynsham abbey's
stone-built manorial farmstead faced or adjoined
the chapelyard. (fn. 57) A large depression south of the
chapel may be remains of a former green, but
has evidently been altered and deepened by
gravel digging; from there a deep hollow way
runs south-westwards towards former common
pasture and open-field land. Old Shifford Farm
to the east, built in the late 17th century, is
described below; (fn. 58) Coldharbour Cottages west
of the chapel, gutted by fire and left derelict in
1974, were built apparently in the early 19th
century, (fn. 59) and New Shifford Cottages before 1876.
South Farm, by the Aston-Brighthampton road,
was built c. 1960 and New Cottages before
1976. (fn. 60) Electricity was supplied to Old Shifford
c. 1948, and to New Shifford c. 1961; there was
no mains water, drainage or gas in 1993. (fn. 61)
A tradition, current by 1677, that King Alfred
held a witan at Shifford arose from a reference
to 'Sifford' or 'Sevorde' in the probably 12th-
century poem known as 'The Proverbs of
Alfred'. (fn. 62) That the poem referred to an actual
assembly is unlikely, and the identification with
Shifford is impossible on linguistic and historical
grounds: (fn. 63) Oxford and the region dependent on
it were not directly controlled by Wessex until
911, (fn. 64) and significant assemblies would in any
case have presumably met at Bampton. The
names Court close (for the area around the
chapel) and Kingsway field, cited in support of
the tradition in the 19th century, (fn. 65) refer respectively to the site of Eynsham abbey's manorial
farmstead, and to a lane leading through Aston
apparently to the royal tûn at Bampton. (fn. 66)