Editing Elsfield

{{Short description|Village in Oxfordshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{infobox UK place
|official_name= Elsfield
|coordinates = {{coord|51.788|-1.219|display=inline,title}}
|os_grid_reference= SP539101
|static_image_name= Elsfield StThomasC NW 01.JPG
|static_image_caption= St. Thomas of Canterbury parish church
|label_position= top
|area_total_km2=1.53
|population= 191
|population_ref= ([[2011 United Kingdom census|2011 census]], includes Woodeaton)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ |title=Area: Elsfield: Parish: Key Statistics: Population Density |work=Neighbourhood Statistics |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=5 May 2016 |archive-date=11 February 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030211201309/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|civil_parish= Elsfield
|shire_district= [[South Oxfordshire]]
|shire_county= [[Oxfordshire]]
|region= South East England
|country= England
|post_town= [[Oxford]]
|postcode_district= OX3
|postcode_area= OX
|dial_code= 01865
|constituency_westminster= [[Henley and Thame (UK Parliament constituency)|Henley and Thame]]
|website= 
}}

'''Elsfield''' is an English village and [[civil parish]] about {{convert|3|mi|0}} northeast of the centre of [[Oxford]]. The village is {{convert|310|ft}} above sea level on the western brow of a hill with relatively steep sides above the [[River Cherwell]]. For relative reference purposes, the Oxford alluvial flood plain is at 60 metres above sea level.

==Parish church==
The [[chancel]] arch of the [[Church of England parish church]] dates from at least the latter part of the 12th century. The church formerly had a north [[Aisle#Architecture|aisle]] that may also have dated from this period. There is a [[Tide dial|canonical sundial]] on the south wall. In about 1273 the church was remodelled and rededicated to [[Thomas Becket|St Thomas of Canterbury]]. The [[English Gothic architecture#Decorated Gothic|Decorated Gothic]] east window was added in about the 14th century.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=592}} Either side of the south doorway are two [[English Gothic architecture#Perpendicular Gothic|Perpendicular Gothic]] windows that were added in about the 15th century.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=592}} The [[pulpit]] is [[Jacobean architecture|Jacobean]].{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=592}}

In 1849 the church was [[Victorian restoration|heavily restored]] in an [[English Gothic architecture#Early English Gothic|Early English Gothic style]].{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=591}} Until then, the blocked [[Arcade (architecture)|arcade]] of the north aisle was visible in the north wall of the [[nave]].{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=591}} During the restoration the arcade seems to have been removed; there are 12th-century [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]] in the Vicarage garden that may have come from it.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=591}} The floor and seating were renewed in 1859 under the direction of the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival architect]] [[George Edmund Street|G.E. Street]].{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=591}} In about 1860 a mosaic [[reredos]] by [[Salviati (glassmakers)|Salviati]] was added in the chancel.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|p=592}}  St. Thomas's is a [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade II* listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE |num= 1369209 |desc=Church of St Thomas a Beckett |access-date=13 August 2012}}</ref>
{{clear left}}

==Notable inhabitants==
[[File:LRM 20190312 173928.jpg|alt=|left|thumb|John Buchan's grave at St Thomas of Canterbury, Elsfield]]
The novelist [[John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir|John Buchan]] (Governor General of Canada, 1935–1940) lived at Elsfield Manor from 1919 until 1935. His ashes are buried in St Thomas's churchyard.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources and further reading==
[[File:The Manor, home of John Buchan - geograph.org.uk - 65476.jpg|thumb|left|Elsfield Manor]]
[[File:Elsfield HomeFarm house.JPG|thumb|255px|Home Farm house is [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]], built in the early or mid-18th century. Its porch was added early in the 19th century]]
*{{Cite book |editor-last=Lobel |editor-first=Mary D |editor-link=Mary Lobel |series=[[Victoria County History]] |title=A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5: Bullingdon Hundred |year=1957 |pages=116–122 }}
*{{cite book |last=Masheder |first=Mildred |title=Carrier's Cart to Oxford |year=2007 |publisher=The Wychwood Press |location=Charlbury |isbn=978-1-902279-28-2 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Sherwood |first1=Jennifer |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides|The Buildings of England]] |title=Oxfordshire |year=1974 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=0-14-071045-0 |pages=591–592 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Elsfield}}

{{South Oxfordshire}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:South Oxfordshire District]]