Editing Radley

{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{infobox UK place
| official_name            = Radley
| coordinates              = {{coord|51.689|-1.240|display=inline,title}}
| os_grid_reference        = SU5299
| label_position           = left
| static_image_name        = Radley StJames SE 01.JPG
| static_image_caption     = St James the Great parish church
| population               = 2774
| population_ref           = ([[United Kingdom Census 2001|2001 census]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=798756&c=Radley&d=16&g=481422&i=1001x1003x1006&k=headcounts&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1269347210157&enc=1&domainId=15&dsFamilyId=779 |title=Area: Radley CP (Parish): Parish Headcounts |work=Neighbourhood Statistics |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |access-date=23 March 2010}}</ref>
| civil_parish             = Radley
| shire_district           = [[Vale of White Horse]]
| shire_county             = [[Oxfordshire]]
| region                   = South East England
| country                  = England
| post_town                = [[Abingdon, Oxfordshire|Abingdon]]
| postcode_district        = OX14
| postcode_area            = OX
| dial_code                = 01235
| constituency_westminster = [[Oxford West and Abingdon (UK Parliament constituency)|Oxford West and Abingdon]]
| website                  = [http://www.radleyvillage.org.uk Radley, Oxfordshire]
}}

'''Radley''' is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] about {{convert|2|mi|0}} northeast of the centre of [[Abingdon, Oxfordshire|Abingdon]], [[Oxfordshire]]. The parish includes the [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] of Lower Radley on the [[River Thames]]. It was part of [[Berkshire]] until the [[Local Government Act 1972|1974 boundary changes]] transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is home to [[Radley College]], a famous boarding [[independent school]] for boys from the age of thirteen to eighteen that consists of 690 pupils.

==Parish church==
The [[Church of England parish church]] of [[James, son of Zebedee|Saint James the Great]] was built in about 1290.<ref name="Page">{{harvnb|Page|Ditchfield|1924|pp=410–416}}</ref> The church is built of stone, but unusually its roof is supported by wooden pillars installed by a [[Middle Ages|medieval]] [[Abbots of Abingdon|Abbot of Abingdon]], who was told in a vision to ''"seek [them] in the forest"''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2009}} The present south [[Aisle#Architecture|aisle]] dates from the 14th century but the [[chancel]], [[nave]] and [[bell tower]] were rebuilt in the 15th century.<ref name=Page/> The windows contain Royal [[heraldry|heraldic]] [[stained glass]] from the latter part of the 15th century and from the [[Tudor period]]. In the tower is a stained-glass portrait believed to represent [[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radleyvillage.org.uk/institutions/church.html |title=Radley community website: Radley Parish Church |publisher=Radleyvillage.org.uk |access-date=25 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912051707/http://www.radleyvillage.org.uk/institutions/church.html |archive-date=12 September 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The church is missing both its north aisle and [[transept]], which were destroyed during the [[English Civil War|Civil War]].<ref name=Page/> The south doorway is 15th century, but an inscription on the present door states that it was made in 1656.<ref name="EH-church">{{NHLE |num= 1048324 |desc=Church of St James |access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref> In the chancel, there is a [[Renaissance]] style [[English church monuments|monument]] to the [[lord of the manor]], Sir William [[Stonhouse Baronets#Stonhouse baronets, of Radley (1628)|Stonehouse]] (died 1632), made by [[Nicholas Stone]].{{sfn|Pevsner|1966|p=196}} The canopy over the [[pulpit]] is said to have originally stood behind the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker]]'s chair in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]]{{sfn|Pevsner|1966|p=196}} and was given to the church by a local man, Speaker [[William Lenthall]], in 1643.<ref name=Page/> If so, it is the canopy from under which [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] soldiers dragged Lenthall at the end of the [[Long Parliament]]. St. James' is a [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade II* listed building]].<ref name=EH-church/>

The tower has a [[Change ringing|ring]] of six bells.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://onb.org.uk/live/towers/index.html |title=Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers, Old North Berkshire Branch |publisher=Onb.org.uk |date=2010-02-17 |access-date=25 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225173231/http://onb.org.uk/live/towers/index.html |archive-date=25 December 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Abel [[Rudhall of Gloucester]] cast five of them including the tenor in 1754.<ref name=Page/><ref name="Dove">{{cite web |url= http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?searchString=Radley&Submit=+Go+&DoveID=RADLEY |last=Davies |first=Peter |title=Radley S James Gt |work=[[Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers]] |publisher=[[Central Council for Church Bell Ringers]] |date=22 February 2010 |access-date=12 August 2012}}</ref> Mears and Stainbank of the [[Whitechapel Bell Foundry]] cast the present treble bell in 1952.<ref name=Dove/> St. James' also has a [[Church bell#Types|Sanctus bell]] that Henry I Knight of [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] cast in 1617.<ref name=Dove/>  The former [[vicarage]] next to the church was built in the 15th century.<ref name=Page/> Past incumbents of the parish have included the future bishops [[Charles Gore]] (1893–95) and James Nash (1895–98).

==Radley Hall==
[[Abingdon Abbey]] held the manor of Radley until the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] in 1538. In the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]], George [[Stonhouse Baronets#Stonhouse baronets, of Radley (1628)|Stonehouse]] built a house in Radley Park, but in 1727 the Stonehouse family replaced this with a new [[English country house|mansion]], Radley Hall. Early in the 19th century the house was leased for a time as a [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] school, and from 1847 it was leased to [[William Sewell (author)|William Sewell]] who founded [[Radley College|Saint Peter's College, Radley]].<ref name=Page/> The school is now generally referred to as Radley College.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.radley.org.uk/ |title=Radley College |publisher=Radley.org.uk |access-date=25 June 2010}}</ref>

[[File:FirstGreatWestern @ Radley.JPG|thumb|220px|left|Train at Radley]]

==Wick Hall==
Wick Hall is located between Radley and Thrupp Lake, off Audlett Drive. It is a [[Grade II* listed]] country house, built in about 1720 for the Tomkins family. The decoration includes Flemish wood panelling, taken from [[Exeter College, Oxford|Exeter College]] chapel. The house was acquired by the Dockar-Drysdale family in 1850, and extended for them by [[Charles Bell (British architect)|Charles Bell]] in the 1870s.  <ref>{{cite web |title=Wick Hall and Attached Walls |url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101284611-wick-hall-and-attached-walls-radley |website=British Listed Buildings |access-date=2 September 2021}}</ref>

==Railway==
In 1844 the [[Great Western Railway]] opened an extension from [[Didcot Parkway railway station|Didcot]] to Oxford, passing through Radley parish. In 1873 the GWR opened [[Radley railway station]] {{convert|0.5|mi|m}} southwest of the village. It is now served by [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] trains.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://radley-village.org.uk/ourvillage/history/railway/History.htm |title=Radley community website: History of the Railway |publisher=Radley-village.org.uk |access-date=26 June 2010}}</ref>
[[File:Radley StJames ChestTomb.JPG|thumb|St James the Great parish church: 17th century [[chest tomb]] in the churchyard]]

==Radley Lake==
South of the village are current and former gravel pits. The disused pits have flooded, forming a number of lakes. In 1985 the [[Central Electricity Generating Board]] began filling some of these lakes with waste ash from [[Didcot Power Station]]. In June 2005 [[Npower (UK)|Npower]] applied for permission to fill in two more lakes. Npower soon withdrew Bullfield Lake from its proposal, but continued with its proposal for the larger Thrupp Lake. Local opposition formed into a protest campaign called Save Radley Lakes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.saveradleylakes.org.uk/srl_campaign/Current_Situation.htm |title=Save Radley Lakes |publisher=Save Radley Lakes |access-date=25 June 2010}}</ref> In December 2008 Npower finally announced that it ''"no longer needed"'' Thrupp Lake and withdrew its application.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://radley-village.org.uk/news/News0009.htm |title=Radley community website: Radley's Lakes Endangered! |publisher=Radley-village.org.uk |access-date=25 June 2010}}</ref>
[[File:Radley StJames Font.JPG|thumb|St James the Great parish church: Norman font carved with [[Blind arcade|blind arcading]] and resting on four colonettes]]

==Amenities==
Radley has a [[Voluntary controlled school|Church of England]] primary school,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radley-pri.oxon.sch.uk/ |title=Radley Church of England Primary School|publisher=Radley-village.org.uk |access-date=25 June 2010}}</ref> a [[village hall]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://radley-village.org.uk/institutions/villagehall.html |title=Radley community website: Village Hall |publisher=Radley-village.org.uk |access-date=25 June 2010}}</ref> and a [[Women's Institute]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfordshirefwi.freeuk.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030907070954/http://www.oxfordshirefwi.freeuk.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 September 2003 |title=Oxfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes |publisher=Oxfordshirefwi.freeuk.com |access-date=25 June 2010}}</ref> There is a [[public house]], the Bowyer Arms, controlled by [[Greene King Brewery]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bowyerarms.co.uk/joomla/ |title=The Bowyer Arms |publisher=The Bowyer Arms |date=2008-11-24 |access-date=25 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100110064011/http://www.bowyerarms.co.uk/joomla/ |archive-date=10 January 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Radley Cricket Club<ref>{{cite web|url=http://radley-village.org.uk/clubs/cricket.html |title=Radley community website: Radley Cricket Club |publisher=Radley-village.org.uk |access-date=25 June 2010}}</ref> plays in Oxfordshire Cricket Association Division Three.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfordshirecricketassociation.org.uk/tables/tables.asp?Division=3 |title=Oxfordshire Cricket Association |publisher=Oxfordshire Cricket Association |access-date=25 June 2010}}</ref>

==History society==
Radley has a local history society which has produced a number of publications and maintains an archive of local material.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.communigate.co.uk/oxford/radleyhistoryclub/ |title=Welcome to the Homepage of RADLEY HISTORY CLUB |publisher=CommuniGate |access-date=16 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821221036/http://www.communigate.co.uk/oxford/radleyhistoryclub/ |archive-date=21 August 2008 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>  ''Radley vicarage'' by Radley History Club, 2005. A report of a 'buildings record' survey and archive research undertaken to determine the history, construction, and later development of this 14th-century building  ''The history of Radley'' by Patrick Drysdale … [and others] Radley History Club, 2002. History of the village from prehistory to the present.

==Notable residents==
Included among Radley's former residents are:
Dr. [[Gary Botting]], now an extradition lawyer in Canada, who attended the Church of England Primary School and began collecting moths in Radley in 1948.<ref>Heather and Gary Botting, ''The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Witnesses'' (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984) Preface, p. xii.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources and further reading==
*{{cite book |last1=Barclay |first1=Alistair |last2=Halpin |first2=Claire |series=Thames Valley Landscape Series |title=Excavations at Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire: Volume 1 The Neolithic and Bronze Age Monument Complex |volume=11 |year=1999 |publisher=[[Oxford University]] [[School of Archaeology]] |location=Oxford |isbn=0-947816-89-5 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Chambers |first1=Richard |last2=McAdam |first2=Ellen |series=Thames Valley Landscape Series |title=Excavations at Radley Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire: Volume 2 The Romano-British Cemetery and Anglo-Saxon Settlement |volume=25 |year=2007 |publisher=[[Oxford University]] School of Archaeology |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-947816-73-5 }}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Page |editor1-first=W.H. |editor1-link=William Henry Page |editor2-last=Ditchfield |editor2-first=P.H. |editor2-link=Peter Ditchfield |series=[[Victoria County History]] |title=A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4 |year=1924 |pages=410–416 }}
*{{cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=[[The Buildings of England]] |title=Berkshire |year=1966 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=Harmondsworth |pages=196–197 }}

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

{{Vale of White Horse}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:Populated places on the River Thames]]
[[Category:Vale of White Horse]]