Key moments
A Timeline
of Somerton
Domesday Book
Somerton is recorded in the Domesday Book. The village's name reveals its oldest purpose — summer pasture for livestock kept on the tableland above.
Read more →The Arsic Barony Divided
Robert Arsic dies without male heirs. The round Norman piers in St James's — still standing — date from their century. The division shapes Somerton's history for the next three hundred years.
Read more →The Reredos Carved
The stone reredos behind the altar of St James's is carved — the Last Supper in splendidly lively style. Hidden from the Puritans, it is restored in 1822 and remains one of the finest pieces of medieval carving in Oxfordshire.
See the Church Guide →Francis Lovell & Bosworth
Francis Lovell — Richard III's closest ally, who bore the third sword at his coronation — is attainted after Bosworth. The Crown holds Somerton for 25 years. Lovell was last seen swimming the Trent on horseback.
Read more →The Fermors Arrive
William Fermor acquires the full manor and builds a new house. The family remain staunch Catholics through the Reformation, protecting recusants for two centuries. Their tombs fill the south chapel of St James's.
Catholicism in Somerton →The Oxford Canal
The Oxford Canal is completed. Somerton Deep Lock — No. 34 — is one of the deepest as-built locks in England, with a rise of approximately twelve feet.
Read more →The Railway Arrives
Somerton Station opens on the GWR line. Lord Jersey had to be promised a station in exchange for his agreement to the route. Queen Victoria's royal train passes through three or four times a year.
The Great War
Seven men from Somerton do not come home. John Henry Allen, Frederick Hollis, Albert A G Lewis, Harry Stevens, William Watts, Henry James Watts, and F Harry Varney Wise — their names are on the memorial plaque in St James's.
The Soldiers of Somerton →The Last Train
Fritwell & Somerton Station sees its last train on Saturday, 31 October 1964. Albert Fox: "12 trains stopped each day at Somerton right up to the closure, the first leaving at 6.05 a.m."
The Railway at Somerton →
