Hanwell, Oxfordshire

Description
Hanwell, a village and a parish in Oxfordshire, near the boundary with Warwick and the Oxford Canal, 3 miles NW from Banbury, which is the nearest railway station. Post town, money order, and telegraph office, Banbury. Acreage, 1271; population, 225. The manor with all the property belonged formerly to the Vennns, the Ardens, the Grevilles, and the Copes, and was carried in marriage by an heiress to John Frederick, third Duke of Dorset, whose daughter and heiress Elizabeth married the fifth Earl De la Warr, whose son is the present owner and lord of the manor. Hanwell Castle was called by Leiand " the pleasant and gallant house of Hanwell," was twice visited in the time of Sir Anthony Cope by James I. and his queen, and is now represented chiefly by a fine quadrangular brick tower, with stone quoins, used as a farmhouse. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; gross yearly value, £300 with residence, in the gift of Earl De la Warr. The church is of the 14th century, chiefly in the Decorated period with a fine tower, and has some curious capitals, with grotesque figures.