Middleton Stoney, Oxfordshire

Description
Middleton Stoney, a village and a parish in Oxfordshire. The village stands E by S of Heyford railway station, and 3 1/2 miles W by N of Bicester station on the L. & N.W.R., is a very pretty place, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Bicester. The parish comprises 1853 acres; population, 328. The manor belonged anciently to W. Longsword, passed to the Laceys and others, and belongs now, with all the land, to the Earl of Jersey. Middleton Park is the Earl's seat, succeeded a previous mansion destroyed by fire in 1753, contains some interesting portraits, and stands in a beautiful park of 600 acres. A castle of the Norman times stood near the church, and the foundations of it can still be traced. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; gross value, £420. Patron, the Bishop of Oxford. The church stands in the park, is an ancient building of stone in mixed styles in good condition; comprises nave, aisles, and chancel, with embattled western tower; has a good Early English arcade outside the tower, a grand Norman arch at S doorway, the famous font from the old King's chapel, Islip, and includes on the N side a mortuary chapel of the Earl of Jersey. There are some useful charities, bequests of the late Dowager Countess of Jersey.