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BLOXHAM HUNDRED

Balscott hamlet lies in the south-west of the parish at fhe head of a steep gully leading south. The earliest spellings are Berescote or Belescote, and the name probably derives from Baelles cot or the homestead of Baell. The site, 500 ft. up,

seems originally to have been triangular, the houses built round a green, with the church almost in the centre.

 

Balscott was a hamlet of moderate size in the Middle Ages; in 1738 the vicar returned 20 houses and in 1841 there were forty-eight. In the 19th century a Wesleyan chapel was built in the apex of the triangle. The school of 1840, enlarged

in 1867, was built of stone in the Gothic style. It was not until the 20th century, that the introduction of new building materials, yellow brick and concrete, began to make much effect upon the character of the village. The cottages are mainly 2-storied and of 17th- or 18th-century date. They are built of local ironstone, and, although thatch remains, Welsh slate is also common.

 

The `Butchers Arms', now much altered, dates from the 17th century.  Three farm-houses are of considerable architectural interest. Of these Grange Farm  and the Priory Farm retain windows and doors of medieval date. Wroxton Abbey had property in the hamlet and perhaps at least one of these houses and possibly both were originally built for the priory's tenants in the 14th century. In 1535 Richard Burden, a salaried official of the priory and general receiver of all its rents, farmed the priory's Grange Farm. His family remained in Balscott and for the hearth tax of 1665 Robert Burden (d. 1677) was assessed on 5 hearths. He lived in a house on the northern edge of the hamlet, bordering on the common.

 

The priory also had a bailiff at Balscott, Richard Taylor. He was the receiver of rents for Balscott and Wroxton, and he may have occupied Priory Farm. The occupant in 1665 may have been Edward Atkins who was assessed on 5 hearths for the tax.  

 

Priory Farm is set back from the road behind its farm-buildings. Its original medieval hall, though now subdivided, can be identified. It was unusually large (17ft. x 19 ft.) and in the south wall there is a window of 4 lights, of which the heads have fine curvilinear tracery of the 14th or early 15th century. The walls are of medieval thickness and the roof is in part medieval although much altered in the 17th century. The house itself was much altered c. 1500 when the main entrance through a wide doorway with a 4-centred arch, contained within a square label, was constructed and a new service bay was added, separated by a through passage from the hall. There was a major rebuilding in the 17th century when the north wall of the hall was completely rebuilt and its roof structure altered. A stair-case was added and mullioned windows were inserted. In the mid 18th century there was a complete reorganization of the one-time service end of the building: the 17th-century parlour became the service room and the hall became the kitchen, a new canopied door was added to the south front, and sash windows were inserted.  The architectural history of Grange Farm is very similar. It can be identified with the house with two wings shown on a map of 1684, near to Grange Close from  which it is separated by Grange Lane, and was then occupied by Walter Garner. It lies close to Priory Farm and is entered by a fine and unusually large doorway with a 4-centred moulded arch of 15th-century date. A large window Of 2 lights, once lighting the medieval hall, remains. It has a stone mullion and transom and Perpendicular tracery contained within a square head. There is a door at the rear with a 4-centred arch. A bread oven was built out into the road at a later date.

 

 Manor Farm, once the manor-house, has an L shaped plan and dates from the 17th century, though it was much altered in the 18th century. It was the chief house in the village in the 17th century and was occupied by the Sacheverell family. It was assessed on 7 hearths in 1665, and it figures on maps of 1677 and 1684. The present house has an 18th-century front, while the rear wing is mainly 17th-century with mullioned windows of moulded stone and a 2-storied stair-case projection. The stable with a pigeon loft over it is also of 17th century date. The house is approached through a 17th-century gateway and ascending stone steps.

 

Balscott House, another 17th-century house, consists of 2 stories and an attic. It was originally built on a 2-unit plan but was added to at later dates.  A spiral stair-case is contained in a projecting square block at the back of the house. The

hall chimney was placed against the screens passage and a large open fire-place still remains.

 

Outside the village there is another 17th-century house, Balscott Mill, a further illustration of the great revival in agricultural prosperity of this period.  Home Farm, of late- 18th-century date, is also of some architectural interest.  It is built in the local style and with local materials.

 

The Parish Clerk holds some reports on the village and its houses produced when conversation status was applied for.  This material is available for examination by arrangement with the Clerk.

The History of Balscote