OXFORDSHIRE

OXFORDSHIRE, an inland county of England, chiefly celebrated on account of its capital, which is the principal seat of learning in the British dominions, and from which city it has derived its name. It is bounded on the east by Buckinghamshire; on the south, south-west, and south-east, by Berkshire; on the north-east by Northamptonshire; and on the north-west by the county of Warwick. The river Thames (called sometimes the Isis till it reaches Oxford) is the line of demarkation on the whole of its southern boundary; running between this county and Berkshire with various, and in the latter part of its course most beautiful, sinuities. The county is of a most irregular figure. Near the centre, in which the city of Oxford stands, it is not more than seven miles in breadth, and at no great distance to

Oxfordshire. the north it is thirty-eight miles. Towards the north it resembles a cone, and to the south it is similarly contracted. Its extreme length is fifty miles. The extent is estimated at 742 square miles, or 474,880 English acres. It contains one city, twelve market towns, and two hundred and seven parishes, and is divided into fourteen hundreds.

Face of the Country. This county is by no means uniformly beautiful. On the north, the absence of hedges, which are supplied by stone walls, gives a dreary appearance to the face of the country. In the centre, it is generally flat and woody, affording few pleasing prospects, though its trees and verdure give it the semblance of wealth. The southern part, from the beauty of its rivers, the gentle swelling of its hills, the verdant meadows between them, and the number of highly embellished residences of rich proprietors, is a district abounding with rural charms. The Chiltern Hills, the highest range in England south of the river Trent, form a part of this portion. They are in many parts adorned with beech woods, and in every interval of these woods cultivated quite to their summits.

Climate and Soil. The climate of the county varies according to the elevation and exposure. In the north, where no hedges impede the winter winds, the cold is somewhat severe, and the Chiltern Hills are frequently enveloped in damp fogs, especially in the more woody parts of them. Mr Arthur Young, in his Agricultural Survey of Oxfordshire, has formed a classification of the soils in the different districts of the county, which, like all similar estimates, must be received with hesitation, or at least with many exceptions. The red soil, found chiefly in the north, and by far the most fertile, he estimates at 79,635 acres. The land, provincially called stone brash, found in the centre, and whose surface is often covered with stones, amounts to 164,023 acres. The Chiltern lands, whose soil is a loam resting everywhere on a bed of chalk, and covered with flint stones, are 64,778 acres. To these are added 166,400 acres under the description of miscellaneous, which comprehends all sorts of soil, from loose sand to the heaviest clay, and includes the rich meadows on the banks of the rivers.

Agriculture. Though this is wholly an agricultural county, and though much progress in improvement has been made of late years, yet the general practices are by no means equal to the average of those of the rest of England. The most beneficial husbandry is founded upon the valuable water meadows on the banks of the different streams. These are naturally so fertile, that they appear to have prevented that care which would render them still more productive. Little attention is paid to draining, and still less to irrigation, though the good effects of both these practices are obvious, and their accomplishment easy in many circumstances. Some few oxen are fattened, and butter and cheese made in the dairies, but the facility of navigation induces the farmers to make more hay than is consumed by their stock, and to send it to distant and higher markets than their own—nearer to the metropolis. On the arable fields, especially on the stony lands near Burford, the use of oxen for the plough is very common, and the

Herefordshire breed is generally preferred for that Oxfordshire. purpose. The practice of paring and burning the surface prevails in many parts of the county, and in the newly enclosed lands the application of lime as a manure is highly beneficial, whilst on the Chiltern lands it is not found to produce a good effect equal to the expence which attends it.

Where the soils are so various, the rotation of Rotation of crops must necessarily vary with them. On the red soils, the most usual course is, 1st, turnips; 2d, barley, or spring-wheat; 3d, clover; 4th, wheat; 5th, peas, or beans; and, 6th, oats. On the stone-brash lands, the usual rotation is, 1st, turnips; 2d, barley; 3d, clover, to stand two years; 4th, wheat; and, 5th, oats, peas, or sometimes, but rarely, beans. On the Chiltern lands, the rotations are the same, with only slight variations. On both these last tracts of country, the cultivation of sainfoin is very extensive; on most farms occupying from one-seventh to one-eighth of the whole. This valuable artificial grass produces heavy crops. When it was first introduced, it would remain productive for fifteen or sixteen years; but since it has become more familiarised to the soil, it seldom lasts more than seven years so as to be fit to make hay, but yields food for sheep for one or two years afterwards. The sheep, which were formerly almost all of the Berkshire breed, have of late years been superseded by the race of the South Downs.

Oxfordshire is not a manufacturing district. Wit-Manufacture was celebrated for its blankets, and they still retain their superiority; but the cheapness with which similar goods are made by machinery in the northern counties has reduced the demand; and though machinery has been introduced, the trade is still on the decline. On the eastern side of the county, some females find occupation in making bone lace, but that, too, is on the decline. At Banbury there is a manufactory of plushes, hair-shaggs, and some bindings, and other haberdashery wares; and at Woodstock, the making of gloves gives employment to many of the inhabitants. There are no minerals and no coals found in this county.

The rivers all empty themselves into the Thames. Rivers and Canals. They are formed by the numerous small springs which are everywhere to be seen; and before they join the Thames are called the Windrush, coming from Burford and Witney, the Evenlode, from Wichwood and Charlbury, and the Cherwell, from the vicinity of Banbury. The Thames, composed of the stream of that name and the Isis (on which a strange confusion has arisen), is navigable from near one of its sources, not far from Letchlode, to the sea. The barges navigating it are from seventy-five to one hundred tons burden, but the larger ones ascend no higher than Oxford. From the frequent recurrence of shoals, from the floods in winter, and the scarcity of water in summer, it is a dilatory navigation; so that frequently the passage from America to London occupies less time than from Letchlode to that city. The scarcity of fuel was severely experienced till within these last few years; but the completion of a canal, which connects the city of Oxford with the collieries of Staffordshire, has removed the evil, and proved high-

Oxfordshire ly profitable to the proprietors of that important work.

Paley. We forbear to say any thing of that which is the glory of this county and of this kingdom—the city of Oxford. It is described in the Encyclopædia in a moderate compass, and a farther expansion of that description, by enumerating the works of art and the repositories of everything valuable in literature, would be incompatible with the limits prescribed to this work.

Antiquities. The antiquities of this county have been accurately described, and are deserving of the closest inspection. Among them are the traces of the various roads formed by the Romans, whose principal station was at Dorchester, many funereal mounds, and the Vallum called the Devil's Ditch. The Priory of Godstow, and the ruins of many other religious houses, exhibit the architecture of different and remote ages.

Population. The population of this county had increased, between the years 1801 and 1811, by 9586 individuals. In the last mentioned year, the numbers were, 119,204; of whom the males were 59,140, and the females 60,064. The number of houses were 21,598, inhabited by 24,749 families. Of these persons, 36,409 were employed in agriculture, 17,946 in trade and manufactures, and 64,849 derived their subsistence from neither of these employments. The towns and their population are as follows, viz.—

The county is in the diocese of the capital city, which gives the title of Earl to the family of Harley. The members returned to the House of Commons are nine, viz. two from the county, two each from the city and university of Oxford, two from Woodstock, and one from Banbury.

The most distinguished residences are, Blenheim Castle, Duke of Marlborough; Blandford House, Duke of Beaufort; Brightwell, W. Lowndes Stowe, Esq.; Cuddesdon Palace, Bishop of Oxford; Crowsley Park, John Atkins Wright, Esq.; Ditchley Park, Lord Dillon; Grey's Court, Lady Stapleton; Heythorp, Earl of Shrewsbury; Kirtlington Park, Sir H. W. Dashwood; Middleton Stoney, Earl of Jersey; Mongewell, Bishop of Durham; Mapledurham, Michael Blount, Esq.; Nuneham Park, Earl of Harcourt; Rycot Park, Earl of Abingdon; Shiplake, Lord Mark Kerr; Shelswell, Harrison, Esq.; Shirburn Castle, Earl of Macclesfield; Thane Park, Miss Wykham; Wroxton, Earl of Guildford; Wood Eaton, John Weyland, Esq.; Waterstock, W. H. Ashhurst, Esq.; Wormsley, John Fane, Esq.; Wheatfield, Lord Churchill.

See The Agricultural State of Oxfordshire, by Arthur Young; Pott's Oxfordshire; and Brewer's Account of Oxfordshire, in the Beauties of England and Wales. (w. w.)