This parish, which includes the hamlets of Farndon and Hinton, is bounded on the north by Charwelton, on the east by Preston Capes, on the west by Byfield, and on the south by Eydon. It contains 2651 acres, and its population in 1801 was 629; in 1831, 827; in 1841, 846; in 1851,800; in 1861, 735; and in 1871 742. The rateable value of the parish is £4267, and its gross estimated rental is £5057. The soil is a light loam on the hills and a stiff clay in the valleys and there are also limestone quarries in the parish. The principal proprietors are Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden, Bart., Mr Rd. Walker Tew, Miss Caroline Hunt, Mr Samuel Bates, and Mr William Ward. The lordship is well supplied with springs, and the Roman road (Portway) from Bennaventa or Isannavaria (near Daventry) to Brinavis. in Chipping Warden, passed through it.

Manor.—At the time of the general survey, Hugh de Grentemaisnil held two hides of land here, and one Richard was his under-tenant. It had been the freehold of Baldwin before the Conquest, when it was valued at 40s., but it was then advanced to 6os. In the reign of Henry II., Osmund Bassett held two hides here of the fee of Leicester, and in the 9th of Edward II. (1316), John Bassett was lord of the manor. In the 13th of Edward III., Thomas Boiden levied a fine of this manor, and in the 20th of the same reign accounted for three parts of a knight's fee here of the Honor of Winchester. It afterwards reverted to the Bassett family, from which it passed in the 14th of Richard II. (1391) to Thomas Earl of Stafford. In the 1st of Henry IV. (1399), Maud, the widow of John Lord Lovel, died seized of this manor; in the 20th of Henry VIII. (1529) it was in the possession of the Earl of Shrewsbury; and in the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton held it of the crown in capite. In the 6th of Elizabeth (1564), George Spencer, Esq., levied a fine of Woodford Manor to John Fountayne, and in the list of the same reign John Fountayne and others levied a fine of it to John Marryattand others. Certain lands in Woodford and Sulgrave belonging to the Priory of St Andrew were granted in the 30th of Henry VI11. (1539) to Lawrence Washington, Gent., whose son, Robert Washington, Esq., in the 42d of Elizabeth (1600), levied a tine of lands here to Robert Spencer, Esq. of Althorp. Certain lands in this parish belonging to Canons Ashby Priory and Warden Abbey were granted after the dissolution to Sir John Dudley of Aston, Anthony Stringer, and John Williams. The Earl of Ellesmere is the present lord of the manor of Woodford Halse, having succeeded to the estates of his uncle, the Duke of Bridgewater, upon the decease of the Duchess. The Village of Woodford stands on a slight eminence about 7 1/2 miles S. of Daventry, 12 N.W. from Towcester, 12 N.E. from Banbury, and 13 N. from Brackley. It is supplied with water by a company formed in 1869. The water is conveyed through iron pipes from the top of a neighbouring hill to the village.

The Church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, consists of a nave and side aisles, chancel, and south porch, and a low tower, in which are four bells. It is much dilapidated, but is about to be rebuilt at a cost of some £3000, nearly one-half of which sum has already been contributed. The living is a vicarage in the Deanery of Brackley, rated in the king's books at £6, 10s., but now valued at £275 perr annum. The advowson is in the crown, and the Rev. Harry Holdsworth Minchin, M.A., is the incumbent. The impropriate rectory consists of 228a. 2r. 10p., granted by the Commissioners of Enclosure in lieu of the rectorial tithes; and the vicarage consists of 54a. 3r. 37p. in Woodford, 12a. 1r. 4p. in Farndon, and 18a. 1r. 38p. in Hinton, and the tithes of some old enclosure which were commuted in 1840 for a rent charge of £65. Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden, Bart., is the lay rector of Woodford Halse, George Hitchcock, Esq. of Hinton, and G. Home, Esq. of Farndon. The Vicarage House, a neat Elizabethan building, stands in the village.

The Moravians have a small chapel here, built in 1799, to which a house for the minister and a burial-ground are attached.

The National School was erected by Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden, Bart, and presented to the parish in 1867. The school has been supported from the first by a voluntary rate of 4d. in the pound, two-thirds of which are paid by the landowners and one-third by the tenants. A sum of £170 has been spent on the master's house, which stands near the school.

HINTON is a hamlet in this parish, containing about 875 acres, of which Sir Rainald Knightlcy, Bart. M.P. (lord of the manor), George Hitchcock, Esq., and Messrs Charles and Edmund Bromley are the principal owners. This manor passed from the Hintons to the De Brays; in thr fifteenth century it was in the possession of the Catesbys of Althorp; in the 42d of Elizabeth (1600), Robert Catesby sold it to Erasmus Dryden, Esq. of Canons Ashby; from the family of Dryden it passed to the Hastings ; and in 1712 it was purchased by Giles Knightley, Esq., and is now held by his descendant, the present baronet. The village is separated from Woodford by the CherwelL .

WEST FARNDON is another hamlet, forming the southern division of the parish. It contains 656 acres, of which Mr W. Hitchcock, Richard Aubrey Cartwright, Esq. of Edgcott House (the lord of the manor), Mr R. Checkley, and the rector of Wigan arc the principal proprietors. The manor was in the possession of William de Farendon in the reign of Henry VIII.; in. the 7th of Henry IV. (1419), Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, levied a fine of it, and after his decease in 1439, it descended to his three daughters. After passing through several intermediate possessors, it came into the hands of the second Earl of Halifax, whose son, the third earl, sold it to Richard Chauncy, Esq. of Edgcott, from whom it passed to Thomas Carter, Esq., from whose sister, the late Mrs Cartwright, it passed to her son, Richard Aubrey Cartwright, Esq., the present possessor. The population of Farndon and Hinton in 1871 is included in that of the parish. That portion of West Warden which is situate in this parish formerly belonged to the Abbey of Warden, in Bedfordshire.

Post-Office (Wall-Box).—Cleared at 4 P.M. Letters arrive through the Daventry post-office.

AlcockGeo.vict, Hare and Hounds

Barnes Joseph, carpenter

Bason Joseph, grocer

Buswell John, vict. Fleur dc Lis

Coy Henry, wheelwright

Hines MrsCharlotte, day-school

Humphries Thomas, draper

Hunt Miss Caroline

Jordan Thomas, shopkeeper

Kiteley Thomas, shoemaker

M'Connell.Jas. mason & buildr,

Marriott William, beerhouse

Miles Thos. grocer & butcher

Minchin Rev. Harry Holdsworth, M.A., rector

Scandrett Rev. John William (Moravian)

Scriven George, tailor

Smith Wm. Heygate, tailor & manager co-operative store

Tew Mrs Mary Ann

Ward John, blacksmith

Wood Hy. and Mrs Eliz. master & mistress Natl. School

Farmers and Graziers.

{Marked * are yeomen.)

Alcock John

Bowles Thomas

Cherry Matthew, Woodford Mill

Douglas Owen

Ganderton William

*Tew Richard Walker

*Ward Wm. Woodford Lodge

West Mrs Elizabeth

Carriers.—George Alcock, to Banbury, Thurs., &. Northampton, Sat. Samuel Higham, to Daventry, Wed. & Sat. Wm. Marriott, to Banbury on Mon. & Thurs., & Northampton, Sat.

HINTON.

Eden Caleb-, baker

Goodman William, carter

Goodridge Wm. blacksmith &

shopkeeper

Hitchcock Geo.E

Johnson Wm. carpenter and wheelright

Stone Leonard, grocer

Farmers and Graziers.

Alcock Samuel

Allin Thomas

Bromley Charles and Edward

{yeomen) Daniel Thomas

WEST FARNDON.

Douglas John, jnr. Hill House

Lovell John

Thomason Edward

Thomason John

Haynes Edward, corn-miller

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