VCH Oxfordshire Texts in Progress. Social History

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1 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 1 VCH Oxfordshire Texts in Progress FIFIELD Social History SOCIAL HISTORY Social Structure and the Life of the Community The Middle Ages William of Shelsley s assumption of the name of Fifield in the late 12th century was presumably intended to strengthen his family s identification with the manor, and to bolster his lordship. His patronage of Bruern abbey may have served a similar purpose, forging an attachment to a local religious house alongside his continuing commitment to Tutbury priory (Staffs.), founded by his overlord. 1 Nevertheless his arrival disturbed existing social and tenurial relations, as illustrated by his purchase of a house and yardland belonging to Osbert de Lodelawe and their transfer to Bruern abbey. 2 Subsequently the Fifields and Lodelawes intermarried. 3 The wider body of Fifield s tenants in the late 12th century formed a halmote, an assembly of villagers which served as a forerunner to the manor court. Shelsley used it to publicly proclaim his good will towards the tenants, and the halmote collectively witnessed his gift of turbaries to Bruern abbey, by implication sanctioning the new lord s alienation of an important communal fuel source. 4 By 1279 only a fifth of Fifield s tenants were villeins, the remainder comprising free tenants holding land from the Fifields, Burford hospital, and Bruern abbey. 5 Among them were the long-standing Lodelawes and another well-established family, the Vileyns, 6 whose name suggests that they had been fairly recently released from serfdom. Both families were among three fifths of tenants holding yardlands or half-yardlands in 1279, with a smaller group of poorer villagers occupying cottages without open-field land. 7 Early 14th-century tax lists suggest considerable inequality of wealth: in 1316 the master of Burford hospital was 1 TNA, E 211/386; Tutbury Cart ; above, manor. 2 TNA, E 211/ Cur. Reg. XVIII, p TNA, E 329/387; HMC Penshurst MSS, I, 6. 5 Rot. Hund. II, e.g. Oxon. Fines, pp. 118, 159, 185 6; TNA, E 210/3952; E 326/ Rot. Hund. II, 732; above, econ. hist. (medieval agric.).

2 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 2 assessed on goods at Fifield worth ten times those of the least well-off taxpayers, while just over half were assessed on goods worth 2 or less. Surnames suggest that several inhabitants were probably recently arrived (including some from neighbouring Idbury and Foscot), although families such as the Boulds, Gurgans, Piercys, and Rawlins were longer established. 8 Heraldic glass in the chancel of Fifield church commemorating the Zouche (left) and Barton families (right). By the early 1300s the Fifields position seems to have been precarious. In 1306 Juliana of Fifield s tax assessment was much lower than that of the master of Burford hospital or of Walter de Curson (a relative of the Fifields intermediate lord in 1279), 9 and by 1316 the manor had passed to John Murimuth either through marriage or purchase: certainly John was resident several years before he became lord. 10 The lords wider social and family networks occasionally impacted on the village. The arms of the Zouche family of Harringworth (Northants.), inserted in the east window of the parish church in the late 13th or early 14th century, may commemorate their association with the Ferrers family, 11 while heraldic glass marking the 1486 marriage of John Barton of Holme-by-Newark (Notts.) to Cecilia Radcliffe may have been placed by a local branch of the Barton family, with links to 8 TNA, E 179/161/ Ibid. E 179/161/10; above, manor. 10 TNA, E 326/6537; above, manor. 11 Newton, Oxon. Glass, 98 9; E.A. Greening Lamborn, Armorial Glass of the Oxford Diocese (1949), 126, 128 and plate 48.

3 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 3 Burford hospital. 12 The historian and diplomat Adam Murimuth (d. 1347) may have been a relative of the lord John Murimuth, and possibly grew up in Fifield. 13 The Black Death brought social dislocation and the replacement of some tenant families by newcomers, of whom the Ascotts and Asthalls may have migrated from nearby parishes. 14 Other arrivals included the Tailors, whose criminal activities brought them to the attention of the justices. 15 Nonetheless several long-standing families survived the plague, amongst them the Piercys and Rawlins. 16 Further long-term change followed the transfer of the manor to Bruern abbey in 1382, which may have been hastened by John Murimuth s debts. 17 The abbey appears to have expanded the number of customary tenancies, and by the 16th century only three out of fourteen tenants were free. 18 In the absence of a resident lord, leadership within the village may have been assumed by the abbey s and hospital s lessees, who were among the wealthiest inhabitants in the 16th century. 19 The 16th to 18th Centuries At the Dissolution the Bruern abbey and Burford hospital estates in Fifield passed to Edmund Harman, in recognition of his service in the king s privy chamber. 20 Existing leases may have been allowed to run, although Burford hospital s demesne lessee Thomas Clerk had to secure his rights in Chancery. 21 More prominent locally was Bruern abbey s lessee Robert Secoll, the parish s highest taxpayer in 1543, who on his death in 1568 left goods worth more than 110. Secoll was buried in Fifield, donated money to the church and poor, and was succeeded in his various holdings by his wife Agnes and their children. 22 Agnes too was a wealthy taxpayer and witnessed neighbours wills, but the family seems to have left the parish in the 1590s, 23 shortly after the Brays arrival as resident lords. 24 Fifield shared in the growing prosperity of the period, although many inhabitants still suffered poverty and hardship. Among Bruern abbey s tenants the sheep farmer John 12 Newton, Oxon. Glass, ; Greening Lamborn, Armorial Glass of Oxf. Dioc and plate New DNB, s.v. Murimuth. 14 Poll Taxes , ed. Fenwick, II, Cal. Close , 81, 84; , 477; , 45; Cal. Pat , Poll Taxes , ed. Fenwick, II, TNA, C 241/145/79; above, manor. 18 Valor Eccl. II, TNA, E 179/162/227; below (16th to 18th cents). 20 New DNB, s.v. Harman; above, manor. 21 TNA, C 1/1417/ For other references to Clerk, ibid. E 179/162/227; E 179/162/259; OHC, MS Wills Oxon. 179, f TNA, E 179/162/227; E 179/162/259; OHC, MS Wills Oxon. 184, ff. 325v. 326; Oxon. Muster Rolls, TNA, E 179/162/341; E 179/162/345; OHC, MSS Wills Oxon. 179, f. 259; 183, f. 355; ibid. 65/1/ For early references to the Brays in Fifield s parish register, Bodl. MS Top. Oxon. c 43, f. 214.

4 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 4 Humphrey (d. 1547) was particularly well-off, leaving goods worth 80, 25 while the newcomer Richard Cambray also lived comfortably, furnishing a house with a wainscotted hall, a kitchen, several chambers, and outbuildings. On his death in 1641 he left goods worth more than 60, 26 compared with a median value of a little under 11 for 21 Fifield will-makers in the period Long-standing families such as the Arthurses, Cambrays, Dentons, Parrots, Snowshills, and Whitings were among those assessed for hearth tax in 1662, when three quarters of householders paid on one or two hearths, with only seven inhabitants paying on three or more. 28 Despite their apparently modest houses, however, villagers seem to have been growing wealthier, reflected in the rising median value of their inventories to c. 25 in the period The Parrots, assessed on three hearths, were among the better-off, though like many of their neighbours much of their wealth was tied up in grain, livestock, and wool rather than in household goods. 30 Prosperous yeomen such as James Harbidge (d. 1723) no doubt employed many of the parish s poorer inhabitants, among whom Bartholomew Priest was in trouble in 1702 for stealing growing wheat, while in 1738 William Chaplain stole a pig to feed his growing family. 31 Further reports of poaching and theft, especially of wood, suggest the continuing desperation of poor labourers, while disputes over grazing may demonstrate increasing competition for resources. 32 The village lacked a pub in 1688, although a victualler (John Priest) faced assault charges in If he ran a village ale-house, however, it apparently closed after his death in Fifield s families were linked by friendship, neighbourliness, and marriage, 34 and often kept in touch with relatives, friends, and acquaintances outside the parish. 35 Most were tenants of the Brays, although several occupied additional land elsewhere, their external interests perhaps explaining the disappearance of some long-standing families by the 18th century. 36 The claustrophobic intimacy of a small village was exposed in the case of Elizabeth Hamlin, who was maliciously and falsely accused of adultery by one of the 25 OHC, MS Wills Oxon. 179, ff. 258v. 259; Valor Eccl. II, 202; TNA, E 179/161/198; E 179/162/227; E 179/162/259; Oxon. Muster Rolls, 43; above, econ. hist. (16th to 18th cents). 26 OHC, MS Wills Oxon. 296/3/ Ibid. Fifield wills and inventories. 28 TNA, E 179/255/4. 29 Fig. based on 15 inventories: OHC, Fifield wills and inventories. 30 Ibid. MSS Wills Oxon. 51/4/26; 171/4/19; 84/4/ Ibid. 35/3/4; ibid. Cal. QS, I, 107, 287; ibid. par. reg. transcript (Chaplain baptized 6 children between 1727 and 1741). 32 Ibid. Cal. QS, II, 90b, 91, 92b, 94, 100b, 101, 105; IX, 94 5, 163, 175, M.S. Gretton (ed.), Oxon. Justices of the Peace in the 17th Century (ORS 16, 1934), 84; OHC, Cal. QS, I, 273; ibid. QSD V/1. 34 e.g. OHC, MSS Wills Oxon. 179, f. 259; 183, f. 355; ibid. 10/4/37; 10/4/39; 153/3/21; 65/1/ e.g. ibid. 3/2/22; 50/2/19; 29/3/38; 11/2/ Ibid. 124/3/37; 52/4/6; 8/2/2; 19/1/25; ibid. par. reg. transcript; TNA, PROB 4/10806; ibid. PROB 11/314/457; PROB 11/398/227.

5 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 5 churchwardens in Minor disputes were often also heard in the manor court, where Richard Cambray was presented regularly in the early 17th century for failing to maintain his house, illegally grazing pigs, stealing furze, and diverting a footpath. His family seems to have attracted trouble: Richard s wife was accused of wounding a man, while his daughter was publicly called a bagpiper s whore. 38 Until their departure in the 1750s the Brays were actively involved in local society, maintaining one or more manor houses, supporting the poor, and witnessing inhabitants wills. 39 Edmund Bray s retainers included the bachelor Nicholas Brooke (d. 1616), whose possessions included a liveried cloak, cap, and sword, 40 while James Godfrey, a local man, was servant to John Bray (d. 1640), and was left his master s hawks. John s daughter-in-law Susanna (d. 1668) lived separately from her son in the village s largest house (probably Fifield House), amidst luxurious surrounding. 41 The Brays were Royalists, and though no direct evidence of their role in the Civil War has been found, 42 it is likely that they served the king. Edmund Bray died suddenly (aged 33) on 30 November 1642, following several weeks of intense fighting by the king s forces, and possibly he was killed or mortally wounded in action. 43 His grandson Edmund Bray (d. c.1738), a medical doctor whose patients did not always pay their bills, 44 probably extended Fifield House in the early 18th century, apparently to accommodate his growing family. 45 New work included a nursery and parlour, and Edmund occupied around a dozen rooms comfortably furnished with hangings, pictures, clocks, silver, china, and high-quality furniture. 46 Edmund s widow Brilliana died at Fifield House in 1759, as tenant to Robert Martin. Robert named his daughter after her, 47 and was one of several newcomers who assumed prominent positions in the village following the Brays departure. Others included Joseph Slatter (d. 1799), Baron Dynevor s lessee at Manor Farm, and John Harris, his gamekeeper, 48 who later acquired land in Fifield, and rose to become a dominant and divisive figure. 49 Other inhabitants maintained their social position even in death, John Piercy 37 Oxf. Ch. Ct Deposns , pp Bodl. MS Rolls Oxon. 102; Oxf. Ch. Ct Deposns , p e.g. OHC, MSS Wills Oxon. 299/4/43; 1/4/9; above, manor (manor hos); below (charities). 40 OHC, MS Wills Oxon. 4/4/ TNA, PROB 11/184/386; PROB 11/327/305; Hearth Tax Oxon For a possible reference to troops in the parish, I.G. Philip (ed.), Jnl of Sir Samuel Luke, II (ORS 31, 1950), Par. Colln, II, 145; above, manor; below, relig. hist. (pastoral care). 44 Alumni Oxon , I, 173; TNA, C 11/2627/1. 45 His 4th daughter Letitia was born in 1727: OHC, par. reg. transcript. 46 Ibid. MS Wills Oxon. 301/2/7. 47 Oxf. Jnl Syn. 7 Feb. 1759; OHC, par. reg. transcript; above, manor (manor hos). 48 Oxf. Jnl Syn. 29 Apr. 1770, 17 Dec. 1785, 23 Sept. 1786, 23 Dec. 1786, 23 Aug. 1788, 5 Sept. 1789, 11 Sept. 1790; Oxon. Poll, 1754, 56; OHC, QSD/L/120; ibid. par. reg. transcript; ibid. MS Oxf. Archd. Oxon. c 70, ff. 159 sqq; TNA, PROB 11/1329/ Above, manor (other estates); below (19th and 20th cents).

6 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 6 (d. 1790) being commemorated by one of two accomplished late 18th-century chest tombs erected in the churchyard. 50 An 18th-century memorial to members of the Bray family in the parish church. The 19th and 20th Centuries From 1800 John Harris was Fifield s principal landowner and lessee. 51 He appears to have been an imperious character, with whom the curate could have nothing to do, and refused to answer queries about the parish s charities. 52 Others with whom he clashed included John Arthurs (d. 1840), one of an old-established family who suffered an apparent decline in status around the turn of the 19th century, possibly as a result of inclosure. 53 From the 1820s Harris s place was taken by Thomas Hambidge at Manor Farm and Marmaduke Matthews at Fifield House, the former from nearby Westcote (Glos.), and Matthews from Kenilworth (Warws.). In 1851 they employed between them at least half of the parish s c.60 agricultural workers. 54 More than half the population was then still Fifield-born, with almost four fifths from within Oxfordshire, and a similar pattern persisted for the rest of the 19th century. 55 Long-standing families in the 1850s included the Arthurses, Dearings, Fields, Greenaways, and Spencers, 56 while newcomers included Leonard Clifford of Stow-on-the-Wold, landlord 50 Bldgs List, IoE ; cf. W.R. Elliott, Chest-tombs and Tea-caddies, Trans. Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeol. Soc. 95 (1977), OHC, QSD/L/120; above, econ. hist. (19th and 20th cents). 52 OHC, MSS Oxf. Dioc. d 576, f. 105 and v.; d 578, f. 101v. 53 Ibid. Cal. QS, II, 74, 75b, 193, 227, 255b; ibid. QSD/L/120; above, econ. hist. (19th and 20th cents). 54 OHC, QSD/L/120; TNA, HO 107/1732; above, econ. hist. (19th and 20th cents). 55 TNA, HO 107/1732; ibid. RG 13/ Ibid. HO 107/1732; OHC, par. reg. transcript.

7 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 7 of the Merrymouth Inn. The inn itself was built probably in the 1820s 30s, on the turnpike road south-west of the village. 57 Poverty remained deeply entrenched following inclosure, and in the 1840s 50s at least half a dozen inhabitants died in the poor-law union workhouse at Chipping Norton. 58 The rector bemoaned the social effects of farm workers poverty, and in particular the influence of the radical Labourers Union Chronicle, which was circulating in the village by the 1870s. 59 Conditions worsened c.1881 at the onset of agricultural depression, 60 despite re-establishment of a benefit club (first mentioned ), and the later founding of a friendly society, which had 44 members in 1899 and continued until c Club dinners were held in a barn on Trinity Monday (the day of the village fair), with refreshments sold from a shed. 61 Other parish-based activities included annual May Day celebrations, Morris dancing, and a village brass band, while the parish meeting organized festivities for events such as the Diamond Jubilee of The parish s social complexion began to change before the First World War, as large new houses were occupied by wealthy incomers who were perhaps attracted by the area s reputation for hunting and shooting. Foxholes was bought by Col. Edward Horsman-Bailey, whose son Guy was killed in action in 1917, while the Gables was let to Col. Edward Kettlewell. 63 Other newcomers followed in the 1920s 30s, among them Norman Heanley at Fifield House, Hector Stewart at Manor Farm, and George Monteath. 64 New leisure facilities included a bowls pavilion erected as a war memorial, a bowling green, and a cricket pitch and tennis court, while the village s physical appearance was improved. 65 The village s high social standing was demonstrated at a celebration to mark the coronation of George VI in 1937, when the guest of honour was the future prime minister Neville Chamberlain. 66 Even so the parish remained a working agricultural community, some of whose poorer inhabitants still occasionally needed charitable relief The inn was first mentioned in 1841 and no evidence has been found of its supposed medieval origins: TNA, HO 107/878, s.v. Bayliss; HO 107/1732, s.v. Clifford; (accessed Mar. 2014). 58 OHC, par. reg. transcript; cf. TNA, HO 107/1732, mentioning paupers; above, econ. hist. (19th and 20th cents). 59 OHC, MSS Oxf. Dioc. c 335, f. 149; c 341, f. 179; P. Horn (ed.), Agricultural Trade Unionism in Oxfordshire, (ORS 48, 1974), OHC, MS Oxf. Dioc. c 347, f. 169v.; above, econ. hist. (19th and 20th cents). 61 Oxon. FS, pp , 351; E. Goshawk, Fifield Merrymouth (1957), Goshawk, Fifield Merrymouth, 30, 32 3; Oxon. FS, p. 408; C. Bloxham, May Day to Mummers (2002), 108, 174; OHC, PAR 103/2/A1/1. 63 OHC, DV X/52; ibid. Lo. IX/16; Kelly s Dir. Oxon. (1911 and later edns); Goshawk, Fifield Merrymouth, 9; above, par. intro. (landscape). In all six inhabitants were killed in the First World War and one in the Second. 64 Kelly s Dir. Oxon. (1920 and later edns); above, manor. 65 Goshawk, Fifield Merrymouth, 34; OHC, PAR 103/2/A1/1; below, local govt. 66 Goshawk, Fifield Merrymouth, Above, econ. hist. (19th and 20th cents); below (poor relief).

8 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 8 Memorials to Frederick Matthews (d. 1930) and Keith Cameron. Village society in the mid 20th century remained mixed, part genteel and paternalistic, but also down-to-earth and self-reliant. Contributions to the war effort during the Second World War included jam-making at Fifield House, the housing of evacuees from Hammersmith, and maintenance of a Home Guard, and in the 1950s home-grown produce was cultivated in gardens and allotments while racehorses were stabled at Fifield House. A children s playground was also provided. 68 Several council houses were built, and around a fifth of households still rented from the local authority in 1981, although that figure fell steadily to less than 9 per cent by 2011 when several houses were only seasonally occupied. Of the parish s permanent inhabitants around half were then in regular employment, including higher than average numbers in senior managerial roles, skilled trades, and service occupations. 69 In the early 21st century c. 70,000 was raised to restore the dilapidated village hall (formerly the Primitive Methodist chapel), which was reopened in 2010 by the local MP the Rt Hon. David Cameron. In 2012 it was decorated with a wall hanging designed and created by villagers to commemorate Elizabeth II s Diamond Jubilee Goshawk, Fifield Merrymouth, 22, 24, 26, 30 1, 33 4; cf. Oxf. Times, 15 Apr 1955 (obit. of Geo. Monteath); 19 Dec 1958 (obit. of Annie Matthews). 69 Census, ; above, par. intro. (medieval and later settlement). 70 Oxfordshire Rural Community Council, Celebrating Community Life in Rural Oxfordshire (2010), 8 (accessed online June 2014); information from Catherine Hitchens; below, relig. hist. (pastoral care).

9 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 9 A wall hanging in the village hall showing scenes from Fifield past and present, created to mark the Diamond Jubilee in Education In the 18th century Fifield s curates catechized children during the summer or at Lent, 71 but the parish had no school until one was set up by the tenants c An old woman taught reading, knitting, sewing, and the catechism to around 20 children in 1808 and to almost 30 in 1815, 73 and though it remained unendowed the school continued until the 1830s. 74 Thomas Mastin (curate ) established a Sunday school soon after his arrival, but lack of financial support forced its closure after about a year. Despite the continued attendance of c.20 children at the dame school, in 1831 Mastin considered the parish too small to support a daily school on its own, and percipiently argued for the building of a schoolroom to serve both Fifield and Idbury. 75 Fifield s children accordingly attended Idbury school from its opening in Within Fifield, the incumbent John Mayow Talmage ( ) established a winter evening school for young adults, along with a Sunday school 71 Secker s Visit. 62; OHC, MSS Oxf. Dioc. d 555, f. 211; d 558, f. 228; d 561, f. 227; b 10, f OHC, MS Oxf. Dioc. d 566, f. 128v. 73 Ibid. d 707, f. 65; c 433, f Ibid. d 580, f. 101v.; b 38, f. 89; b 39, f. 146; Educ. Enq. Abstract (Parl. Papers 1835 (62), xlii), p OHC, MSS Oxf. Dioc. d 576, f. 105v.; b 38, f. 89; b 39, f. 146; Educ. of Poor Digest (Parl. Papers 1819 (224), ix), II, p Below, Idbury, social hist. (educ.).

10 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 10 attended by c.20 children who worked during the week. 77 Both were continued under his successor Samuel York ( ), 78 and the Sunday school into the 20th century. 79 Charities and Poor Relief Few bequests to Fifield s poor were made during the 16th century, although in 1523 donations to a church box were taxed at 12d., 80 and in 1568 the wealthy demesne lessee Robert Secoll left 8d. to every householder without a plough. 81 Several early 17th-century testators (including the curate Robert Jones in 1620) requested that money from sale of goods be given to the poor, while John Arthurs (d. 1617) left 10s. to provide an annual payment to six poor inhabitants on Good Friday. 82 Arthurs s endowment may have later formed part of Fifield s poor s stock, whose origins were forgotten by the 19th century. Probably it began with a 10 bequest by John Bray (d. 1640) to the churchwardens and overseers, to which his daughter-in-law Susanna added 5 in The money was evidently lent out at interest, Tobias Piercy owing 9 3s. 4d. to the stock in 1684, 84 and by the 18th century the fund (also called the town stock) totalled 22 and produced 22s. a year. 85 A further annual distribution of 8 bushels of barley, variously attributed to one of the Harmans or Brays, was eventually stopped by their Dynevor successors. 86 In addition to the fund Jane Bray (d. 1716) of Shilton left 20s. a year to buy clothes for two poor inhabitants at Christmas, while clothes costing 4 a year were distributed under the will of Mary (d. 1787), Countess Talbot. 87 In the early 19th century all three charities were only partially applied by the resident freeholder John Harris, who ended the annual payment from the poor s stock and failed to comply fully with the terms of the clothing charities Wilb. Visit. 57; OHC, MSS Oxf. Dioc. c 332, ff. 181v. 182; c 335, ff. 148v. 149; c 338, ff. 158v. 159; c 341, f. 179; c 344, f. 160; c 347, f OHC, MSS Oxf. Dioc. c 350, f. 153; c 353, f. 159; c 356, f. 160; c 359, f. 165v.; c 362, f. 157v.; c 365, f. 156v.; c 368, f. 149v. 79 e.g. ibid. PAR 103/4/F1/1, s.a TNA, E 179/161/ OHC, MS Wills Oxon. 184, f. 325v. Thos Parsons left 5s. in 1560: ibid. 183, f. 354v. 82 Ibid. 17/2/38; 4/4/18; 1/4/9; 37/3/5. Israel Curtis (d. 1632) left 10s. to be distributed at his burial: ibid. 12/3/ TNA, PROB 11/184/386; PROB 11/327/305; 12th Rep. Com. Char OHC, MS Wills Oxon. 52/4/6. 85 Secker s Visit. 62; 12th Rep. Com. Char OHC, MSS Oxf. Dioc. d 555, f. 211v.; d 566, f. 128v.; Char. Don ; above, manor th Rep. Com. Char ; cf. VCH Glos. VI, th Rep. Com. Char ; OHC, MSS Oxf. Dioc. d 576, f. 105v.; d 578, f. 101v.; d 580, f. 101v.; above (19th and 20th cents).

11 VCH Oxon Texts in Progress Fifield (May 2015 version) social p. 11 As elsewhere the bulk of poor relief costs fell by then on the parish poor rates, although overall expenditure was not especially high by local standards. 89 Costs rose from only 19 in 1776 to an average of 25 11s. a year in , 90 and following a common pattern increased to 75 15s. in 1803, levied at a rate of 3s. 1½d. in the pound. Five adults and two children received outdoor relief throughout the year, and a further eight inhabitants occasional relief, in all about 11 per cent of the population. 91 By 1815 the sum required had diminished to 58, which was spent on the outdoor relief of six permanent and two occasional paupers, 92 and over succeeding years expenditure fluctuated, from 52 10s. in 1817 to 108 in 1821, and to 81 13s. by No parish workhouse is recorded. Following the 1834 Poor Law Act primary responsibility for Fifield s poor passed to the newly established Chipping Norton Poor-Law Union. 94 The two clothing charities, by then better administered, continued into the 20th century: in 1928 the overseers provided four inhabitants with gowns and coats from the Talbot charity and eighteen with calico from the Bray charity, 95 while four years later the Talbot charity gave recipients 13s. each to buy clothes of their own choosing. 96 The churchwardens additionally provided clothing, coal, and meat from church funds, but the number of recipients was never large, and by the 1970s income from the endowed charities was derisory, and eventually ceased. 97 A charity to fund the village hall was registered in 1962, and spent c. 3,500 in 2013; a separate charity benefiting the parish s recreation ground was registered in Fifield village hall. Funded by charitable donations, the former Primitive Methodist chapel (built 1858) was restored in the 21st century. 89 Above, vol. intro. (society). 90 Poor Abstract, 1777, p. 141; 1787, p Poor Abstract, 1804, pp ; Census, Poor Abstract, 1818, pp Poor Rate Rtns (Parl. Papers 1822 (556), v), p. 136; (1825 (334), iv), p. 171; ( (83), xi), p. 159; (1835 (444), xlvii), p Oxon. Atlas, 144 5; below, local govt. 95 OHC, MS Oxf. Dioc. b 38, ff. 89, 91; ibid. PAR 103/2/A1/1, s.a. 1895, 1928; PAR 103/13/C1/ Ibid. PAR 103/4/F1/1. 97 Ibid.; ibid. Kimber reports (1974 and 1979); Charity Commission website (accessed Feb. 2014), nos , Charity Commission website, nos ,