The village that time forgot

Ben Lerwill delves into the strange story of the ‘lost’ Oxfordshire hamlet of Widford

- Ben Lerwill

The best way to reach Widford is across the fields. Here’s what to do. Park up in the swish village of Swinbrook, close to the Swan Inn, where David Cameron once whisked Francois Hollande for potted shrimps and apple crumble (bet he didn’t pick up the tab). Now stride west, passing St Mary’s Church, perhaps pausing to note the trio of weathered headstones near the porch that mark the final resting places of three Mitford sisters. Then press on.

A spread of green, sloping meadows lays ahead, bordered by the River Windrush. After crossing the first of these fields, politely sidestepping the livestock, you’ll see a small stone building come into plain view. This is what you’re here for St Oswald’s Church, a tiny 13th-century structure which sits lonely on a rise in the land and marks the only real remnant of the medieval village of Widford.

Sometimes, the history of an area is all but invisible. This is the case with Widford, which some 700 years ago was a larger, more populated settlement. Time has blurred any hard facts, but the theory is that it fell foul of the Black Death, a disease is known to have cast a fatal shadow over nearby Witney. In any case, precious little remains today, save for the little church and some lumpen outlines of long-vanished house plots.