Buckland is a village and large civil parish about northeast of Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse District. Buckland was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 588. Outside the village the civil parish includes the small settlements of Carswell and Barcote to the west, Buckland Marsh to the north, and the modern development of Gainfield on the southern boundary.
Geography
The parish is an irregular shape, measuring about north – south and east – west at its widest point. In 1924 the area of the parish was . The River Thames forms the northern boundary of the parish, just over north of the village. Until 1974 this was also the Berkshire county boundary with Oxfordshire. Streams that flow into the River Ock form its southern boundary. It is bounded by field boundaries to the east and west. The soil of the parish is a rich, sandy loam on a geology of Corallian Limestone and Oxford Clay.
Toponym
"Buckland" is a common toponym in southern England. It is derived from the Old English bōcland — bookland — which is a term in Anglo-Saxon law for "land held by charter". The earliest known record in this case is as Bocland in a charter from 957 now reproduced in the Cartularium Saxonicum. The Domesday Book of 1086 records it as Bocheland. Later spellings include Bochelanda in the 12th century, and Boclonde, Bokeland and Bikeland in the 13th century.
Manor
The earliest known record of Buckland is from 957 in a charter in which King Edgar the Peaceful granted Ælfheah ten hides of land at Buckland. In the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042–1066) Ulvric Chenp held the manor of Buckland. The Domesday Book of 1086 lists Buckland as part of the lands of Bishop Osbern of Gamesfel Hundret (now called Gainfield). However, his right was not established and the case had already been sent before King William the Conqueror. The estate was assessed as eight hides and consisted of a mill, four fisheries and a dairy farm producing 10 wheys of cheese a year. Its value was given as £8.
Hugh de Buckland is recorded as the next holder and occupier of the manor, as well as another estate in Buckland. At the end of the 12th century William de Buckland, probably the great-grandson of Hugh de Buckland, held the manor. He died about 1215 leaving three daughters by his wife Maud de Say as his heirs – Maud d'Avranches, Hawise de Boville and Joan de Ferrers. His Buckland estate passed to Maud, wife of William d'Avranches. They had a son William and daughter Maud d'Avranches. William died childless in 1236, by which time his sister Maud had married Hamo de Crevecoeur.
In 1245, they bestowed the manor on their daughter Agnes and any future heirs. Hamo de Crevecoeur died in 1263, survived by their daughters Agnes, Eleanor and Isabella: Iseult (who had married Nicholas de Lenham) died before her father leaving a son John, aged 12 in 1263. Buckland was assigned to Iseult's portion, to descend to John de Lenham as her heir. In 1263, wardship of the manor of Buckland was granted to Eubold de Montibus, from whom it passed in turn to Philip Bassett until John came of age. In 1267 John de Lenham took possession.
Before 1545 the manor of Buckland was held by the De La Poles, Dukes of Suffolk. In 1545 it passed to the Yate family. In 1690 it passed by marriage to the Throckmortons of Coughton Court in Warwickshire. They went on to build much of the current estate. In the mid-1750s, Sir Robert Throckmorton, 4th Baronet had a new house built, Buckland House. The old manor house became his stables. For the later history of the manor, see Buckland House.
Manor houses
Buckland House
Buckland House is a large Georgian stately home and the manor house of Buckland. It is a masterpiece of Palladian architecture designed by John Wood, the Younger and built for Sir Robert Throckmorton, 4th Baronet in 1757. From 1963 it was a university college for students taking London external degrees, called University Hall, Buckland. In 2004 it was bought by the motorsport businessman and socialite Paddy McNally.
Other manor houses
Barcote Manor or Park is a Tudor Revival house built in the 1870s for the writer Lady Theodora Guest by her mother, but she married and went to live elsewhere. She sold it to the millionaire William West, Director of the Great Western Railway, in 1881. It later became a boarding school, the Barcote School of Coaching, and has now been converted into flats. A previous building on the site was the home of the Holcott family from 1230 to 1586.