Aubrey's Lift Bridge is typical of those on this canal, being light and cheap to construct — the canal company was never particularly prosperous. The bridge is levered open by leaning on its long arms. The 18th-century maintenance yard is still used by British Waterways, and includes the stables, workshops, and stores from the first days of the canal, when narrowboats were pulled by horses. Beyond it is a delightful pair of thatched cottages, one with a vulnerable tin advertisement on its shed.
Once out of Thrupp, the route follows the River Cherwell as it meanders across peaceful farming country. Along its edges are pollarded willows, where blue and great tits, wagtails, reed warblers, and yellowhammers flit and chirrup. You will see a wartime pillbox, and the regular mounds of medieval strip cultivation in the fields, particularly noticeable when the sun is low. In some places, the Oxford Canal cuts right through a field of strips and you can see the lines continuing on both sides of the water. Primroses, celandines, and catkins abound in spring.
The distant spire of Kidlington Church is prominent on the right as you approach Hampton Poyle. In Roman times, a road known as Port Way joined Hampton Poyle and Kidlington, crossing the Cherwell at a ford at or near the site of the present bridge. On the left is Manor Farm, a Georgian stone house with stables, which faces the river.
Hampton Poyle has several interesting houses, including the Old Rectory, Moat Farm, and Model Farm, where dried flowers were sold. The windows of Poyle Court, a three-storey house, are also worthy of note.
Hampton Poyle Church has carved faces in the porch, and brasses from 1424 inside, commemorating John and Elizabeth Poyle. There are four monuments to the Poyle family, including the stone effigy of Crusader Walter de la Poyle. The village took its name from the Poyle and Hantone (Hampton) families, who were joined by marriage in 1267.
A footpath across the fields leads to Madam Hinde's Spinney, and continues to reach the lost village of Hampton Gay, first encountered in the shape of Manor Farm, which has grey gateposts topped by huge stone balls. The village dates from Saxon times, but was named after the Norman, Sir Richard de Gait. He was lord of the manor of Hantone, and gave the church and manor to the Abbey of Osney in 1140. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1534), Hampton Gay reverted to the Barry family, who built the manor house. The little grey-gold Church of St Giles, which was rebuilt in 1767 when the village was prosperous, contains a memorial to Vincent Barry from around this time.
In the 17th century the flour mill on the Cherwell was converted to the manufacture of paper and the population of the village trebled to nearly 100 people. The building of the Oxford Canal helped the business prosper further. However, in 1887, a double disaster hit the village: the mill closed and the manor house was gutted by fire. People moved away, and their cottages fell into disrepair and vanished.
All traces of the paper mills have disappeared, but one Colonel Stanley Barry undertook a restoration programme in 1929. A notice near Manor Farm explains its history, and there is an engraving of the manor house in its heyday. Now it is merely a ruined shell. The manor house and the land surrounding it, however, are classified as an ancient monument. The remains of the lost hamlet beneath its turf mean that the land is considered one of the most important undisturbed archaeological sites in Oxfordshire.
As you continue to Shipton-on-Cherwell, you will find a leisurely scene, with painted boats moored on the Oxford Canal. Shipton church is most attractive, with a simple whitewashed interior and a splendid wooden roof. There has been a church on this site since at least 1200. The one you see today was rebuilt in 1831, when the stone tower with splendidly rude gargoyles in each corner was erected.
After exploring Shipton-on-Cherwell, the return to Thrupp is along the Oxford Canal. Opened in 1790, this was part of the original route from Birmingham to London. It winds around the contours of the land, mimicking a natural river in the style of its creator, engineer James Brindley. It is fed with water by rivers and streams throughout its length. In this area, the Cherwell is the principal source of supply. Wooden sluice gates can be drawn across the canal to stop flooding when the river is in spate.
