Place:Pishill, Oxfordshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Pishill (pronounced "Pish-il") is a hamlet in Pishill with Stonor civil parish about 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Henley-on-Thames in the South Oxfordshire District. It is in the Stonor valley in the Chiltern Hills about 430 feet (130 m) above sea level. The parish includes the hamlets of Maidensgrove and Russell's Water.

The toponym of Pishill comes from pisum, Latin for "pea". This was due to the many pea farms that once existed in the area.

The dedication of the Church of England parish church is unknown. It was originally an 11th-century Norman building but it was rebuilt in 1854. One of the stained glass windows was made in 1967 by John Piper (1903-1992), who for many years lived less than 2.5 miles (4.0 km) away in Fawley Bottom, Buckinghamshire.

Southwest of the parish church is an old barn that includes a blocked 13th-century window. This may be connected with the D'Oyley family of Oxford, who held the manor of Pishill and in 1406 received a licence to build a chapel at the manor house that used to be in the village.

The Stonor family of Stonor Park, just over 1 mile (1.6 km) away, were recusants during and after the English Reformation. With the support of the Stonors and Jesuit priests who stayed with them, a number of Pishill families remained Roman Catholic throughout the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. In 1878 the Church of England incumbent of Pishill reported that a third of the 200 population of his parish were Roman Catholic.

Pishill was a separate civil parish until 1922, when it was made part of the new civil parish of Pishill with Stonor. Stonor was only a separate civil parish from 1896 until it joined with Pishill in 1922. Before 1896 it had been part of the parish of Pyrton.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History of Oxfordshire, volume 8, chapter on Pishill.
• A map illustrating the parishes of southeast Oxfordshire as of 1900 will be found under Pyrton Hundred
• Oxfordshire History Centre, St Luke's Church, Temple Road, Oxford, OX4 2HT
• Oxfordshire FHS covers the whole county. The Family History Society provides an interactive map to assist in locating individual parishes and also relates the society's progress in transcribing parish registers and gravestone information for that particular parish. Browse the website to see what else the society can provide.
• Further information from GENUKI
• Ordnance Survey map of Oxfordshire 1900 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Ordnance Survey map of Oxfordshire 1944 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• English Jurisdictions 1851, a parish finding aid provided by FamilySearch, particularly helpful in large towns and cities.