History

Over three hundred years on and the same can still be said of the people of Beckley. Just over four miles from the centre Oxford, Beckley is a friendly and welcoming place to visit. And the surroundings haven't changed a great deal over time either. Many houses in the village were built in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the church is a fine example of Medieval architecture and artistry.

The seventeenth century, the century of the Civil War, was an important period in the history of the surrounding area. Although there is little concrete evidence of Beckley having a direct involvement in the civil war, the head quarters were so nearby in Oxford, it seems inevitable that the residents would have been affected.

"In June 1643 The Earl of Essex made an attack on Islip which was repulsed. A Royalist force under Prince Rupert made up mostly of cavalry, were in the area around Beckley and were very annoyed at having missed this engagement, in reprisal they mounted a raid on Chinnor which then led on to the "Battle of Chalgrove Field" and the subsequent death of John Hampden. On another occasion a Royalist troop from Woodperry drove the sheep from Horton Common presumably to provide food. All of this activity in our area tends to the belief that we could not in any way have escaped involvement. The local farms and homesteads would certainly have been looted by both forces to provide food. In those days armies had no proper supply system, the troops having to forage what they could from the land they passed through, a method that regularly left the local population starving."
Peter M Wheeler, Beckley Reflects, 2000.

The history of Beckley can be traced all the way back to the Bronze Age. In the 19th century the remains of a Roman villa was found beside the road to Upper Park Farm east of the village. Artifacts from the villa are held in the Ashmolean Museum. Evidence exists of Beckley having a Christian centre since the Saxon times.

I went to Noke
But nobody spoke
I went to Beckley
They spoke directly
At Boarstall and Brill
They were silent and still.

I went to Noke
But nobody spoke
I went to Brill
They were silent and still
But I went to Beckley
They spoke directly.

I went to Noke
But nobody spoke
I went to Brill
There was silence still
I went to Thame
It was just the same.

But I went to Beckley
And they spoke directly.

17th century verse written by unknown local author