Ewelme

"EWELME, a parish in the hundred of Ewelme, county Oxford, 3 miles N.E. of Wallingford, its post town. It is situated at the foot of the Chiltern hills. The old Roman road Icknield Street passes through the parish. In the Domesday Survey it is set down as Luwelme. A palace was built here in the early part of the 15th century by the De la Poles, of which there are still some traces. There is a chalybeate spring in the neighbourhood, and it is a meet for the Wormsley harriers. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford, value £556, in the patronage of and annexed to the Regius Professorship of Divinity in the University of Oxford. The church is a handsome structure, dedicated to John the Baptist, and contains the tomb of Chaucer and several brasses and monuments, some very old, also a fine antique font. The parochial charities produce nearly £500 per annum, including the Duchess of Suffolk's almshouses and a school endowment. The Primitive Methodists and Wesleyans have each a chapel. Ancient coins have been found in the neighbourhood. The Earl of Macclesfield is lord of the manor, and takes from this place the title of Viscount Parker of Ewelme." [The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]