There has been human activity for millennia in and around the area we now call the Baldons. The first evidence of settlement in the Baldons dates from almost 1,000 years ago.
Roman – whilst there is no evidence of any Roman buildings in the Baldons, the general area is rich in Roman remains. Two pottery kilns existed nearby, one between Toot Baldon and Sandford, the other between Little Baldon and Golden Balls. These were thought to be active between 200 to 400 CE. Several Roman artifacts have been found in the Baldons and, of course, the Roman road from Dorchester-on-Thames to Alchester, near Bicester, runs right through the Baldons.
Anglo-Saxon – The Baldons were clearly settled before the Norman conquest, as testified in the Domesday Book. Toot Baldon was probably settled first in Anglo-Saxon times, although there is no direct evidence to support this. St Lawrence’s Church is thought to be on the site of an earlier Anglo-Saxon chapel. Similarly, there is a sundial of Anglo-Saxon character at St Peter’s Church which may suggest there was an earlier church or chapel from this period. A large Anglo-Saxon graveyard was discovered just a few miles from the Baldons, at Berinsfield, where the lakes are now.
Medieval – The Domesday Book (1085/6) has five separate entries for the Baldons, showing that by the late 11th century there were well-established settlements, a shared field system, land ownership rights and strict social hierarchies. There is little doubt that the four hamlets of Toot Baldon, Marsh Baldon, Baldon St.Lawrence (now considered a part of Toot Baldon) and Little Baldon (named in 13th Century documents) were already in existence at the time of Domesday. The first clear reference to a Baldons Church is in a Papal Bull of 1163 and research suggests that the church referred to was at Baldon St. Lawrence.
By the late 13th Century the land was mainly divided between 3 or 4 manors and the tax returns for 1316 and 1327 indicate that Marsh Baldon was now the largest village. By 1377 there were 10 taxpayers at Baldon St. Lawrence, 22 at Toot Baldon, 25 at Little Baldon and 67 at Marsh Baldon - so Little Baldon appears to have been a more substantial settlement than it is currently. Peter De la Mare founded a chapel in 1341 at the site of what is now St Peter’s Church.
Tudor - By the 16th Century much land had been enclosed, leading to a decrease in the population. The common field system, shared by all the hamlets, continued until the 18th Century.
In 1509 the manors of Baldon St Lawrence and Toot Baldon were given to The Queen’s College, Oxford. In times of plague in Oxford, fellows and students of the college would relocate to the college’s properties in the village (it is not clear what became of the usual residents of these properties during such times!). In 1519, for example, the whole college was resident in Toot Baldon.
From the mid 16th Century, the Pollard family acquired parts of the Baldon estate, some of which continued in their possession until the late 18th century.
17th Century onwards - Marsh Baldon Manor grew in prosperity during the 16th and 17th centuries. By the late 18th Century most of the land and buildings within The Baldons were owned by either The Queen’s College or the Willoughby family, with some smaller pieces of land belonging to the Earl of Harcourt of Nuneham Courtenay and to the church. This situation continued until 1914 when the Willoughby’s sold the whole of their Baldons estate, by public auction. The Queen’s College divested themselves of many of their Baldons buildings during the mid 20th Century, but today they still retain ownership of much agricultural land, farm buildings and a few houses. The college also owns Marsh Baldon Village Green.
English Civil War - Although, as far as we know, there were no Civil War battles or skirmishes fought in the Baldons, Marsh Baldon did play its part in the war. On 9th July 1643, Henry Percy, General of the Ordnance for the King’s army, ordered Robert Spirler, constable of Marsh Baldon (on pain of death!) that 15 horses with harness, 3 carts and 6 carters from be sent to New College, Oxford. These were to form part of the “train” which supported the Royalist army. This was considered quite an onerous contribution from such a small village. Given that the order was made only three weeks after the Battle of Chalgrove Field (18th June, 1643), it is likely that reinforcements were needed to replace losses on the battlefield.
Local occupations - until recent times, the Baldons were reasonably self-supporting. In the 16th, 17th and 18th century, alongside the many people employed in agriculture, mention is made of there being a tailor, two butchers, a slaughter house, a courier, a maltster, a sawyer, a carpenter and more unusually, a bone-setter. In the latter half of the 19th century there was a blacksmith, a grocer, a baker, a butcher, a wheelwright, a dairy and a beer-retailer. There were also three pubs. In the mid- 1800s, Toot Baldon was known for producing “a considerable quantity of excellent cheese”.
Now, as with most rural villages, all the local trades have disappeared. There is no shop, no post office but there are still two pubs. With the exception of the very few farmers and farm workers, most residents no longer derive their livelihood directly from the Baldons.
The population size of the two main villages has changed remarkably little over the past 200+ years. In 1801 there were 208 living in Marsh Baldon and 223 in Toot Baldon, total 431. For the 2021 census the figures were 295 and 140 respectively, total 435. (The apparent shift in numbers between Toot and Marsh is, in part, an artefact of boundary changes - Little Baldon moved from Toot to Marsh).
Main sources: Victoria County History for Oxfordshire, Census Records
Civil War material from The Royal Ordnance Papers 1642-1646, Vol 49, transcribed by Ian Roy, Oxford Record Society, 1975