The best walks and hikes around Hampton Gay And Poyle

Great ride can be quite busy at week ends

saw a family of deer in the woodland. got a bit lost at one point but managed to find a path again!

This church, which is dedicated to the Holy Cross (Latin "Santa Croce"), takes its patronage from the cross on which Jesus Christ died. The veneration of the Holy Cross goes back in large part to Saint Helena, who was the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great (who recognized Christianity as a religion after his victory at the "Milvian Bridge" in front of Rome and ended the long period of persecution with the "Edict of Toleration" of Milan in 312). In the early fourth century, she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (Israel / Palestine) and brought numerous relics back to Europe, including the "True Cross" on which Jesus Christ was crucified. Helena is therefore often depicted with a cross as an attribute. The church celebrates the feast of the discovery, public presentation and veneration of the Holy Cross - called the "Exaltation of the Cross" - on September 14th.

Good pub

Great tea and cake stop

Young deciduous woodland planted by the Forestry Commission in 1990s along the River Cherwell between Thrupp and Kidlington.

Church. Medieval; rebuilt and west tower added in 1831 by William Turner; minor restoration by J. Buckeridge, 1869. Squared and coursed limestone with ashlar dressings; stone-coped gabled stone slate roof. Nave, chancel and west tower. Gothic Revival style. One-bay chancel has offset corner buttresses, 3-light Decorated-style east window and 2-light side windows. Two-bay south side of nave has hood mould over chamfered pointed-arched blocked doorway, and label moulds over 2-light ogee-headed cinquefoiled windows; to north side are similar windows flanking early C14 reset Decorated porch, which has hood mould with rosettes and unusually primitive head corbels over hollow-chamfered pointed-arched doorway with rosettes; Cl9 pointed-arched inner doorway. Three-stage west tower has hood moulds over cinquefoiled windows and battlemented parapet with corner gargoyles. Interior: arch-braced roof throughout, with moulded beams, wind braces and king posts, set on plain corbels adorned with arms of past vicars and lords of the manor. Chancel has mid C19 Minton tile floor, and early C14 reset cinquefoiled tomb recess. Double-chamfered chancel arch has traceried Decorated-style panels flanking brattished Perpendicular-style traceried wood screen made in 1896. Nave has wood traceried pulpit set on stone base, C18 parish chest, C11 tub font reset on late C19 piers and C19 west door. Late C19 stained glass throughout. Memorials: in chancel are wall tablets to John Rathbone, d.1613, set in coloured moulded architrave, Stephen Pomfrett, d.1713, with carved stall and hourglass set above roundel , and Gothic-style memorial to William Turner. Also in chancel is medieval child's coffin. Ledger stone in nave to Edward Egleton, d,1722. Pictures of church before restoration show that chancel had north chapel (whence tomb recess was moved) and that present C14 porch lay to south. William Turner was an Oxford watercolourist and his uncle William Turner of The Manor (q.v.) provided the money for restoration. (Buildings of England: Oxfordshire: pp757-8; Information from VCH National Monuments Record; Bodleian Library, Topographical Drawings)

Church. Medieval; rebuilt 1767-72 for Reverend Thomas Hinds; restored 1860 by Reverend F.C. Hingeston. Squared and coursed limestone with ashlar quoins; coursed limestone rubble with north wall and west tower. Gabled stone slate roof. Nave, chancel and west tower. East window of graduated C13-style lancets. Two-bay side walls have classical moulded cornice and pointed lancets; hood mould over mid C19 pointed arched chamfered doorway with plank door. Medieval 2-storey west tower; mid C19 Norman-style west doorway with nailhead decoration; C18 semi-circular arched belfry windows with key and impost blocks; crenellated parapet; pyramidal-roof has large ball finial and wrought-iron weathervane. Interior: mid C18 panelled pulpit; mid C19 pews; mid C18 gallery with panelled font set on slender octagonal shaft. Mid C18 plaster ceiling, with moulded cornice and square panels and central roundel. Monuments: south wall has white marble architectural monument with shield set in broken pediment and fluted Ionic pilasters to Thomas Hindes, d.1718, and wife Elizabeth, d.1761; two C20 wall tablets set in architectural frame. North side: architectural wall monument to Reverend Thomas Hindes, d.1768, with shield set in broken pediment and fluted pilasters; large fine architectural coloured monument to Vincent Barry, d.1615, his wife and daughter Lady Katherine, d.1663. 3 shields surmount inscription flanked by putti; Corinthian columns flank figures kneeling at prayer desks, with children below, set in segmental-arched recess with rosettes. Church stands in isolated position in fields, with deserted medieval village to south. (Buildings of England: Oxfordshire: p630; VCH: Oxfordshire: Vol VI, pp158-9; National Monuments Record)