Bledington

Although Roman coins have been found near the centre of the parish, the settlement of Bledington (Bladinton, or Bladynton) was probably established in late Saxon times, taking its name from the nearby river Bladon (now the Evenlode), which forms the eastern boundary of the parish (and the county). With its heavy clay soil and poor drainage, Bledington seems to postdate nearby West Saxon manors situated on higher ground. The manor of Bladintona is recorded as being among the gifts of Coenwulf of Mercia to the abbey of Winchcombe in 798, and they retained the control for over 700 years until the abbey's dissolution in 1539.

There were 22 households in the manor in the Domesday survey in 1086, giving an population of about 100, but with no freemen and no priest (and, by implication, no church). By this time, about half (7 hides) of the 1,539 acres of land in the parish were under cultivation. The first mention of the parish church is in 1175 (see below). Bledington was still small and poor enough to be coupled with Sherbourne in 1303 as forming a knight's fee for the purpose of raising a feudal aid for the wedding of Edward I's daughter

The Black Death arrived in England in 1348