URPoint Details
The earliest evidence of occupation in the area is an Iron Age burial site in the west of the parish near Hopcroft's Holt.
The Domesday Book of 1086 records Steeple Aston as Estone, derived from East Tun meaning "east village". By 1220 it was Stipelestun, with the "steeple" prefix probably referring to the church tower.
The Domesday Book records that in 1086 Odo, Bishop of Bayeux was overlord of the manor of Steeple Aston.
The Holt Hotel at Hopcroft's Holt, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west of the village on the A4260 main road began as a coaching inn in 1475. It was frequented by the 17th century highwayman Claude Duval who is said to haunt it. In 1754 the licensee and his wife at Hopcroft's Holt were murdered. In 1774 the inn at Hopcroft's Holt was called the King's Arms
Location: 7 miles (11 km) west of Bicester and 10 miles (16 km) south of Banbury
- Type:
- Landmark