About Kiddington in Oxfordshire

Kiddington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. The village is about 3 miles (5 km) north of Oxford and 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Bicester. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,076.

The toponym Kiddington is derived from the Old English Cudendune, meaning the hill of Cuda's people. Cuda was a 7th-century Mercian prince. In the 10th century Kiddington was part of the royal estate of Beorhthelm, who was probably a son of King Alfred the Great. The Domesday Book of 1086 records that Beorhthelm's nephew Count Robert of Mortain held the manor.

The Church of England parish church of Saint Nicholas was originally Norman. The north aisle was added in about 1200, and the south aisle and porch in about 1340. The west tower was built in about 1450. The building was restored in 1864 under the direction of the Gothic Revival architect G. E. Street. It is now a Grade II* listed building.

Kiddington Hall was built in 1624 for Sir John Denton, who had been High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1623. It is a Grade II* listed building.

In 1790 Kiddington had two public houses: The Crown and The Green Man. By 1820 there were also two maltsters, two blacksmiths, two carpenters, two wheelwrights, a butcher and a grocer. In 1877 Kiddington had a population of 516, and included several large farms as well as Kiddington Hall and its park. There were also brickyards at Kiddington and Claydon, just outside the village.

Kiddington was originally a chapelry in the ancient parish of Woodstock, which became a civil parish in 1866. In 1932 Kiddington was transferred from Berkshire to Oxfordshire. In 1955 it was merged with the neighbouring civil parish of Bladon-with-Kingham to form an enlarged Kiddington with Bladon parish.