a rdley uN i T ed

Ardley is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Bicester. The parish includes the village of Fewcott, which is now contiguous with Ardley. The 2011 Census recorded the population of Ardley parish as 751.

The two villages of Ardley and Fewcott are on either side of a stream that rises at Fritwell, flows south to Ardley, then turns east through Stoke Lyne to Fringford. There it joins Crowell Brook, which continues east into Buckinghamshire and ultimately becomes part of the Great Ouse.

The limestone quarry at Ardley has yielded a significant find of dinosaur tracks (ichnites), discovered in 1997 and thought to have been left by Megalosaurus and possibly Cetiosaurus. Some of these are on display in the dinosaur garden at the Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. There is a site of special scientific interest in the village with a colony of the great crested newts and an outcrop of Jurassic limestone.

Ardley Castle is a motte-and-bailey which is believed to have been built early in the 12th century during the civil war between Empress Matilda and King Stephen.

The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary dates from at least 1074. The original church was demolished and completely rebuilt, but both the chancel and the bell tower of the present building contain small amounts of re-used Norman stonework. The present Early English Gothic chancel was built late in the 12th or early in the 13th century. The tower has a saddleback roof and may have been built in the 13th or 14th century. The present nave was built in 1793 and has a west gallery that was added in 1834.

St Mary’s is now part of the Benefice of Cherwell Valley, along with the parishes of Fritwell, Lower Heyford, Somerton, Souldern and Upper Heyford.

In 1910 the Great Western Railway completed a new main line linking Ashendon Junction and Aynho Junction to shorten the high-speed route between its termini at London Paddington and Birmingham Snow Hill. The line passes within a few hundred yards of Ardley and the GWR opened a railway station on the main road just south of the village. British Railways closed Ardley railway station in 1963. The railway remains open and is now part of the Chiltern Main Line.

In 1990 the section of the M40 motorway between Wheatley and Hockley Heath was built. M40 Junction 10 with the A43 road is about 550 yards (500 m) northeast of Ardley and its Cherwell Valley services are about 1,100 yards (1 km) from the village.

Ardley had a public house, the Fox and Hounds, but this is current closed and on the market. Fewcott also has a pub, the White Lion Inn. A popular and welcoming rural pub, family friendly, serving both the local and nearby communities, a hub of the community. A true free house, serving two constantly changing ales from both local and national breweries, often something new or seasonal.

Warm and cosy, with a welcoming fire in the winter, a place to enjoy good conversation and excellent beer. There is a large beer garden which is popular in the summer. An ever present listing the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, the pub is a former local CAMRA Pub of the Year and Cider Pub of the Year.

Ardley United were formed in 1945 just after the end of the Second World War. In the early years, the club plied its trade in the Lord Jersey FA and played on a pitch which was situated close to the railway line on the Oxford Road. The 1950’s and ‘60’s were successful for the club as they won both league titles and cups; most notably the Oxfordshire Junior Shield on three occasions as well as many other trophies. The acquisition of the current Playing Field site in the mid-60’s enabled the club to move into the heart of the village, and several volunteers led by life-long supporter Doug Hodges built modest changing rooms.

Ardley continued to compete in the Jersey League throughout the 70’s and early 80’s without much success but this was to change in the mid-‘80’s with the arrival of Norman Stacey as chairman – a position that he graces to this day. In 1988 the club were promoted to the seaso N so far a rdley uN

Oxfordshire Senior League and won the Division One title at the first attempt, following this up with the Premier Division title the following season. Accepting a place in the Hellenic League for the 1993/4 season, Ardley spent six seasons in the ‘old’ Division One winning it in both 1996/7 and 97/8 as well as winning the Division 1 Cup for a record four consecutive seasons before it was merged with the Premier Division Cup to become the Challenge Cup that we know today. The manager during these years was ex-Oxford United leading scorer Peter Foley and he was to be the first in a line of managers to keep Ardley at the forefront who include Paul Spittle, Paul Berry, Dan Still and Kevin Brock among their number.

Major change was to come in the early 2000’s as, along with the Ardley Playing Field Committee, Ardley United oversaw the construction of dedicated facilities along with a separate village hall which enabled the club to be independent of community activities. The new clubhouse, which had been awarded the Non-League Paper’s Hungerford Cup for most-improved facilities, allowed the club to be promoted to the Hellenic Premier Division and so began the club’s most successful years to date.

Kevin Brock took the reins for seven seasons which saw Ardley win several cups including the Oxfordshire Senior Cup in 2013/14, a season during which they narrowly lost out on the Premier Division title by just two points. Following Brock’s departure, Paul Davis took over as manager for nearly two seasons until the resignation of long-time chairman Norman Stacey in June 2017 for personal reasons. Ian Feaver took over the role of Chairman and appointed Craig Adey as First Team Manager. A decision to be voluntarily relegated to uhlsport Hellenic League Division One West gave everyone some breathing space to adjust to the new regime.

Craig brought with him a talented squad of players and they won the Division title gaining promotion back to the Premier Division at the first time of asking. The 2018/2019 season had its ups and downs, but the team finished on a high winning the Hellenic League Floodlit Cup.

Lee Matthews was appointed manager for the 2020-21 season, after being joint manager with Danial (Elvis) Knight after Craig departed during the 201920 season. The club went through a restructure in the back office, leading to Eddie Nix being appointed as Director of Football and the creation of the Ardley United Development team, managed by Carl Reed.