Did I miss something?

Sun 21 Jan, 12:49

Yes, that explains it very well - many thanks.

Sun 21 Jan, 11:36 (last edited on Mon 22 Jan, 08:33)

To (sort of) answer Malcolm's question needs a bit of history.

A parish by around the year 1000 was the geographical area  that a church (uniquely at that point, Catholic) looked after - and until the Reformation, a surprising proportion of what we'd now call public services (like education, maintenance…

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Fri 19 Jan, 21:10

Limelight - maybe not, but recognition is usually appreciated.

Fri 19 Jan, 21:05

In response to Simon's original post, it's understandable that a journalist might  write "near Chipping Norton" given that it is the post town for Cornbury.

Clarkson and Cameron have really put CN on the map. How much limelight does Charlbury want anyway?

Fri 19 Jan, 16:55 (last edited on Fri 19 Jan, 16:56)

In the pre-internal combustion era of land workers and those in "service" and stables, gardeners etc etc - just how big would the Parish of Cornbury to have been? Were Parishes demarcated like, for e.g Parliamentary seats, with a rough equivalence of voter numbers, or by some other significant factor? Like a Lord's desmene?

Fri 19 Jan, 14:13

Cornbury sits within the Chadlington & Churchill ward of West Oxfordshire.  It is its own parish.

It sits within the Charlbury division of Oxfordshire County Council.

Fri 19 Jan, 13:42

The different wording in the Oxford Mail makes matters even worse, but for understandable reasons. 

OM states, as Richard reports, that the organisers of the Wilderness Festival applied to WODC  "for a new premises licence at Cornbury Park in the Charlbury Ward of Chipping Norton".

But although Cornbury is near Charlbury, it's not in the same parish or same ward as Charlbury for either WODC or parliamentary elections. For WODC elections in May 24 Cornbury is grouped into a ward with Chadlington and Churchill; Charlbury is in a separate ward with Finstock and Fawler. 

However, for the next General Election in 24 (or Jan 25) Charlbury is in the Banbury constituency and, as far as the Labour Party is concerned, Charlbury is now a ward of the Chipping Norton Branch of the Banbury constituency, with Cornbury in a separate ward of the Banbury constituency (I think coming under the Chipping Norton Branch, rather than the North Oxfordshire Villages Branch).

As far as OCC is concerned, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England is still deciding on the ward boundaries, and these won't come into effect until May 2025. Under the draft proposals Cornbury and Charlbury will be in the same ward, and in a different ward than Chipping Norton and the Wychwoods! 

Yes, really confusing, to me at least!

Fri 19 Jan, 13:09

The journo responsible is now blaming a sub-editor at the BBC.  Now, that strikes a chord with another thread near here, doesn't it? .... maybe Giles Coren does have a point ....

Fri 19 Jan, 10:24 (last edited on Fri 19 Jan, 10:26)

According to the Oxford Mail’s report it’s at “Cornbury Park in the Charlbury Ward of Chipping Norton”. (It’s basically the same report but rephrased slightly – the Oxford Mail has a BBC-funded reporter.)

Fri 19 Jan, 09:58

According to a report (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-68028126) this morning about Wilderness getting its licence renewed, Cornbury is now "near Chipping Norton".  That's odd  ..... I'm sure that it was in its usual place when I looked yesterday ....