|
The Parish of Bix & Assendon places of interest |
Bix Common Field
Bix is blessed with a large, flat open space (5 acres) on the edge of which are the Parish Church and the Village Hall. Unseen, underground on the Henley side are the remains of a Roman building.
The Field, often simply called the Common, is private land over which there are no common rights to villagers (or others) for any purpose whatsoever. The owner is a group of nine householders called the 'Bix Common Field Holders' whose ownership comes as an attachment to the properties they own elsewhere within the parish, including Lord Alvingham of Bix Hall, Mr & Mrs K Armstrong of Benwells Farm and Mr G Hall of Bix Manor.
The establishment of the Common in this way is lost in time but is calculated to be the 1300s or even earlier and is not unique in England. The current owners meet periodically and decide on its management. Currently it is leased for hay making according to a strict timetable.
At one time in the 1800s a small, but weekly livestock market took place. After an untold number of years of neglect - when presumably it offered little benefit to anyone as it was not farmed and it became scrubland and a recreation area, offering short cuts thither and thither.
Under the pressures for home-grown food during the 1939-1945 War, the scrub was cleared and the land cultivated. Happily over the years the Holders have been thoughtful to the parish providing ground for the Church and Village Hall and allowing the Local Cricket Club to have an excellent pitch, whilst also regularly extending their good nature for village events such as Fetes.