Besselsleigh

Infobox UK place
official_name= Besselsleigh
lieutenancy_england= Oxfordshire
region= South East England
country= England
latitude= 51.71
longitude= -1.35
post_town= ABINGDON
postcode_area= OX
postcode_district= OX13
dial_code= +44-1865
shire_district= Vale of White Horse
shire_county = Oxfordshire
constituency_westminster= Oxford West and Abingdon Besselsleigh or Bessels Leigh is a small village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse district of the English county of Oxfordshire (though formerly in Berkshire). It is west of Cumnor. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 87.

The village lies on the A420 road between Oxford and Swindon.

Besselsleigh is almost certainly the Lea or Leigh owned by a Saxon named Earmund in the 7th century. The manor of Leigh passed to the family of a Thomas Bessels in the mid 14th century, and by the next century the village had acquired its present name. [ [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62736 Victoria County History of Berkshire] ]

Parts of the small parish church of St Lawrence date back to the 12th century.

ee also

*Bessels Leigh School