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Banburyshire
A small stone church with a shingled pyramid roof on its tower, behind yews and rows of headstones

Basher Eyre, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Fritwell

A stone village between Banbury and Bicester, with a Norman doorway carved with two monsters and a tree, a Jacobean manor once home to a Lord Chancellor, and many seventeenth-century cottages. No pub is open: a short stop on the way to its neighbours.

Nearest station
Bicester North, about 5.5 miles, or Heyford, about 4; then a taxi, or the 81 bus from Bicester
Parking
We found no public car park. Park with care in East Street or the road to Somerton

About Fritwell

Fritwell stands 120 to 140 metres up on the open plateau east of the Cherwell, between Banbury, about nine miles north-west, and Bicester, about six miles south-east. It has long been two settlements in one: a western end on the Somerton road, round the manor house, and a southern end on the road to Middleton Stoney, with the church between them. The houses are of local rubble stone, many of the seventeenth century. It is a short visit: the church, the manor from the road, and a walk along the street.

What to see in Fritwell

St Olave's church, listed Grade II*, is dedicated to the eleventh-century king of Norway, which the county history takes as a sign of Danish influence before the Conquest. Its oldest parts are Romanesque. Over the south door a tympanum carves two monsters either side of a tree; the north door's hood has cable moulding ending in two grotesque animal heads. In G. E. Street's restoration of 1864 the original chancel arch, thought too narrow, was moved into the north wall of the chancel, where it still stands, and the cracked tower was rebuilt with a shingled pyramid roof. We found no published opening hours.

Fritwell Manor, at the west end, is listed Grade II*: an E-shaped house of the sixteenth century, probably rebuilt in 1619 by George Yorke, with a porch on two Corinthian columns. Thomas Garner restored it in 1893, and from 1911 to 1933 it belonged to Sir John Simon, later Viscount Simon and Lord Chancellor from 1940 to 1945. Earlier it was home to Captain Barclay, famous for his feats of walking. It is private, so look from the road.

Along the street, The Hollies carries the date 1636 on its gable, and The Limes has a spiral stair in a square projection; both are listed. Raghouse Lane, on the way south, is named after an eighteenth-century store for rags bound for the paper mill at Deddington.

An afternoon from Fritwell

Give Fritwell half an hour for the church and the street, then move on: north-west to Souldern for its manor houses and the Fox, or south to Middleton Stoney for the church and castle mound in the park. Somerton, Ardley and Fewcott, close by, have no guide of their own.

Walks

We found no council or parish leaflet for a walk from Fritwell, so we suggest no route. The prehistoric Portway runs as a grass lane across the west of the old parish, and the road south to Middleton Stoney follows the line of Aves Ditch; plan with an OS map.

Food and drink

None in the village that we could confirm. The George and Dragon and the King's Head have both closed, CAMRA records. The White Lion at Fewcott, about a mile east, is a drinks pub with visiting food trucks; its own site gives evening opening from Wednesday to Sunday, so ring first (01869 573709). For lunch, the Fox Inn at Souldern, about a mile and a half north-west, serves food from Wednesday to Sunday.

When to come

Any day, on the way somewhere else. If you come by bus, it is Monday to Saturday only.

Last verified 11 November 2026 by our editors

  • A stone farmhouse beside a tall Scots pine, sheep grazing in a railed paddock along a quiet village road
  • A village road between stone walls and outbuildings on one side and a railed paddock on the other, autumn trees
  • A narrow lane between rubble-stone cottages with flowers by the doors and a high stone wall opposite
  • Rows of headstones in a long grassy churchyard between stone walls, a small church with a pyramid-roofed tower beyond
  • A tall three-storey stone house with a pedimented gable and bay windows on a sunny village street

Things to do in Fritwell

See all
A red Jaguar sports car cornering on an airfield track, grass and trees behind

Tours and experiences · Bicester

Everyman Driving Experiences at Bicester Heritage

Supercar and film-car driving days run by Everyman on Bicester Motion's experience track at the former RAF Bicester, on a few set dates a year, with weekday drives with a passenger ride from £59.

  • Low hangars and brick buildings of an old airfield among trees, seen from the air at sunset with fields beyond

    Sky Wave Gin Distillery, Bicester Motion

    Tours and experiences · Bicester

    A small-batch gin and vodka distillery in the North Tanker Sheds at Bicester Motion, the former RAF Bicester, with 75-minute tours and tastings on Fridays and Saturdays, a weekday shop and an indoor bar at weekends.

    Verified Nov 2026

  • An empty six-lane swimming pool under a timber-beamed roof, bunting strung across the lanes

    Bicester Leisure Centre

    Sport and activity · Bicester

    The town's public pool and sports centre on Queens Avenue, run for Cherwell District Council, with a 25m pool, a 15m learner pool and pay-as-you-go public swims booked online.

    Family-friendly · Rainy days

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A cinema entrance with a red Vue sign under a timber-slatted tower, shoppers crossing a paved square

    Vue Bicester

    Family days out · Bicester

    Bicester's seven-screen cinema, at the Pioneer Centre on Bure Place in the town centre, showing new films in 2D and 3D and Vue's Big Screen Events, with cheaper tickets online and free parking at the local Sainsbury's.

    Family-friendly · Rainy days

    Verified Nov 2026

Where to eat and drink in Fritwell

See all
  • A three-storey stone inn with dormer windows behind a mossy stone wall

    The Fox Inn, Souldern

    Pubs · Souldern

    A village pub on Fox Lane in Souldern, licensed since 1784, with Timothy Taylor's Boltmaker and guest ales, home-cooked food from Wednesday to Sunday, dogs welcome in the bar and four en-suite rooms near junction 10 of the M40.

    Dog-friendly · Walker-friendly

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A white gable painted Great Western Arms and a stone front thick with creeper, cars parked before it

    The Great Western Arms, Aynho

    Pubs · Aynho

    A Hook Norton pub with four rooms between the Oxford Canal and the old Aynho station, about 15.5 miles by road from Silverstone. It sells itself as a base for the circuit, Bicester Village and Blenheim Palace. A small place, so rooms for a race weekend will not last.

    Verified Nov 2026

  • A long thatched ironstone inn with a thatched porch and a gravel forecourt under a deep blue sky

    The Duke of Cumberland's Head, Clifton

    Restaurants

    A thatched, marlstone village pub at Clifton near Deddington, reopened under a new owner with a head chef from The Five Fields and Core, a menu that changes daily and three rooms.

    Verified Nov 2026

Walks in and around Fritwell

All walks starting here
  • A stone church and a big house behind it, framed by the timber arch of a lychgate

    North Aston, the Causeway and Somerton Mill

    Walk · Starts in Steeple Aston · 3 hrs · Circular

    A 5.2-mile (8.4km) moderate circular walk from North Aston Green, about three hours. It crosses the Cherwell meadows on an old causeway by Somerton Mill, follows the Oxford Canal north and climbs home past Bestmoor and North Aston church. It floods after rain.

  • A narrow canal lock with a ladder in its wall, a small brick bridge and lock gates beyond in summer sun

    Heyfords Circular from Heyford Station

    Walk · Starts in Upper and Lower Heyford · 2 hrs · Circular

    The Heyfords Circular is a 3.4-mile (5.5km) easy circular walk from Heyford station, about two hours. It follows the Oxford Canal north to Allen's Lock, climbs to Upper Heyford's church and returns over fields to Lower Heyford's square. Flat, with gates, livestock and mud.

  • Meadows and scrub crossed by a winding path, the roofs of a housing estate beyond under a blue sky

    Bicester West Health Route and Bure Park

    Walk · Starts in Bicester · 1 hr, 10 mins · Circular · Dog-friendly

    The Bicester West Health Route is a 5K (3.1-mile) easy circular walk on a painted blue line through Bure Park and west Bicester, about 70 minutes. It is a town loop on pavements and paths, ending through a railway tunnel in Bure Park Nature Reserve.

Sights in and around Fritwell

All sights
  • A low domed concrete aircraft shelter with steel framed doors on a wide apron under heavy cloud

    RAF Upper Heyford Cold War sites, Heyford Park

    Sight · Monument · Upper and Lower Heyford

    The Cold War shelters, nuclear bomb store and command centre of RAF Upper Heyford, scheduled in 2006 and seen on guided tours from the airbase's heritage centre at Heyford Park, which opens free three days a week.

  • A brick wharf building with an overhanging roof reflected in still canal water, a moored narrowboat on the left

    Aynho Wharf

    Sight · Historic building · Aynho

    A canal wharf of 1788 on the Oxford Canal below Aynho, with a warehouse whose roof hangs over the water and a listed stone bridge, and a walk north to the odd diamond-shaped Weir Lock where the Cherwell crosses the canal.

History of Fritwell

The name is Old English for a wishing well, probably the spring by the southern end of the village; Robert Plot thought it the source of the Great Ouse. Two manors meant two settlements from before 1086. Ploughley Hill, west of the village, had a round barrow that was once the meeting place of the hundred; it was levelled in the early nineteenth century.

Parliamentary foot soldiers were quartered here on the Earl of Essex's march to relieve Gloucester in the Civil War. Inclosure of the open fields was completed in 1808. In the mid-nineteenth century the village was called 'expensive and respectable', and Fritwell in the Elms for its trees.

Questions about Fritwell

Is there a pub in Fritwell?

Not one we could confirm open. CAMRA records the George and Dragon as permanently closed and the King's Head as closed long term. The White Lion at Fewcott, about a mile away, opens in the evenings from Wednesday to Sunday by its own site (ring first), and the Fox Inn at Souldern, about a mile and a half away, serves lunch from Wednesday to Sunday.

What is there to see in Fritwell?

St Olave's church, with a Norman tympanum of two monsters and a tree, and from the road, Fritwell Manor, a Jacobean house once owned by Lord Chancellor Simon. Many of the cottages are seventeenth century.

How do you get to Fritwell by bus?

Take the 81 from Bicester's Pioneer Square. It runs a few times a day, Monday to Saturday, and loops through Somerton, Souldern, Fewcott and Ardley.

Getting to Fritwell

By bus
The 81, run by Z & S Transport, links Fritwell with Bicester a few times a day, Monday to Saturday, looping through Somerton, Souldern, Fewcott and Ardley (November 2026).
By train
Bicester North is about 5.5 miles away and Heyford about 4; then a taxi.
By car
About 7 miles, 14 minutes, from Bicester. From Banbury, about 9 miles in a straight line; the quickest road route is about 14 miles, 21 minutes, by the M40.
Parking
No public car park that we found. Park considerately in the village.
Map of Fritwell
© OpenStreetMap contributors

Places near Fritwell

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