Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles
available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Wendlebury is a
village and civil parish about 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of Bicester
and about 0.5 miles (800 m) from Junction 9 of the M40. The village is
on a steam that flows through the centre of the village parallel with
the main street.The toponym is derived from Old English, meaning the
burh of a Saxon named Wændel.Before the Norman conquest of England in
the 11th century one Asgar held the manor. After the Conquest, William
the Conqueror granted Wendlebury to Geoffrey de Mandeville. The manor
remained with his heirs, including his grandson of the same name whom
King Stephen made 1st Earl of Essex in about 1140. The de Mandeville
lineage became extinct upon the death of William FitzGeoffrey de
Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex in 1227, and its manors including
Wendlebury passed to Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford in 1236.
Henry III made Humphrey Earl of Essex in 1239. Wendlebury remained with
the Earls of Hereford and Essex until the death of Humphrey de Bohun,
7th Earl of Hereford in 1373.
