Charney Bassett is a small village on the River Ock, well away from any main roads, in more or less in the centre of the Vale of White Horse. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 314 and 339 according to the 2021 Census.
The name Charney comes from the Celtic or Old English words Cearn or Charn, an early name for the River Ock or one of its channels, combined with -ey, meaning an island or dry ground in marshland. The name Bassett is most commonly linked to Ralph Bassett, a 12th-century landowner and Chief Justiciar of England who held manors in the region, similarly seen in nearby villages like Letcombe Bassett. Alternative local traditions suggest it may derive from a medieval tenement or holding known as Basses.
Charney Bassett was in the possession of Abingdon Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. After having various owners it became part of the Pusey Estate in 1833. A mill was mentioned in the village as early as the 12th C. Charney is a chapelry of Longworth. The church is dedicated to St. Peter and contains elements of building from the 12th C. to the 17th C. The village mainly consists of 19th and 20th C. houses and has a village green.
1909 A view of Charney Green. On the left is the public house called The Hom, a horse is tied up to a ring in the wall while its owner is inside. In the foreground is ‘Curly’ Alder, who lived in a thatched cottage on the Green, with three of his sheep. On the right is another public house called The Chequers and beyond that was a blacksmith’s forge.
1957 Crowning the May Queen on the village green. Sue Hobbs crowning Queen Veronica Peveril. Left of Queen: Ruth and Diana Sharpus, both in white; Joanna Ody. Right of Queen: Fay Nicholson, in cloak; Pam Hutt, only top of her head is visible; Joanna Wheeler.
More… Oxfordshire Villages website: http://www.oxfordshirevillages.co.uk/valevillages/charney_bassett.html
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Photo and text scanned directly from The Changing Faces of Faringdon and Surrounding Villages – Book 2 p88-90 & Book 3 p104 by Rosemary Church, Jim Brown, Millie Bryan and Beryl Newman. Robert Boyd Publications 2001.