HANWELL, a parish in Banbury district, Oxford; near the boundary with Warwick, the West Midland railway, and the Oxford canal, 2½ miles NW of Banbury. Acres, 1, 240. Real property, £2, 093. Pop., 285. Houses, 67. The manor, with all the property, belonged formerly to the Venuns, the Ardens, the Grevilles, the Copes, and the Sackvilles; and belongs now to Earl Delawarr. Hanwell Castle was called by Leland ' ' the pleasant and gallant house of Hanwell;'' was twice visited, in the time of Sir Anthony Cope, by James I. and his queen; and is now represented chiefly by a fine quadrangular brick tower, With stone quoins, used as a farm house. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford. Value, £320.* Patron, Earl Delawarr. The church is ancient but good, with a fine tower; and has some curious capitals, with grotesque figures.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))