BESSELSLEIGH, a parish in Abingdon district, Berks; 3 miles NNW of Abingdon r. station. Post Town, Abingdon. Acres, 893. Real property, £950. Pop., 92. Houses, 22. The manor belonged anciently to the Leighs; passed by marriage to the Besils or Bessels; passed again by marriage to the Fettiplaces; was purchased by William Lenthall, Esq., speaker of the Long Parliament; and belongs now to his descendants. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford. Value, £280.* Patron, K. J. W. Lenthall, Esq. The church is a small building, with chancel and belfry.

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