This site was produced by: LOCAL AUTHORITY PUBLISHING
Publishers for local authorities throughout Great Britain. View more Official Guides at www.officialguides.co.uk

That part of Witney known as Cogges lies on the opposite bank of the Windrush to the town. At one time it was a separate parish and is recorded as such in the Domesday Survey.

Wadard, a follower of Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, was Lord of Cogges and appears in the Bayeux Tapestry. He was succeeded by the Norman family called Arsic who built a house and moated enclosure near the river from which they controlled the river crossing. Later as Witney developed the crossing was moved to its present position in Bridge Street and the bridge was built.

The Arsic family was granted land along what was the old Witney to Oxford road. This area was and still is called Newland.

Cogges continued to change hands and in the 13th century a house was built on higher ground. Remains of this building can be seen in parts of the present Manor House, possibly the oldest surviving domestic building in Witney and now a part of Cogges Manor Farm Museum, details of which are given later in this guide.