Swinbrook

Coordinates: 51°48′25″N 1°35′38″W / 51.807°N 1.594°W / 51.807; -1.594

Swinbrook is a village on the River Windrush, about 2 miles (3 km) east of Burford in Oxfordshire, England. The village is in the civil parish of Swinbrook and Widford. Widford is a hamlet about ¹⁄₂ mile (800 m) west of Swinbrook. The 2011 Census recorded Swinbrook and Widford's parish population as 139.

History

The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin dates from about 1200. Its unusual open-sided bell-tower was added in 1822. The church is noted for its 17th-century Fettiplace monuments.

David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale had Swinbrook House built 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the village. Four of his six daughters are buried in the parish churchyard: Nancy, Unity, and Diana are buried side by side, while Pamela is buried northwest of the tower.

St Mary's has also a monument to the officers and men of the Royal Navy submarine HMS P514, and especially its commander, Lieutenant W.A. Phillimore, whose parents lived at Swinbrook. In 1942 P514 failed to identify herself to the Royal Canadian Navy minesweeper HMCS Georgian. The Canadian ship therefore assumed the submarine to be an enemy vessel and rammed P514, sinking her with the loss of all hands.