AMBROSDEN, a parish in the hundred of BULLINGTON,
county of OXFORD, 2 miles (S.E; by S.) from
Bicester, comprising the chapelries of Arncott and
Blackthorn, and containing 843 inhabitants. The
living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry
and diocese of Oxford, rated in the king's books
at £11. 17., endowed with £200 private benefaction,
and £200 royal bounty, and ia the patronage of Sir
G. P. Turner, Bart. The church, dedicated to St.
Mary, is stated to have been built in the latter part
of the reign of Edward I., on the site of the original
Saxon, or Norman, edifice, the northern entrance to
which still remains. Four churchwardens are annually
appointed for this parish, two by the vicar, and two by
the parishioners. Bishop Kennet, who formerly held
the vicarage, supposes the name to be derived from
Ambrosius Aurelius, the celebrated British chief, who
encamped here during the siege of Alchester by the
Saxons.