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The Church of England parish church of
Saint David began as a chapel of ease for Blockley, to which the residents of
Moreton had to transport their dead for burial. The early history of the church
in Moreton is not clear, but there is evidence that a primitive Celtic place of
worship preceded the church on the present site, which had seven springs. The
Church at Moreton came under the jurisdiction of the Batsford Estate, when that
Estate was given to the Bishops of Worcester in the 12th century. Latterly, the
Church in Moreton was a chapel-at-ease for Batsford, which was technically the
parish church. The appointment of the vicar for Batsford with Moreton
alternates between the Bishop of Gloucester and the Lord of the Manor at
Batsford, currently Lord Dulverton, who, until the second world war,
implemented his right to collect a shilling (5 pence) a year for every shop
window facing Moreton High Street. There is a tradition that the church was
rebuilt and reconsecrated in the middle of the 16th century. The nave was
enlarged in 1790, most of the church was rebuilt in 1858 and the tower was
replaced in 1860. The chancel and south aisle were enlarged in 1892 and the
east end of the south aisle has been used as a chapel since 1927.
A nonconformist congregation started
meeting in Moreton in 1796, was constituted as a Congregational church in 1801
and had a chapel built in 1817. In 1860-61 the Congregationalists replaced the
chapel with a new one on the same site in a mixed neo-Grecian and Romanesque
style.
The Stratford and Moreton Tramway was built
between 1821 and 1826, linking Moreton with the Stratford-on-Avon Canal at
Stratford. It was horse-drawn until 1859, when the section between Moreton and
Shipston-on-Stour was converted to a branch line railway operated with steam
locomotives. The Oxford,
