Tubney was first mentioned in 955, when it was included in land granted to Abingdon Abbey. The abbey retained the overlordship of the manor throughout the Middle Ages. In 1479, the manor was granted to William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester, for the foundation of Magdalen College, his new college at Oxford. The college has retained the manor ever since. The medieval settlement was over a mile northeast of the modern village, near the village of Appleton. The medieval settlement was deserted by the 16th century. The site is marked by the remains of a medieval moat at Tubney Manor Farm.
