Eynsham record 1988

THE EYNSHAM RECORD Number 5 – 1988

Front cover Stone ginger beer Jars used by Blake's of Eynsham, Mineral water manufacturers.

See Blake's Bottles, p.39

NOTES

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Images have been optimised throughout for online viewing

2.

Typographic errors in the printed edition, where identified, have been corrected in this digitised version.

3.

Errors of fact or interpretation in the original which have since come to light are repeated but followed by an amendment in curly brackets {thus}

4.

The pages are not available for printing “as is”, though you may copy/paste sections into another document.

5.

Back numbers of the Eynsham Record are available in print for £1 plus p&p.

6.

Contacts: (a) the Editor Brian Atkins, 8 Thornbury Road tel 01865 881677 email brian@fbatkins.free-online.co.uk (b) Fred Bennett, 68 Witney Road tel 01865 880659

7.

The Record is now also available on CD, for higher resolution images and cross-file searching: please email eynsham-online@hotmail.co.uk

THE EYNSHAM RECORD

Number 5: 1988 Journal of the Eynsham History Group

ISSN

0265-6779

Published by the Eynsham History Group © All material in this publication is copyright

CONTENTS

Editorial .............................................1 Acknowledgements ......................................2 Eynsham as a central place in Anglo-Saxon Oxfordshire

by John Blair ......................4 False alarm! ..........................................7 Eynsham Charters.

5. Cinderella, the abbot and the bankrupt father

by Eric Gordon .....................8 Abbey stone: Information sought ......................15 The Railway comes to Eynsham

by Eynsham Primary School Research Group..16 THEN and NOW.......................................22/23 St. Leonard's Restored

by Charles Caine ......24

Church Restoration in the 17th century

by Lilian Wright ..................33 Grave stones in the Chancel of St. Leonard's

by Donald Richards ................35 Blake's Bottles

by Brian Duffield & Brian Atkins ..39 The Mansard House: a postscript

by Shawn Kholucy & Pamela Richards 45

EDITORIAL Sadly the last year has witnessed the deaths of two distinguished Eynsham men who had links with the History Group.

Sir Walter 0akeshott, the scholar and historian, retired from the Rectorship of Lincoln College many years ago, and made his home in the old Board School in Station Road. He wrote the foreword to Bishop Gordon's St. Hugh and Eynsham Abbey , published by the Group in 1986. 0n page 14 Joan Weedon records an intriguing link between Sir Walter and Thomas Hardy, the writer.

Dr Derek Bolsover, to whom three generations of Eynsham patients are so much indebted, had promised to write for the Record the recollections of his early days of practising medicine in the village. This story, we can be sure, would have brimmed with his wit and kindly humour, and we are the poorer that he was not spared to write it.

On a happier note, 1987 saw the completion of the eight-year-long restoration of St. Leonard's, about which Charles Caine writes on page 24 et. seq. At the Thanksgiving Service on November 8th, Archbishop Stuart Blanch (former Vicar of Eynsham) preached the sermon, and Bishop Eric Gordon and Bishop John Tinsley, who live among us, were in attendance. Surely Eynsham has not seen such an episcopal gathering since the great days of the Abbey!

Turning to the affairs of the History Group, Edna Mason has been awarded her certificate in local history studies from the 0xford University Department of External Studies; and the Group has, we believe, pioneered a new kind of collaboration between a village society and its local authority: In the new County Branch Library in Mill St. (the old fire station), the Group now keeps its own books and archives, and a substantial amount of this material is thus made available to the public. Generous grant aid has been received from the 0.C.C. towards the costs of rescuing the Abbey stones from the old vicarage garden; and a fresh link with the old vicarage has been forged! At the request of the new occupants, the BUPA Training Centre, we provided a brief history of the building, and were generously rewarded with a donation towards the production costs of the Record.

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In July of 1987 in the Corn Exchange, Witney, we contributed an exhibition on 'Eynsham Abbey' and (to our great astonishment, since we hadn't realized that there was a competitive element involved!) made off with the first prize. We re-staged a somewhat larger version of this display in the Bartholomew Room on February 12-14, and this was well attended.

Our thanks go to Eileen Carlton, and to Geoffrey and Yvonne Batts, who have recently resigned as our librarian and social secretaries, respectively.

F.B.A.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks go, of course, to all our regular contributors for their articles and 'snippets'; but especially to 'this year's' professional historian, John Blair of the Queen's College, Oxford, who suggests that Eynsham might have had a hitherto unsuspected eminence in Anglo-Saxon times; and to Charles Caine for his report of the St. Leonard's Restoration. To any reader who considers that this account deals with events too recent to count as 'history', we would say that historians of 50 or 500 years hence will be grateful for it!. Above all, it is a delight to publish a piece of scholarly work by the Eynsham Primary School Research Group.

We are grateful to Sue Chapman for three fine photographs, all unfortunately shrunk, by the demands of space, to a smaller size than they deserve; and to Malcolm Graham and the Central Library, Westgate, for permission to reproduce the old postcard on page 22.

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An old postcard (ca. 1920), in the form of a simple rebus.

(Courtesy of Brian Duffield)

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EYNSHAM AS A CENTRAL PLACE IN ANGLO-SAXON OXFORDSHIRE

by John Blair Familiar to historians of Oxfordshire is the annal in the AngloSaxon Chronicle, entered under the year 571, which tells how the West Saxons fought the Britons at a place called Biedcanford and captured the four tunas of Aylesbury, Limbury, Benson and Eynsham. It is at first sight odd that the conquest of Oxfordshire should be described by reference to two seemingly rather unimportant places (rather than to Oxford and Dorchester, for instance), but the implications of this fact have rarely been considered. My purpose here is to argue that the annal provides a valid comment on the status of Eynsham between the sixth and eighth centuries, before changes in administrative geography deprived it of its earlier importance.1 It must be realized at the outset that the late sixth-century annals in the Chronicle are not contemporary. They were written down at King Alfred's court some three centuries later, within a chronological framework which seems to be partly imaginary.

Nonetheless, they drew on ancient traditions, some probably handed down in the form of verse-epics now lost to us. It was perhaps some such source which reported the capture of two places (Benson and Aylesbury) which remained important throughout the Anglo-Saxon period, and two others (Eynsham and Limbury) whose importance may have been little more than a memory by Alfred's day. Aylesbury was an Iron-Age hillfort, within which St. Osyth's minster church was established in the seventh or eighth century; Benson may well have been the headquarters from which King Cynegils founded the see of Dorchester-on-Thames in 634, and was still a major royal centre at the time of the Norman Conquest. It cannot have been wholly idly that Eynsham was named in their company, and archaeological evidence suggests that some substance underlies the tradition. Two areas in the Thames Valley show especially high concentrations of fifthand sixth-century cemeteries and settlements: one around Abingdon, Dorchester and Benson, the other around Cassington and Eynsham.

Clearly Eynsham lay in an important area of activity in the pagan Anglo-Saxon period.2 At the time of Domesday Bock Eynsham was the centre of a substan­ tial though not exceptionally large estate. However, the complex pro­ visions of an agreement made in 821 between King Coenwulf of Mercia

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and the Archbishop of Canterbury involved the transfer from the Arch­ bishop to the King of a 300-hide estate at Iogneshomme.3 If, as seems almost certain, this is to be identified with Eynsham, the fact is of great importance: 300 hides represents an enormous tract of land, which must have covered a large part of West Oxfordshire. Many of the sixth-and seventh-century sub-kingdoms and tribal territories were no larger than this: for Eynsham to be the centre of such a region implies an altogether higher order of importance than later sources suggest.

Another strand of evidence concerns the origins of Eynsham Abbey.

Although Ealdorman Aethelmaer is usually credited with 'founding' the Abbey in 1005, he actually reformed and re-endowed an existing and much older 'minster' of secular priests.4 This seems to have been one of the many early religious communities which lost their endowments as a result of the financial extortions of the later Mercian kings, for a charter of 864 implies that it had recently been deprived of land at Water Eaton;5 the only endowments remaining by 1005 were the rump of Eynsham itself and some land at Shipton-onCherwell.6 So in its ecclesiastical as in its secular status, there are signs that the early significance of Eynsham ebbed away between the eighth and eleventh centuries.

These remarks provide a context for a body of data which is dub­ ious, intractable, and never mentions Eynsham by name, yet which pre­ serves the earliest traditions associated specifically with the Eynsham area: the Lives of St. Frideswide of Oxford. It has now been demonstrated that although the surviving texts were composed only in the twelfth century, they embody older, perhaps much older, materia1.7 The story makes Frideswide the daughter of 'Didan king of Oxford', who builds a monastery in Oxford where she is consecrated as first abbess. Pursued by the wicked King Algar, she is miraculously transported up-river to Bampton where she hides for three years in a swineherd's hut before returning to Oxford and dying in 727; a separate tradition, also apparently of some age, makes her spend part of her life in seclusion at Binsey.

Now it is an interesting fact that Bampton, Iike Oxford, was a place of some status in the late Anglo-Saxon period, with an important royal vill and minster church.8 Oxford lies six miles to the east of Eynsham, Bampton eight miles to the west; it is highly likely that both places were within the 300 hides 'at Eynsham' recorded in 821. The hypothesis which seems best to fit the various facts and traditions is that there was a reversal of hierarchy, with an early royal

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centre at Eynsham eclipsed by two subsidiary centres within its region. Thus the scene of Frideswide's legendary activities is essentially the Eynsham estate or territory, united by the great thoroughfare of the Thames which is made to play so important a part in her adventures. By the time that the stories were written down in the form available to us, both 0xford and Bampton had become more important than the early centre.

In short, the Eynsham territory emerges as a good candidate for one of the tiny, forgotten sub-kingdoms which were absorbed into larger political entities during the seventh and eighth centuries. It is a curious thought that if St. Frideswide's father was a genuine historical personage of the late seventh century, he is less likely to have been known as the King of 0xford than as the King of Eynsham!

References and notes: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

The present paper summarises arguments set out more fully in J. Blair, 'St. Frideswide Reconsidered', 0xoniensia, iii (1987), 85-93.

See G. Briggs, J. Cook and T. Rowley (eds.), The Archaeology of the 0xford Region (1986), map 11.

See N. Brooks, The Early History of the Church of Canterbury (1984), 104, 138, 181-2.

For minsters, and their role in the Anglo-Saxon church, see J. Blair (ed.), Minsters and Parish Churches: the Local Church in Transition 950-1200 (1988).

W. de Grey Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum, ii (1887), No. 509.

Eynsham Cartulary i, 19-28: all the other manors listed were given by Aethelmaer himself.

Blair op. cit. Note 1.

See J. Blair, 'St. Beornwald of Bampton', 0xoniensia, xlix (1984), 47-55.

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...BUT NO SAXON KING HERE!

Photograph by Sue Chapman

Extract from the Witney Gazette September 1987

Porker's bones rattle police POLICE placed an all night guard over what was thought to be a human skeleton — only to discover it was the remains of a pig.

The police were called in when a builder uncovered the skeleton while digging the foundations for an extension at a house in Evans Road, Eynsham.

They placed a guard on the site until yesterday when experts from the Oxford Archaeological Unit were brought in to date the remains.

Mr Richard Chambers of the Archaeological Unit

said: "It wasn't until we started digging that we found the pig's trotters.

It is the site of a medieval farmyard but there were initial signs of a Saxon burial."

Reason An embarrassed police spokesman at Witney said: "It is not going to look very good is it, us putting a 24- hour guard on some pig bones. "But we did have good reason to believe it was a human skeleton and had to act accordingly and take the usual precautions."

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EYNSHAM CHARTERS

by Eric Gordon 5. Cinderella, the abbot, and the bankrupt father (Eynsham Cartulary, no.186. Date: February 24th 1219) First, the time and the scene: Magna Carta had been signed four years ago: King John had died: Henry III had succeeded him, but was still a boy: a degree of law and order had been established: the King's circuit-judges had come to Reading, Berkshire's county-town, then in the diocese of Salisbury: its medieval streets were even more crowded and bustling than usual: it was the first Sunday in Lent. Our charter begins: This is the final agreement, made in the court of our lord the King, at Reading: in the third year of the reign of King Henry, son of King John, on the Lord's Day after Ash Wednesday ( die dominica proxima post cineres ), before Richard, Bishop of Salisbury, Matthew son of Herbert, Ralph Hareng, Walter Foliot, James de Potterne, Walter des Rivieres, Maurice de Turville, John de Wikenholt, judges itinerant, and other faithful subjects of our lord the King, being then and there present: between Stephen of Fritwell, claimant, and Adam, abbot of Eynsham, tenant: concerning a quarter of a knight's fee, with its appurtenances, at Wood Eaton: upon which matter agreement has been reached between them, in the same court: The text of the agreement is set out below. Abbot Adam (it must be remembered) tended to extravagance. In 1217 he had embarked upon an elaborate scheme, to cut off the main road due south from Eynsham centre, and to enlarge the abbey-precinct across its former course (see Chambers, 1936, pp. 76-8). In 1215 he had founded the borough of New Land, Eynsham. In 1228 he was to be deposed, seemingly for general mismanagement (see Gordon, 1985; 1986). Was the agreement with Stephen of Fritwell yet another gamble which would fall?

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Or must we look hard at Stephen's own contentiousness? He was a 'decayed gentleman', by this time almost penniless. He and his family were always going to law. His parents, Miles of Fritwell, and Millicent, had been in dispute with Eynsham abbey, concerning the same land, in 1199. He himself was to resume the dispute in 1225, and his widow, Sarah, likewise in 1231. There was one 'final agreement' after another (see Eynsham Cartulary, nos.

179, 201 and 716). Was the family quarrelsome, or was their continuing grievance well-founded?

The manor of Wood Eaton had been given to Eynsham abbey by Sir Walchelin Hareng, and his wife, Lady Ida, in c.1170-90 (see Id. nos.

104-5). Stephen ciaimed part of it, described, in terms of current taxation for the King's army, as a quarter of a knight's fee.

It is not surprising that Stephen lost his claim: for the land was of some 'value, as well as being near to Oxford and to Eynsham. The charter states at once: the said Stephen has given up and quitciaimed, on behalf of himself and his heirs, for ever, to the said abbot and his successors, every right and ciaim which he had in the said quarter of a knight's fee, with its appurtenances: It is possible, however, that Stephen had been nursing a justifi­ able resentment at the manner in which the 1199 settlement with his parents had worked out in practice. Eynsham abbey had given them land at Fritwell in exchange for land at Wood Eaton. The plan had appeared to be fair, and sensible, and uncomplicated. In fact (it seems) the monks had given away what was not fully and clearly theirs to give. Those Fritwell fields were held by the priest of Souldern, also in north Oxfordshire, and not far away. And in due course the priests there had re-asserted their Fritwell rights, and taken the issue to church-courts, and even to assessors appointed by the Pope. There had ' been a long and bitter struggle, during which Stephen had been excommunicated. In the end he had had to admit defeat, and found himself left with neither the Fritwell nor the Wood Eaton land. This must have rankled (see Id. no. 586, and Victoria County History, Oxfordshire, vol.6, pp.137 & 308). Small wonder that the 1219 settlement shows signs of tough, even bitter, bargaining! It begins by making Stephen and his family 'pensioners' of the abbey:

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and

in return for this surrender and quitclaim and final agreement, the said abbot has given and granted to the said Stephen, and to Sarah, his first wife, two 'monk's allowances' (duo corredia monachalia) for the duration of

their lives: namely, two loaves of monk's bread daily, and two gallons of monk's beer, and two kinds of pottage (that is to say, four helpings), and on ordinary days one 'main course' (that is to say, two helpings) from the monks' kitchen, but on principal feast days two 'main courses' (that is to say, four helpings) (duo genera potagii, scilicet quatuor discos, & unum ferculum, scilicet duos discos, in diebus communibus: in principalibus vero festis duo fercula, scilicet quatuor discos de coquina monachorum): if, however, the said Stephen shall have died before his wife Sarah, the two said monk's allowances shall continue to be given to the said Sarah, in their entirety, for the whole of her life: and if Sarah herself shall have died before the said Stephen, the two said monk's allowances shall continue to be given to the said Stephen, in their entirety, for the whole of his life: Both sides felt that it was important to make every point abundantly clear. 'Sarah, his first wife', for example: if Sarah died, Stephen might marry again, and marry into affluence: then everything would have to be renegotiated. 'Two loaves' - one each: 'two gallons' - one each: but 'two kinds of pottage' - a helping of each kind for each person: and so on. In this section Stephen and Sarah are to have the 'rations' of two cloister-monks. In the next section Stephen sinks to the level of one of the abbot's servants, presumably a senior one: also an allowance of hay and provender for one horse (liberacionem feni & prebende ad unum equum), exactly as for one of the abbot's servants, but only for the lifetime of Stephen himself: and

one outer garment (unam robam ) each year, in time for Christmas (contra Nathale Domini), or alternatively half a mark, as Stephen himself shall choose:

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Then comes the Cinderella provision. Daughters - if they were to marry satisfactorily - required a sufficient dowry. But dowries came from fathers, and Stephen had more than one unmarried daughter. What was worse, his funds were low, and he was ageing. So the abbot agrees to arrange an appropriate marriage (the words seem to imply equivalent social standing), for any one of Stephen's daughters, who might need such assistance, during the next five years: furthermore, the said abbot shall within five years arrange a suitable marriage (maritabit ita quod non disparagetur ) for one of the said Stephen's daughters, whichever Stephen himself shall wish: So far, so good: food and drink - more than enough for the two principals: some clothing: supplies for Stephen's horse: and thought for his daughters. But where, and how, would they live? A man of Stephen's background (down in the world, but with potential to recover) would look for more than a very humble cottage, and would anticipate at least a modest degree of assistance with domestic service, as well as with his garden, vegetable-patch, pig-sty, stable, chicken-run etc. His two monk's allowances were basic but valuable, but they might well leave pickings for humbler and younger staff: and these might be augmented from his own produce. So the abbey comes to his aid.

It was just developing a new street of properties, running around its recently extended precinct. Plots were available there (as they were at New Land) on 'burgage-tenure' (that is, borough-terms). They would not be so tied to feudal duties on the home-farm, as were the older village-holdings. Their inhabitants would enjoy liberties similar to those of town-dwellers. The abbot grants a 'middle-ciass' plot there to Stephen. It is one acre in size, and next door to a similar plot held by a much-respected villager, Robert Marshall. On it the abbot will build a good-sized house for Stephen and his household. And the rent, seemingly for everything, will be a privileged one -just six pence per annum, one eighth of the rent for a similar plot in New Land: furthermore, the said abbot has given to the said Stephen one acre of land, in his area of free burgage-tenure in New Street (in libero burqaqio suo in Nova Strata), adjacent to, and on the north side of, Robert Marshall's acre:

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and on this land the abbot himself shall, at his own expense (ad custum suum), cause one house to be built, with a frontage of 30 feet: and this land, together with what pertains to it, shall be held by the said Stephen and his heirs, in fee from the said abbot and his successors, by free service, on payment of one pound of pepper, or six pence, per annum, due, in lieu of all services, at the Nativity of St.John Baptist: Stephen, therefore, has the prospect of a secure future. What of the abbey? Was it doing all this from pure compassion - 'I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me' (Matt., ch.25, vv.35f.) - or had it a chance of gain? The claim was that Stephen had lost his grip on all his numerous lands. The identity of one creditor is actually mentioned. The abbot will try to recover such properties, and will keep half the proceeds: chief houses regained will, however, go to Stephen. But there is a significant note of warning: Stephen must not go to law about any of them, except with the abbey's blessing: his litiginousness must have been notorious! it was perhaps in this matter of property-recovery that Abbot Adam was taking an undue risk. Had he properly weighed the chances of success? Had he thought of the likely costs? More research might show. My own feeling is that he took this troublesome man, and all his problems, and his daily contacts with the abbey, much too near to the heart of its life, and that in the end the abbey regretted it. The text continues: furthermore, the said abbot and his successors shall, at their charges, assist the said Stephen to liberate and recover his lands and his rights: namely, all the land which Ralph son of Geoffrey holds in pledge of the said Stephen In Thrupp, and all the lands and holdings in which the same Stephen has a right in Fritwell, and in Caulcott 1 in Heyford, and in Candeuer', in Barford, and in Forest Hill, and in Newington, and in all other places where Stephen and his heirs on one side, or the abbot and his successors on the other, can establish what sound right the same Stephen has: and when the abbot or his successors shall have recovered any of the said lands, one half of all that is acquired shall remain in the hands of Eynsham abbey, as a free and perpetual

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charitable gift, saving only service to our lord the King and to lords in chief, and the other half shall remain in the hands of the said Stephen and his heirs, together with its chief properties: and neither the said Stephen nor his heirs shall embark upon any legal suit or agreement, with regard to any land upon which the said Stephen can claim a right, without the good will, the advice, and the consent of the said abbot and his successors, and at their expense: And (to make assurance doubly sure) the earlier 'final agreement', that between Stephen's parents and the abbey, made in 1199, is solemnly and publicly handed back: and be it known that the said Stephen has restored, into the hands of Subprior Elias, attorney for the said abbot, in the presence of the said judges, in the said court, the written agreement, reached at an earlier date, in the court of our lord the King, between Miles of Fritwell, and Millicent his wife, mother of the said Stephen, who held the fee through her, that is, the said part of the fee of one knight, with its appurtenances, at Wood Eaton: And finally the two parties swear to keep the new settlement: and the abbot and Stephen have solemnly made an oath, the one to the other, that all these conditions will be faithfully observed. (from the Latin of Eynsham Cartulary, ed. H.E.Salter, vol.i, pp•135-7.)

Abbot Adam must have hoped that this apparently large-hearted agreement might assuage the running sore left from the abortive pact of 1199: but it was not to be. Six years later the whole case was in the King's court again, and this time at Westminster. Once more Stephen had to quitclaim the Wood Eaton land: but worse than that, the arrangements of 1219 were completely scrapped, and he received instead a lump sum of 30 silver marks (see Eynsham Cartulary, vol. 1, p.151, no.201).

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Six years later still, with Abbot Adam deposed, and Stephen dead, his widow Sarah, was at Westminster again. She was trying to salvage something of the 1219 pact - the two monk's allowances and one-third of an acre of land. Her consolation prize was the allowances, but for one calendar year only, and 40s. sterling (See Id ., vol.2, p.167, no.716)!

It is hard to acquit the abbey of institutional greed, all too often the way in which good people do wrong: but Stephen must have been very difficult to handle justly ....

Notes and References: 1

Text '& in Caldecote, in Hayford'. This Caldecote is Caulcott in Lower Heyford. See Gelling, M. (Ed.) 1953. The Place-names of Oxfordshire. (E.P.N.S. 23), Cambridge Univ. Press , pt.1, p.219.

Chambers, E.K. 1936. Eynsham under the Monks . Oxfordshire Record Society, Vol. 18, 125 pp.

Gordon, E. 1985. Eynsham Charters. 1. The newness of Newland Street, Eynsham. Eynsham Record, No.2, pp.4-9.

Gordon, E. 1986. Eynsham Charters. 2. Provision for retired abbots.

Eynsham Record, No.4, pp.6-11.

Salter, H.E. 1907 & 1908. The Cartulary of the Abbey of Eynsham . Oxford Historical Society. Vols. 49 & 51.

Victoria County History, Oxfordshire, Vol. 6.

The death in 1987 of that most distinguished Eynshamite, Sir Walter Oakeshott, has broken a direct link with Thomas Hardy. In the early 1920s, after Hardy was awarded an honorary Oxford degree, Sir Walter, then a young student, participated with other Oxford students in a display of classical dancing for Hardy and his guests on the lawn of Hardy's home in Dorset.

(Joan Weedon)

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WANTED

Perpendicular Cornice. Ensham, c. 1450.

INFORMATION as to the WHEREABOUTS of this STONE from EYNSHAM ABBEY

Figured in 1896 by John Henry Parker in " A Concise Glossary of Terms Used in Gothic Architecture " William Bainbridge, 10 Newland Street, Eynsham would gladly like to know.

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THE RAILWAY COMES TO EYNSHAM

by Eynsham Primary School Research Group In 1859 there was a railway (which had been there for quite a while) which ran from Oxford to Worcester and then to Wolverhampton.

It was a single line.

In that same year some business men, mainly from Witney, came together to form a committee with the aim of having a branch railway built from Yarnton Junction through Eynsham to Witney. The Committee was headed by Charles Early (head of the famous blanket company in Witney) and included Walter Strickland of Cokethorpe Park, an import­ ant farmer, Henry Akers of Bampton (farmer), Malachi Bartlett of Witney (builder), William Payne of Witney (carrier) and from Eynsham, Joseph Druce, who with his father and brother Samuel were important farmers and landowners in Eynsham.

This group wanted only the best and they chose Sir Charles Fox as their Engineer. He had been a partner in the house of Fox, Henderson & Co, contractors for the erection of the Great Exhibition of 1851, and he had been knighted for his services in that capacity. He surveyed their planned route. In the spring of 1859 a Bill was presented in Parliament asking for permission to build the Yarnton Junction to Witney line. Despite a good deal of opposition from the larger railway companies, like the Great Western, the Bill passed through Parliament quite quickly and received the Royal Assent in August 1859.

Capital for the project was raised by the sale of £10 shares. The company needed to buy a good deal of land which, as can be seen from the Book of Reference accompanying the Parliamentary Plan, included in Eynsham Parish some 10 arable fields, 23 grass fields, an ozier bed, a gravel pit and part of the Botley and Newland Turnpike road and the Toll House. The chief sellers of land in Eynsham, besides the Druce family, were the Duke of Marlborough and the Revd. Robert Burr Bourne of Donhead St. Andrew in Wiltshire. He had bought up a lot of land in and around Eynsham during the twenty years or so before the railway was built. For three parcels of land, measuring approximately 6 acres, 3 roods, 2 perches, he was paid £879 2s 6d. However, an Indenture dated 26th July 1875 shows that he had still not received the money owed to him since 1860!

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On Saturday May 19th 1860, just under a year after the Act had been passed, this notice appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal:'WITNEY RAILWAY - It is with much pleasure that we are able to in­ form you that arrangements have been made for the commencement of the Railway. Invitations have been issued to meet at the Swan Inn, Ensham, this day (Saturday), and the ceremony of turning the first sod will be performed by Walter Strickland, Esq., of Cokethorpe Park. A procession will be formed at the Swan Inn and it will then go to the spot selected for operations.'

Charles Douglas Fox, son of Sir Charles, was appointed as the resident engineer and the report of the celebrations for the opening of the railway in 1861 in Jackson's Oxford Journal says that he had personally supervised the work "from commencement to completion". The railway took twenty months to build but there were some complaints about the delay in opening. The Act of Parliament states "The Capital of the Company shall be Fifty thousand Pounds in Five thousand Shares of ten Pounds each". The cost of the building was reported as having been £40,000 and the contractor, Mr Joseph Pickering of West Bromwich and London, was praised for his work. Unfortunately, during the carrying out of the work, Mr Pickering ran into debt. Four writs served against him in 1861 show a total of £1,509 (rounded up to the nearest pound), and the speech given by Sir Charles Fox at the opening celebrations and some correspondence dated 1861 suggest that he was in difficulties.

According to the newspaper account of the opening celebrations, Sir Charles "...scarcely hoped that the contractor, Mr Pickering would have been present on that occasion, for circumstances had occurred, as they were aware, which rendered it unlikely that he would be there; but still he felt that he should not be doing his duty if he did not state that he had done his work extremely well ...

Mr Pickering had, never manifested any inclination to shirk his work". It has not been possible to establish exactly of what "they were aware" but certainly the writs, as well as very politely worded letters of demand for payment of out-of-date bills, indicate severe problems. The following letter, which seems to express a great deal of worry, would not have looked out of place at the beginning of a Sherlock Holmes story! It also underlines the importance of precisely timed rail travel.

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75 Old Broad Street, London E.C. Oct. 15th 1861.

My Dear Pickering, At my earnest request Ikin has consented to go down tomorrow. May could not and unless someone did I was all up.

You must meet Ikin at Oxford before Sir Charles [Fox] comes and inform lkin on all points. He must be ready to meet all parties at [2] o'clock p.m. and therefore there is no moment to be lost. He will quit London by the Six o'clock train and will go to the Angel but he will come to Graces Hotel to you and stay with you until [Fox] arrives who will probably quit London by the 9.35 train.

Do attend to this as your [safety] depends on it. We shall not quit London until ½past six p.m.

Believe me Yours faithfully, John Garney.

Jos. Pickering, Esq. We have not established the identity of Ikin or John Garney, but they may have been members of the Board of Joseph Pickering's firm.

The correspondence available shows that materials were gathered from all parts of the country but some was purchased locally, partic­ ularly timber. W. Day of Eynsham supplied fencing, gates etc. and someone called Scan[...) also supplied timber. (It was impossible to be sure of this name because the papers are very badly damaged.)

The building of the line depended very much on the use of horses as well as men, as the following list shows: October 11th 1861 "... the list of Men and Horses employed on Witney Railway.

3 Carpenters In the Yard getting Fence Ready for Station 1 Carpenter and 2 labourers fixing ditto 1 Blacksmith 1 Striker 8 1 1 3

Carpenters putting up Stations & 3 labourers Man putting on slates and 1 boy man Watch[...] Stations pair of Sawyers

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Sutton and 8 men putting in points and crossings Sherwood and 10 men making Road at Witney Station Yard, 2 Horses and 1 Driver 2 Horses and 1 Driver taking materials to Sutton and the Carpenters 4 Horses and 1 driver taking Engine Shed from Junction to Witney 2 men fixing Scaffolding for to put up Engine Shed 1 man Rep[...] Horse Reaper Cutting chaff" [again a damaged document] The main celebrations for the opening of the Railway in November 1861 took place in Witney. At 11.00 a.m. on 14th November the first train went from Witney to Oxford, being driven by Mr C. Douglas Fox. There were 14 carriages which were mainly full. The weather was bad.

The return trip left Oxford at 1.00 p.m. The train stopped at South Leigh and Eynsham "at which a large number of working classes were assembled and on the arrival of the train gave vent to hearty cheers". As shareholders the Druce family were well represented at "the elegant dejeuner" held in St. Mary's School Room, Witney, and also in Witney an ox was roasted; and at Eynsham "the navvies and workmen employed on the line were entertained with a substantial dinner".

The operators of the railway claimed that there was difficulty in drawing up the first time-tables which were to be arranged for "the convenience of the public", but these duly appeared in Jackson's Oxford Journal on Saturday November 23rd 1861.

From Eynsham to Oxford 8.30 a.m. 11.15 a.m. 5.05 p.m. 7.50 p.m.

From Oxford to Eynsham 9.18 a.m. 12.08 p.m. 5.57 p.m. 8.48 p.m. and the prices of tickets for passengers were: Eynsham to Oxford - 1st ciass 1/8d, 2nd Class 1/2d, 3rd Class 10d.

Eynsham to Witney - 1st Class 1/- , 2nd Class 9d, 3rd Class 6d.

These fares made travel much cheaper, for we discovered that in 1867 a cab fare from Oxford Station to Eynsham, a distance of 6 miles, cost six shillings (6/-).

The authorised fares for freight and cattle, based on so-much a mile, had been set out in the Act of Parliament. These took into account the use of Company carriages and Company engines. So that we found:-

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"Toll for Animals Class 7. For every Ox, Cow, Bull or Neat cattle, Twopence a Mile; and if conveyed in any Carriage belonging to the Company an additional One Penny a Mile."

We wondered how the animals could be transported without the use of a carriage and an engine!

From the Log Book of the Infant's School, which was opened in 1890, we have found some indications of how important the railway became to those travelling to and from Eynsham.

1894. Feb. 5th Apr.20th 1895. Mar. 8th 1898. Apr. 7th

I missed the train at Oxford this morning & so could not be at Eynsham to take school until the afternoon.

I left school at 3.00 p.m. today in order to catch the 3.30 p.m. train to Cheltenham.

Attendance poor, Norah away ill. Left school early this afternoon to leave Eynsham by the 3.30 train.

School assembled this afternoon at one, registers were marked immediately and school closed at 3.15 so teachers (who were going on Easter holidays) could catch the 3.19 train.

The railway also entered into the school curriculum.

Subjects for lessons included 'The Station Master' (1902), 'The Railway Station' (1904), and 'The Railway' (the latter under the heading of Social Economy); and on Sept. 30th 1898 the Head Mistress recorded .."Children played trains today as it was too wet to go out."

Eynsham had not only a railway, but also a 'Railway Inn', and we wondered if this was built at the same time as the railway or if it was an old inn renamed. The external appearance of the building we see today (on the corner of Station Road and Acre End Street, opposite 'The Swan') led us to believe that it had probably been built or altered around the middle or end of the 19th century.

Research among the archives revealed two documents which shed some light on the problem. By his will of 19th August 1869, James Gibbons, described as Grocer, farmer and brewer, left "... to my daughter Ann Ruth Gibbons ... my house and premises known as the Railway Inn at Eynsham with the two cottages adjoining them", and a later schedule, which redistrib ­ utes his property after the death of one of his sons, states that Ann

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Ruth Gibbons shall have "the messuage or tenement hereditaments and premises situate and being in Eynsham aforesaid in a certain street there called Fire Lane - All which said premises were formerly known as the 'Britannia Inn' and are now known as the 'Railway Inn".

No 'Britannia Inn' (other than at Barnard Gate) appears in Kelly's Oxfordshire Directory of 1848 or in Slater's Oxfordshire Directory of 1850, but Billing's Directory of 1854 records that the 'Britannia Inn' in Acre End St. was kept by one John Harwood, described as 'Beer retailer & baker'. No other reference to 'Fire Lane' could be found. Prior to the coming of the railway, Station Road seems to have been called New Bridge Road (see Chambers, E.K. Eynsham under the Monks. Oxfordshire Record Society, Vol.18, 1936), but we wondered if it could have been called 'Fire Lane' for a short time after the so-called "Calamitous Fire" reported in Jackson's Oxford Journai of Saturday October 7th 1854. This broke out on the Duke's Farm but spread rapidly and burned for the best part of two days causing a lot of damage and involving property in Swan Lane. We can, at the moment, only speculate.

In this, our first project, we have confined ourselves mainly to the Victorian era of the railway, in line with our school studies, but we may have opportunities to take our study further in the future.

[Research Group members: Nichola Hartigan, Jenna Haskett, Adam Hooley, Kelly Langford, Stuart Langston, Hannah Osborne, Tom Pollard, Pamela Richards and Peter Sonley]

ENSHAM Her Majesty's Postmaster-General has decided that a Post Office Savings Bank shall be opened here on the 16th inst. when a poor man may safely deposit his shilling or more up to ÂŁ30 a year, and so provide for a rainy day.

Extract from

Jackson's Oxford Journal, Saturday December 7th 1861.

(Pamela Richards)

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The 'Red Lion' and St. Leonard's in 1910.

(Courtesy of Oxfordshire C. C. Central Library) Below: the same scene in 1987. The cottage in the middle has disappeared.

[Please see p.34 for the correction of an error in THEN & NOW, Eynsham Record No.4, 1987]

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NOTE: the images opposite have been re-sized to reduce the overall size of this .pdf file.

Back numbers of the Eynsham Record are available in print for ÂŁ1 plus p&p. Contact the Editor Brian Atkins, 8 Thornbury Road tel 01865 881677 email brian@fbatkins.free-online.co.uk or Fred Bennett, 68 Witney Road tel 01865 880659

The Record is now also available on CD, for higher resolution images and cross-file searching: please email eynsham-online@hotmail.co.uk

23

ST. LEONARD'S RESTORED -- A personal view

by Charles Caine St. Leonard's Day - 8th November 1987 - was also, by happy chance.

Remembrance Day, and in the morning the church was almost overflowing as the village honoured its dead. In the evening the church was again packed, again for a service of remembrance and rededication; the St. Leonard's Restoration Appeal was finally being laid to rest, and the newly restored and redecorated church was witness to eight long years of steady but sometimes frantic effort. Each of those actively involved in the project will have different recollections of those eight years, and none will totally accord with the facts. What follows, then, is not history, but rather my personal picture, seen through the distorting lens of personal prejudice, of how St. Leonard's was restored.

In the years immediately preceding the restoration there had not been a great deal done to the fabric of the church other than routine maintenance and some work to windows. The Parochial Church Council had, of course, many other calls on its financial resources, and many other matters to occupy its deliberations. At the Annual Church Meeting in February 1974 Churchwarden Albert Hicks reported that 'not much had been spent on the fabric of the church during the last year, but that quite a bit would be required soon'. He could not have guessed how much! A fortnight earlier, Mr Westwood, the then vicar, had promised the P.C.C. that he would ask the Rural Dean when the next architect's inspection was due, and by October of the following year (1975) the report of that inspection had arrived, and because 'it was very important', the vicar read it in full to a meeting of the P.C.C. At that time, however, the P.C.C. was much exercised over the possible sale of part of the vicarage garden to provide a site for a health centre, faced heavy expenditure on resuscitating the organ, and was shortly to face the prospect of an interregnum following Mr Westwood's retirement. It is not surprising, perhaps, that despite the importance of the surveyor's report, the actual fabric of the church received little attention over the next two years.

The origin of the restoration can be traced to a meeting of the P.C.C. held in October 1977. By then the new vicar, Peter Ridley, had been in office for some six months, and the question was raised of an

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up-to-date inspection (the previous one had been from the ground) and of the appointment of a new architect. At the following meeting two months later, the P.C.C. appointed John Glanfield as its architect, and requested a full survey of the building, including an examination of the electrical wiring.

The P.C.C. minutes for the next year or so read rather like the script for a disaster movie! By February 1978 it was known that com­ plete rewiring was necessary, and by April, 'quite a bit' had become £20,000. In that same month the architect carried out his inspection, and in July was suggesting that£35,000 might be nearer the mark. In November this had become £65,000, and by the December meeting of the P.C.C. at which the architect was present, the figure had crept up to £72,000. As the new year dawned it was £80,000 (and still rising) when Peter Ridley invited me to form a 'village committee' which would attempt to raise this sum; to my surprise I found myself accepting. This invitation was confirmed by the P.C.C. at its meeting on 17th January 1979, and thus the St. Leonard's Restoration Appeal was born -or rather conceived since it was only after a slightly longer than usual gestation period that it was officially launched on 4th November, St. Leonard's Day, 1979.

Much can happen 'twixt conception and birth, and the Restoration Appeal was no exception. There was, of course, much to be done. Once the Appeal Committee had been formed, it was necessary to decide the objectives of the Appeal and to determine the consequent monetary target. It was clear that the Appeal would have to be run on professional lines - distinguished patrons were to be sought and promotional literature prepared - and that it would be necessary to devise a mechanism to coordinate the programme of restoration with the flow of funds. This latter aim was met by the formation of a Building Liaison Committee, equally representative of the P.C.C. and the Appeal Committee, which was to meet regularly with the architect to plan the restoration and to monitor its execution.

As is usual at such times, the patient continued to put on weight!

There were two reasons other than the alarming rate of inflation of building costs. First, it was decided that the programme of work should include not only items of immediate urgency, but also any which should be done within the likely time-scale of the Appeal itself. Essentially it was to be this century's overhaul, to include the provision of an effective heating system and a final redecoration, so that with subsequent routine maintenance the building could be safely handed on to our successors in the next millenium. Apart from its obvious intrinsic merit, such a programme

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was thought to be much more likely to attract potential donors.

Second, during the summer two urgent, preliminary pieces of work were carried out: the church was rewired (including the installation of a new lighting system) and the tower was descaled to minimise the danger to passers-by. The latter facilitated a much closer inspection of the tower than had previously been possible, and revealed that its stonework (and by extrapolation that of other remote parts of the church) was in an even worse condition than had originally been thought.

Looking back, I have the impression that we were all involved under false pretences! Certainly I was recruited on the basis of an £80,000 target, and in persuading others to Join me on the Appeal Committee I had suggested that perhaps £100,000 would be required.

The architect had assured us that the Department of the Environment (D.o.E.) would contribute one half of the costs so that this proposition did not seem unreasonable. (It later transpired that his assumption was wildly optimistic, as was Peter Ridley's estimate of what the P.C.C. would be able to contribute from its normal income). By March 1979, in letters to possible patrons of the Appeal, I was already quoting £120,000, and by the time the Appeal was eventually launched it was for the implausible sum of £180,000.

The evening service inaugurating the Appeal was quite impressive.

Stuart Blanch, one-time vicar of Eynsham, then Archbishop of York, and heading our list of patrons, preached the sermon, the choir sang an anthem, and the large congregation included the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, the present Home Secretary, the recently retired Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, and a former Vice-Chancellor of the Univ­ ersity of Oxford. There was an unreal sense of optimism which, so I soon learnt, is the essence of fund-raising, and the only chilling note was provided by the words of Sir Francis Drake's dispatch to Walsingham which Peter Ridley had cleverly included in the prayers.

'There must be a beginning to any great matter, but the continuing until it be finished yields the true glory'. The truth was that as I stood in the pulpit to introduce the Appeal I was on very shaky ground, both literally - because the pulpit itself was in imminent danger of collapse - and metaphorically - because despite my brave words, it was entirely unclear how the task we had set ourselves might be accomplished. Yet, oddly enough, in my address I had given the solution, '... as to how we shall raise the money, the answer is simple: we shall have faith and hope - the charity will arrive. We shall simply ask for it.' The story of the next eight years is largely to do with the village's generous response to this request.

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In the cold light of dawn the task did, indeed, seem formidable.

There was a very considerable sum to be raised which implied a period of perhaps seven or eight years (as had been explained to the P.C.C. earlier in the year). Even if this could be achieved, there would be the difficult problem of relating a programme of works to an estimated inflow of cash and attempting to allow for the effects of inflation which was then running at a very high level. As it turned out, at no time did the Appeal find itself overdrawn, although this was often perilously close and some parts of the programme were commissioned before it was clear how the funds would be found. This was in large part due to John Manning whose expertise in such matters - he had previously been the Secretary of a well-known firm of professional fund-raisers - proved invaluable.

In the event the task took eight years, almost to the day, and the actual schedule of work was as follows: Phase '0': (Undertaken at the outset of the Appeal) Rewiring and installation of a modern lighting system; Descaling of Tower.

Cost: £15,697 Phase '1 ': Re-roofing of Nave and North Aisle: leadwork, stonework and fenestration of North Clerestory and North Aisle.

(Completed May 1981) Cost: £47,329 Phase '2': Leadwork, stonework and fenestration of South Aisle and South Clerestory; re-roofing of South Aisle.

(Completed February 1982) Cost: £23,025 Phase '3': (a) Chancel: stonework, fenestration, repairs to roof.

(Completed February 1983) Cost: £7,101 (b) Porch: stonework and parapet.

(Completed August 1983) Cost: £13,630 (c) Interior: installation of damp-course and replastering.

(Completed August 1983) Cost: £5,078 (d) Coping to east end of Nave roof.

(Completed August 1984) Cost: £1,478 Phase '4': Stonework to Tower and West Wall; repairs and fenestration of West Window.

(Completed March 1986) Cost: £53,389 Phase '5': Installation of new heating system.

(Completed September 1986) Cost: £15,741 Extension in Chancel (1987) Phase '6': (a) Redecoration etc. (1987) (b) Washing of North face (1987) (c) Miscellaneous items (1987)

Cost: Cost: Cost:

£2,600* £13,740* £1,723 £2,493*

(Note: * Estimates - the final accounts for these items have yet to be rendered. The above figures are inclusive of fees and VAT.)

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The main contractors for the first three phases were Axtell, Perry, Symm of 0xford; the work to the tower and washing of the north face was done by R.M. Knott & Sons of Somerset; the heating install­ ation and the work in Phase '6'(c) by P.W. Brown of Eynsham; and the redecoration by Berry's of Malvern. The work up to and including Phase '4' was supervised by John Glanfield of Riley & Glanfield, St. Albans; and the final decoration etc. by Peter Gilbert-Scott of 0xford.

(For completeness it should be mentioned that towards the end of the period, although not part of the Appeal and funded or donated separately, the pulpit was restored, the wooden floor sanded and resealed, and the decaying choirstalls replaced by modern inter-locking chairs.)

Revd. Peter Ridley, Vicar of Eynsham when the Appeal was launched, and Dr. Charles Caine, Chairman of the Appeal Committee, with three new gargoyles. Any possible resemblances lie only in the mind of the beholder. This splendid photograph, courtesy of Sue Chapman, has been inserted by the editor without the knowledge or permission of the author!

It must be admitted that the work did not always go smoothly. There were bound to be problems in dealing with a building of such a n t i q u i t y , a n d t h e c o r r e c t s o l u t i o n s w e r e n o t a l w a y s f o u n d immediately. Some seemed inexplicable - e.g. best Welsh slates which continued to crack, although these could not have been improved by youths climbing on a newly slated roof and some were solved only after long and frustrating trial and error - e.g. plaster which

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refused to dry or, conversely and perversely, refused to adhere to its backing, and water penetration down the side of the tower. In many ways the Building Liaison Committee had a less happy experience than did the Appeal Committee which knew that it was attempting the impossible and could therefore be cheerful in the face of adversity. Throughout the work David Jones did noble service as voluntary quantity surveyor, and since April 1984 (upon his appointment as churchwarden) Peter Brown acted as voluntary clerk of the works to the later stages of the restoration and did invaluable work in sorting out the problems mentioned above. It is fair to say that it was his entrance upon the scene which ensured that the completed restoration was of a standard in which we could take some pride.

It is always harder to earn money than to spend it, and even harder to beg it! I suspect that for the Appeal Committee, charged with raising what seemed an astronomical sum, the actual restoration was almost incidental - merely a device to provide targets which had to be attained! There is always a danger that one will come to believe one's own propaganda, but I hope that I am not being fanciful in thinking that the Appeal was good for the village in that it engendered a great many social activities, and helped to bring people together. Perhaps the village should now be looking for another good cause!

(Lest any reader should have a calculator to hand, I should explain the method of creative accounting used in fundraising in order to keep up morale. When a gift is given by means of an annual covenant over a period of four (or more) years - the period was seven years when the Appeal started - it is counted at its 'grossed up' value, i.e. four times the annual amount of the gift plus the tax which can be recovered. If all goes well, the actual amount received will be equal to the grossed up value, but only by the end of four years. For example, at the end of 1980, by which time the Appeal had been running for just over a year, the grossed up value was ÂŁ69,177 out of which only ÂŁ28,329 had at that time been received. If, however, a donor dies, or does not keep up the payments, or if the standard rate of income tax is lowered, the actual amount received will be less than the grossed up amount. All three eventualities occurred during the Appeal and hence the final actual amount will be less than the grossed up amount quoted below (Appendix 1), perhaps by as much as ÂŁ3,000. We do not yet know the actual final amount since some covenants are still in force.)

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At the outset the its initial campaign this would provide a is no doubt but that

Appeal Committee had decided to concentrate on covenanted giving since, if successful, firm base for the rest of the Appea1. There this strategy was correct. Indeed, had the

initial expectations of what the Department of the Environment would provide been fulfilled, the Appeal would have been over in about four years. Alas it was not to be, and a short sharp campaign became a war of attrition. Yet oddly enough this was not all for the bad. Had the D.o.E. turned up trumps, we would not have resorted to those activities which I believe were of so much social benefit, e.g. the Talent Scheme or the American visitors.

It is impossible to compress eight year's effort by so many people into a few paragraphs and I shall merely attempt to give the flavour. However, the essential elements in the eventual success of the Appeal were: i.

The success of the initial campaign for covenants; in all nearly 150,000 was given by this method. ii. The substantial contribution from the P.C.C. (over £14,000). iii.The important support of the Parish Council (£8,000). iv. The successful Treasure Sales organised by Eddie Price (over £9,500) v. The Talent Schemes, four in all starting in the autumn of 1983, organised by the indefatigable Mary Oakeley (nearly £11,000). vi. The continual 'ground swell' of giving in the village.

(Of great importance was the dramatic reduction in the actual cost of the work to the tower, west wall and west window from the estimates which were for nearly £100,000. Ironically, by this time the work of the D.o.E. In respect of ancient buildings had passed to English Heritage, and we were offered a 40% grant on the total cost!)

For the flavour, I shall quote from my address given at the closing service on St. Leonard's Day 1987.

'As we bring the St. Leonard's Restoration Appeal to a close, I feel as if I am saying goodbye to an old friend - cantankerous at times, and often demanding, but a source of unexpected pleasures, and of insights into the human good which is all around us. And in saying goodbye, I cannot help being reminded of those

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staunch friends of the Appeal whose lives have run their course Margaret Foote whose Morris Minor was the star attraction of our first Treasure Sale, indomitable in her faith and charity; more recently, Willie Pimm who, from time to time, would come walking up my drive with an envelope of banknotes; Pattie Davis, in her eighties, acting as chauffeuse to American visitors; and within the last few weeks, Walter Oakeshott, patron and friend;.... there were others of course.

And in nostalgic mood, I am bound also to remember the multitude of events of one kind or another which were organised to support our cause, or from which we have been the main beneficiaries: Autumn Fayres, Whittaker's Weekend with muskets firing in the vicarage garden and a half peal of bells threatening to shake the tower to the ground, the American visitors, Treasure Sales, the Talent Scheme - almost an appeal in itself - with its final most extravagant and profitable venture of a Fashion Show at Weston Manor, Russian evening, Chinese evening, Italian evening, New Zealand evening, jumble sales, coffee mornings, slide shows, many, many concerts, exhibitions of art, and of crafts, and of local history, plays, the Flower Festival, Eynsham in Bloom, Christmas trees at the vicarage, strawberries at the Carnival,...

The real heroes and heroines, of course, are the many, many people who responded to our blunt request for money, and who gave often what they could not afford. In John Manning's books there are recorded just over 2,400 contributions - roughly one for every weekday since the Appeal started - and the total amount raised is just short of ÂŁ195,000... It has been, it seems to me, a remarkable demonstration of public generosity and of social coherence within a small community: from the Parish Council to the Primary School, from those of every shade of religious belief to those with none at all. We have, of course, had help from other parts of the country and, indeed, from many parts of the world. I am thinking, here, especially of our American friends. One became our largest single individual donor, whilst others, who visited us under the Parish Holidays scheme, have kept in touch and have continued to support the Appea1....'

My picture, then, of the restoration of St. Leonard's is one of multum in parvo . Many people helped - the Patrons, the Committees, and a whole host of others - many people gave, and in the end the village did its duty to the one real link to its mediaeval past.

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Appendix 1

Progress of the Appeal - grossed up value by year end.

'80 '79 £29,202 £69,177

'81 £91,923

'82 £108,172

'86 £181,412

'83 £124,122

'85 '84 £134,900 £161,485

'87 £194,829

Appendix 2 Distribution of Donors by Category Patrons and Appeal Committee Members of St. Leonard's

£ 8,494 £53,552

( 4.4%) (27.5%)

Parochial Church Council Funds

£14,375

( 7.4%)

Eynsham village Trusts etc.

Individuals outside Eynsham

£45,407

(23.3%)

£13,667 6,373

( 7.0%) ( 3.2%)

Institutions (including D.o.E.) Interest received

£41,469 £11,492

(21.3%) ( 5.9%)

(Note: The total number of donations was 2,439, and of the total grossed amount, 25.6% was given under deed of covenant.)

EYNSHAM PARISH CHURCH To the Editor. of ",The Oxford Times."

DEAR Mr EDITOR,—.Allow me through your paper to say a few words . respecting the above church. Twenty years ago I had occasion to visit Eynsham, and went to the church, and before my seat I had to dust it with my handkerchief.

I cannot say I felt much pleasure in what was to me quite a primitive service with regard to the style of. singing. etc. Last Sunday I again visited Eynsham, and attended the Easter services. I an scarcely express the surprise I experienced on entering the fine old church. It was, indeed, a transformation scene from twenty years ago, the many improvements in seats, etc., the cleanliness. and last, but not least, the good style of playing and singing, the voices of the choir being in perfect unison. And the anthem in the evening was well rendered. I think great praise is due to those who had the training of the choir and conducting of the services throughout. Thanking you for inserting this allow me to express myself as a well-wisher to the old church, although A STRANGER

Letter to the Oxford Times , 24 April 1897

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CHURCH RESTORATION IN THE 17th CENTURY

by Lilian Wright We have now finished restoration work at St. Leonard's that has taken eight years.1 There are records in our Churchwardens' Accounts of restoration work carried out in the 17th century. These began in 1640 when the tower window was repaired. Between 1640 and 1662 there are seven references to lime, four of these being for the period 165961. Perhaps there was a lime-washing of the whole of the interior at the time of the Restoration of the Monarchy, and just patching work during the Civil War and early part of the Commonwealth.

However in 1648, at the end of the Civil War, there was a bill for repairs, which included mending the church windows, for almost £3. This was a third of the total amount for that year, and suggests that there may have been damage to the church during the Civil War. In 1654 there is an item of £3 Os. 0d. 'for mending the Church windows and for lead for the aisle next to the Churchyard'; and in 1655 another large bill - 'Item received by a Bill for the Reparations of the Church £7 6s. 6d.'

The most detailed account for glass comes in 1657:'Item paid for Bonding and Soudering 144 foote of glass at 3d. the foot £1 16s. 0d.

'Item paid to the glazier for 140 Quarrells of glass at the rate of ld. the Quarrel 11s. 8d.

'Item pd to the glazier for Twenty pounds of Souder at 14d. the lb £1 3s. 4d.

'It. pd to the glazier for 4 dayes workes for himself and his man 12s. 0d.

'It. pd to the glazier for 12 lbs of Souder at 14d. the pound 14s. 0d.

'It pd. to the glazier for 1 dayes worke for himself and his man 3s. 0d.

'It. pd to glazier 2s. 6d.

'It. given to glazier's man ls. 0d.

So the total work on the windows for that year was £5 3s. 6d. which was half of the total disbursements. A quarry of glass is the name given to a small diamond-shaped pane, and it would have taken about 140 to replace a complete window. 'Souder' is an old word for 'solder'.

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We can only guess at the reason for replacing an entire window.

There may have been storm damage, or deliberate damage - a response to the new puritanical trend towards stripping away of ornamentation; or was it simply a fancy for a new window of clear glass? it is recorded 2 that at a Herald's Visitation of 1574 there was heraldic glass in the East, North and South windows of the Chancel, and also in the windows of the South aisle probably dating from the 14th century.

From 1657 onwards, amounts in the first book of the Churchwardens' Accounts are again for small items, apart from work on the bells in 1653 and 1660.

It would seem, however, that for a period of about 10 years in the middle of the 17th century, there was significant expenditure on the fabric of St. Leonard's Church, amounting to an early 'restoration'.

Notes and references: 1. See the preceding article in this number.

2. Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi . Great Britain Vol. I. County of 0xford. Catalogue of Medieval Stained Glass. Peter A. Newton 1979.

ERRATUM in THEN and NOW, Eynsham Record, No.4, 1987, p.22 The church clock, set low on the tower in 1846, was raised to its present position, NOT in 1964, but at some time in the 19th century.

The mechanism was replaced in 1964.

So far as I know, the only person to spot my blunder was a 12-year old pupil at the Bartholomew School!

(Editor)

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GRAVE STONES IN THE CHANCEL OF ST. LEONARD'S

by Donald Richards When the choir stalls were removed from the chancel in February 1986, several grave stones were revealed. They were in a bad state owing to damp, and it was clear that they were likely to deteriorate further. It seemed desirable to put their texts 'on record' as fully as possible.

In the transcriptions that follow, the double slash symbol(//) indicates where a new line begins in the original. Square brackets enclose tentative readings, and round brackets readings that can be reliably reconstructed. 0riginal italics and capitals have been retained, but it is not possible to reproduce the delightful letter shapes that some of.the memorials exhibit.

1.North side (opposite Vicar's stall), 178 x 80 cm.:

HERE LIETH THE BODY OF // MARY THE WIFE OF GEORGE // KNAPP WH[O DECEASED] MAY // THE [12th] ANO DOM 1694 The registers record the burial of Mary Knapp on May 14, 1694.

For her husband, see no. 3 below.

2.To the north of, and alongside no. 1, 160 x 103 cm.:

HERELIETH(YeBODY OF) ..................... //DECEA(SED) [MA]RCH Y[E] ..................... //AGED [7] The lettering is similar to that of no. 1. There is no trace of any name. The tomb seems to be of a child, because there is only one digit given for the age. The registers record an Ann, daughter of John Knapp (see no. 4), who was christened August 19, 1712 and died February 22, 1716/17*, and was therefore at least four years old at her death.

----------------------------------------* At this time, the calendar year began on April 1st. Thus February 22, 1716, as recorded at the time, is equivalent to February 22, 1717 on the modern calendar.

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3.To the north of and alongside no. 7, 178 x 55 cm.:

HERE LIETH // Ye BODY OF GEORGE // KNAPP // the Son of GEORGE // KNAPP // who Departed this // (Life) Dec. the 18th // 1711 // AGED [80] George Knapp was buried on the day he died. He was a friend of John Bartholomew and a trustee of his will. His own will, which he made on December 10, 1711, is in the County Record 0ffice (138/3/7).

4.North side (between nos. 1 and 7), 177 x 80 cm:

Here Lieth the // Body of John the Son // of GEORGE KNAPP [GENT] // Departed this life Feb. ............// 1(7)29 // AGED [4]5 Years.

John Knapp's will (made May 9, 1722) is also in the County Record 0ffice (138/3/40). He was buried February 13, 1729.

5.South side (below the Aelfric window), 184 x 93 cm.:

UNDERNEATH // this Stone // (liet)h the Body of // M MARY MAGDALENE HARPUR // who died April 11th 1781 // Aged [53] Years.

Cease, cease my friends, Children, cease your Tears. // I must lie here in Dust till Christ appears. // The Rich, the Poor, alike share the same fate, // But none but sons of virtue pass the Gate // To Bliss, [Children], pursue the sacred way // That leads to Him, Prince of th'eternal Day //

Her burial is recorded on April 15, 1781. She frequently appears in the Parish Registers (for the baptisms of her children) as Magdalen(e) Harpur, but also as M. Magdalene.I do not understand the detached M preceding her name on the tombstone. According to the baptismal records she bore six children between 1755 and 1764, so that an age of 53 at the time of her death is entirely plausible.

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6. South side (below plain window), 195 x 97 cm.:

In // Memory of // EDWARD MINN Gent // OF THIS PARISH // who died April 27 178(8) // Aged [35] Years.

Also of // ALICE MINN // Widow of the above // EDWARD MINN // died [August] // Aged .... Years.

(Write, Blessed are) the Dead // (which) die in the Lord // from (henceforth)

The gentleman's burial is recorded under the date May 1, 1788, but his name is clearly given in the registers as Mr. Edmund Minn. This is an error. The will of Edward Minn (drawn up November 27, 1787 and proved May 10, 1788) is in the County Record 0ffice (46/4/14).

I initially read the month of Alice's death as April or August.

An Alice Minn was buried on August 26, 1803, aged 83. If this is our Alice, she must have been decidedly (about 30 years) older than her husband. However his age cannot be read with any certainty. I can find no baptismal or marriage record.

The sacred text is from Revelation ch.14, v.13 .

7. North side (east of no. 4), 195 x 102 cm: The surface is almost completely eroded, and the text illegible except for line 1: e (from "Here Lieth"?), line 2: M

-----------------------------------------

In the north-east corner of the chancel, partially obscured by the altar steps (about 10 cm. are covered), is a stone commemorating the Symonds family. Although it is not one of the stones recently revealed by the removal of the choir stalls it is worth recording here as its surface is very worn.

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8. 0n north side of altar, 222 x approx. 87 cm.:

THE (REVD.) // THOMAS SYMONDS // VICAR // (D)IED JANUARY 7 1845 // AGED 73 // // ALSO FRANCES // (RE)LICT OF THE ABOVE// DIED JUNE 13 1853 // AGED 78 // // (ELIZ)ABETH the daughter of // [MRS] FRANCES SYMONDS // (DIED JANUARY ........................ 1848) // (ANN) the daughter of // [MRS] FRANCES SYMONDS // DIED J A N U A R Y 2 1 1 8 8 8 / / A G E D 8 2 / / / / A L S O O F / / F R A N C E S SYMONDS // DIED MARCH 9 1894 // AGED 86

The Revd. Thomas Symonds was an M.A. of Merton College, 0xford.

He served as curate and vicar of Eynsham for many years and was an important figure in the history of 19th century Eynsham (see the memorial tablet on the wall above the tombstone). He was buried on January 17, 1845.

His widow, Frances, died at Kidlington and was buried in St. Leonard's on June 23, 1853. Their daughter, Elizabeth, who was christened on 0ctober 3, 1804, died (also at Kidlington) aged 44 and was buried on January 26, 1848, from which information I have reconstructed the text as above. Ann was christened on November 17, 1805. Frances was christened on September 25, 1807, having been born on July 2 of that year.

I attempted to check the later burial dates, but the relevant volume of the register (post-1859) was not available for consultation. There were two other daughters who died young: Jane, christened March 28, 1809, died aged 3 and buried March 14, 1812; and Mary Cartwright, christened November 19, 1810, died aged 6 and buried February 22, 1817.

Extract from

Jackson's 0xford Journal, 1877.

At a Special Court of Governors at which Prince Leopold accepted the new children's ward on behalf of the Radcliffe Infirmary, he gave the thanks of the Court to Mr Mason of Eynsham who laid out the adjacent gardens with shrubs and flowers which "when grown will give to all our inmates the sense of friendly and cultural care"..

(Anne Chalmers)

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BLAKE'S BOTTLES

by Brian Duffield and Brian Atkins For some 85 years the Blake family manufactured soft drinks in Eynsham. This account does not attempt to record the detailed history of the company, but rather to indicate some of the enormous range of bottles used by the firm to market its drinks over the years. The collecting of old bottles is a fascinating hobby in its own right, and an extensive series of objects connected with the same business can throw light on its history and development.

The earliest reference we have found to 'Blake & Co., manufacturers of aerated waters and lemonade' is in the Eynsham section of the Post 0ffice Directory for 0xfordshire, 1877.

In the 1881 census we find Ernest Blake, unmarried, aged 22, mineral water manufacturer, employing 2 men and 3 boys, living with his 18-year old brother, Harry, in Acre End Street. If the census return is correct, Ernest can have been no more than 17 or 18 years old when he started the business; and this hardly accords with his grandson's ciaim that he had already "studied both at Cambridge and London Universities, where his greatest interest was chemistry"! 1 The site chosen for the business was a paddock to the west of Mill Street, for here was the 'Celebrated Spring' with a ready supply of fresh water (Fig. 1).

Blake and Co. appear to have been a fairly adventurous firm and marketed a wide variety of non-alcoholic drinks. Surviving labels (Fig. 2) include those for soda water, Winter Fizz ('Best winter drink, warm and refreshing'), Raspberry Champagne (which nowadays no doubt would fall foul of the Trade Descriptions Law!), and non-alcoholic Football Stout ('with a kick in it') which might be successfully re-introduced now that the soccer terraces are teetotal! In addition we know of mineral water, lemonade, cherry cider and other fruit drinks; and, of course, ginger beer, a popular speciality made from root ginger, cream of tartar, yeast and essences and supplied in stone bottles. 2 For a period, the founder's sons, Maurice and Philip, worked for their father but by 1920 Philip was established as a 'motor engineer' in the High Street (telephone no. 5!), and in the 1930s Maurice Blake took over the mineral water firm and transferred it to the Everleigh Works on the east side of Witney Road. He continued in business until the early 1960s.

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Figure 1. Blake's factory in Mill Street, now demolished.

Photograph by Sue Chapman

A mid-20th century advertisement. Maurice Blake had his factory, the Everleigh Works, in Witney Road.

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Figure 2. Some Blake labels (x2/3)

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Figure 3. Some Blake bottles.

See Table opposite for descriptions and dates.

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TABLE 1. (Bottles

underlined are illustrated opposite)

'Dumpy' Codd Patent 4. 0nly one example known. Late 1870s. (Fig.3a) Codd-Hamilton Hybrid. 0nly one example known. Late 1870s. (Fig.3b) Codd Patent 6 6 oz. 1870s.

Codd Patent 6 10oz; Req. trade mark. 0nly one known. 1890. (Fig.3c) Codd Patent 16. 0nly one example known. 1885. (Fig.3d) Narrow neck Ryland 8 Codd Pat 4. No intact bottle known. 1888 (Fig.3e) Codd 'Premier' Patent. No intact bottle known. 1885-95 . (Fig.3f) Blue lip Codd Bulb neck. 0nly 3 or 4 recovered. 1885-95. (Fig.3g) 'Reliance' Patent Codd, embossed. 10 oz. 1880. (Fig.3h) Codd Patent 4 6oz. narrow neck, 1880.

Codd patent 4 10 oz. narrow neck, 1880.

Codd Patent 4 6oz., 1880.

Codd Round motif Milner Bros) 6oz., 1895.

Codd Round motif 10oz., 1895.

Round-bottomed Hamilton 6oz. 1898. (Fig.3i) Rylands 6oz. Reliance Pat. Acid etched. 0nly one known, 1910. (Fig.3j) Flat-bottomed Hamilton 6oz., 1900.

Flat-bottomed Hamilton 10oz., 1900. (Fig.3k) Stone ginger beer jar 'Dumpy' cork, 1900.

Blue-lip Codd (Standard), 1900.

Blake's Water jug, 1900.

0live-green glass 'Blob' top 6oz., 1900. (Fig.3l) 0live-green hop bitter (non-alcoholic?) ½pt. screw top, 1904. (Fig.3m) Codd 'Eynsham 0xon' 6oz., 1915 Codd 'Eynsham, 0xon' 10oz., 1915 Codd 'Eynsham' 6oz., 1920 Codd 'Eynsham' 10oz, 9k". Last of the Codds. 1920-35. (Fig.3n) Stone ginger beer jar 'Dumpy' screw top, 1920.

Soda-water syphon, 1925.

Stone ginger beer jar, tall, screw top, 1930.

'Modern' crown top closure 10oz. Maurice Blake, 1940. (Fig.3o)

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Table 1 lists all the types of Blake bottles, syphons and jars of which we know, arranged approximately in chronological order. A selection of these is illustrated in Figure 3; and some are worthy of particular comment.

A 'Codd' bottle', named after its inventor, contained a glass 'marble' which was forced upwards into the neck by the gas pressure, thus effecting a closure. When the drink was required, a special opener was used to push the 'marble' back onto a ledge in the bottle.

The marbles, of course, were much in demand by the children, and intact Codd bottles are thus relatively rare today.

A particularly interesting Codd is the blue-lipped, bulb-necked type (Fig. 3g) which has been found intact only in dumps in 0xford, although a huge number of broken specimens have been found in Eynsham.

It may be that these bottles were used exclusively for the 0xford market, and that the blue lip served to identify Blake's bottles in a caseful of assorted 'returnable' empties.

A number of the stone ginger beer jars have survived, including the 3 gallon size (See front cover). Two ginger beer 'bottoms', sky-blue in colour with a black 'Blake & Co.' print of ca. 1925 have been found but, alas, thrown away again.

The glass makers used by Blake's included the South Wales Glass Co. of Newport, Kilner & Son of London, Powell and Rickett's of Bristol, Dale Brown of Swinton, and Herron Bros. of Mexborough.

Blake & Co. quenched many an Eynsham thirst, and the marbles from the 'Codds' provided a seemingly endless supply of amusement for the children of yesteryear. The surviving bottles, more varied than are known for any similar company in the region, remind us of those times.

References: 1.Roy Blake, in From Acre End M. Harris (Ed.), Chatto & Windus, 1982.

2.Ivy Hanks, in op. cit.

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THE MANSARD HOUSE: A postscript

by Shawn Kholucy and Pamela Richards See P. Richards. The Mansard House, Eynsham Record, no.4, p.35, 1987) The documentary evidence cited in the earlier article (see above) shows that the first 'house and whomstall' on the site was built sometime between 1628 and 1683, but that during the time Stephen Day held the lease (between 1750 and 1771) 'the said House and Barn has been pulled down and a new Dwelling-house erected in the room thereof'. From a casual glance the present Mansard House might appear to be a typical house of the end of the 19th or beginning of the 20th century. Does anything of the mid-18th century house still exist?

Indeed, can any of the even earlier house be seen?

A mansarded roof structure is not untypical for the 18th century, when it was also known as a 'kirb' roof, and instructions as to how to construct it were to be found in builders' pattern books at the end of that century (e.g. Peter Nicholson, The Carpenter's New Guide, 1792). The simple form and slender timbering of this roof suggests a later rather than an earlier date in the century. The roof runs from south to north. The mansard Is carried around the south (street) front but is terminated by a gable on the north. There is no cornice between the roof and the walls. An 18th or early 19th century mansarded roof would usually be screened by a parapet and double drip course. Mansarded roofs with verges were to be found in rural areas, but the verge would be quite deep, with a cornice or at least the top course of brick or stone over-sailing the face of the wall immediately below the verge soffit. The detail we see today might have been considered acceptable for a humble building where costs were being severely cut, but the fact that this mansard was returned along the south front, itself a costly luxury, would suggest that a parapet did exist.

The house is a one-room-deep building lying on a south-north axis; on southward sloping ground. Within a space of about 30 feet the slope makes the floor of the north service range about 3 feet higher than that of the south living range. The latter is built on a cellar, and it is curious that the difference in levels was not taken up in the re-building. Could it be that the floor and ceiling heights already existed? 0r had the 'Regency' fashion for living on the ground level already reached Eynsham?

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The west and north walls of the mansarded block are of stone while the other walls are of brick. The east wall is of good red brick laid in the Flemish bond.

The plan of the living range is basically two rooms divided by an entrance hall containing a staircase. The stair is a simple 'Regency' timber dog-leg structure rising through two upper storeys. It has inch square balasters and a mahogany hand-rail for its full height, and is terminated by simple single newals, all suggesting a date of between 1800 and 1830. There is evidence that at one time a rough stair led on down to the cellar.

The entrance door on the west side of the building which would have been topped by a cantilevered over-door porch shows Soanian details (the incised neo-classical key design of the architrave named after Sir John Soane and greatly popularised at the end of the 18th century). These details also appear on the external architraves of the windows of the south-facing double storey bay, indicating that indeed much of what we see today dates from about 1800.

The east wall of the existing kitchen range is largely of stone.

It includes at least one blocked door, blocked with 'on-edge' brickwork. Such brickwork, laid on end rather than on bed, which when bonded was called 'Rat-trap' bond, was a cheaper way of building popular during the life of the Brick Taxes (1784-1850), but is not dateable in this case. Where a modern window exists on the first floor of the north wall there used to be a doorway, suggesting that the service range was once at least a storey higher than it is today. No similar opening exists on the second floor and it is likely that the service range had a lower roof than that of the main block.

Since the mansard was not returned at this end, it is likely that the roof of the lower range was of a steep pitch requiring a gable wall. A pre-1800 building would probably have been roofed in stone.

Most importantly, the stone walls, stone chimney, and the position of the chimney and of the service range, are all suggestive of a 17th century building. The thick, stone west wall of the main block could either be a remnant of that structure or be formed from the material of it. The mix of materials in the cellar make it more likely that an existing wall was built upon, rather than that it was taken down and reformed.

So, what conclusions can be drawn from what we see? Although the documentary evidence tells us that the 17th century house was pulled down and a new house built in the 18th century for Stephen Day, it would appear that some of the 17th century house survived and was built over. Later alterations have given the whole the appearance of a more modern structure.

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EYNSHAM HISTORY GROUP Founded 1959 The E.H.G. exists primarily to encourage studies in, and to promote knowledge of the history of the village and parish of Eynsham, 0xon, by means of regular meetings (normally at least ten), with invited speakers, during the winter and spring; and occasional outings during the summer.

New members are welcome.

The current subscription is A3.00 per annum (excluding the Record).

Please apply to the Secretary for further details.

President: The Rt. Revd. Eric Gordon, 45, Queen St., Eynsham Chairman: Mrs.E.Mason, 26, John Lopes Rd., Eynsham Vice-Chairman: Mr.D.S.Richards, 6, Abbey St., Eynsham Secretary: Mrs.L.Wright, Charfield, Cassington Rd., Eynsham Social Secretaries: Mrs.J.Weedon, 2, Clover Place, Eynsham Mrs.P.M.Atkins, 8, Thornbury Rd., Eynsham Treasurer: Mr.S.G.Green, 55, Witney Rd., Eynsham Editor: Dr.F.B.Atkins, 8, Thornbury Rd., Eynsham Librarians}

Mrs.P.Pimm, 65, Witney Rd., Eynsham

Archivists}

Mrs.S.White, 10, Millmore Crescent, Eynsham

Committee member: Mrs.J.Buttrick, 46, Evans Rd., Eynsham

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