Abingdon-on-Thames

Coordinates: 51°40′18″N 01°16′42″W / 51.67167°N 1.27833°W / 51.67167; -1.27833
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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Abingdon, Oxfordshire
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Abingdon-on-Thames
  • Abingdon
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townAbingdon
Postcode districtOX14
Dialling code01235
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteAbingdon Town Council
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire
51°40′18″N 01°16′42″W / 51.67167°N 1.27833°W / 51.67167; -1.27833

Abingdon-on-Thames (

Vale of the White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England. The historic county town of Berkshire, the area was occupied from the early to middle Iron Age and the remains of a late Iron Age and Roman defensive enclosure lies below the town centre. Abingdon Abbey was founded around 676, giving its name to the emerging town. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Abingdon was an agricultural centre with an extensive trade in wool, alongside weaving and the manufacture of clothing. Charters for the holding of markets and fairs were granted by various monarchs, from Edward I to George II
.

The town survived the

MG
car factory, which operated from 1929 to 1980.

Abingdon's brewery,

2001 Census total of 30,626, and represented just over 8% growth in the population.[4]

History

Long Alley Almshouses next to St Helen's parish church
St Helen's parish church from across the Thames

A Neolithic stone

Kencot[5] and Minster Lovell.[6] Abingdon has been occupied from the early to middle Iron Age and the remains of a late Iron Age defensive enclosure (or oppidum) lies below the town centre. The oppidum was in use throughout the Roman occupation. A Neolithic causewayed enclosure was found in Abingdon in 1926, dating to the 36th or 37th century BC.[7]

St Ebbe's Church in Oxford was dedicated (Æbbe of Coldingham or a different Æbbe of Oxford). However, Abingdon stands in a valley and not on a hill. It is thought that the name was first given to a place on Boars Hill above Chilswell, and the name was transferred to its present site when the Abbey was moved.[10] In 1084, William the Conqueror celebrated Easter at the Abbey and it is possible that his son Henry I received some schooling at the abbey.[citation needed][11]

In the 13th and 14th centuries, Abingdon was a flourishing agricultural centre with an extensive trade in

Edward VI founded the almshouses
instead, under its present name.

The council was empowered to elect one burgess to

Royal Charter in 1556.[13]

County Hall, completed in 1680

court house were built between 1678 and 1682, to assert this status. The building, now the Abingdon County Hall Museum, was reputedly designed by Christopher Kempster, who worked with Sir Christopher Wren.[14]

In 1790 Abingdon Lock was built, replacing navigation via the Swift Ditch. In 1810, the Wilts & Berks Canal opened, linking Abingdon with Semington on the Kennet and Avon Canal. Abingdon became a key link between major industrial centres such as Bristol, London, Birmingham and the Black Country. In 1856 the Abingdon Railway opened, linking the town with the Great Western Railway at Radley. However, Abingdon's failure to engage fully with the railway revolution, accepting only a branch line,[citation needed] sidelined the town in favour of Reading which became the County Town in 1869.[15]

The

MG car factory, which opened in 1929 and closed in October 1980 as part of a British Leyland rationalisation plan.[16] The nearest railway station is Radley, two miles (3.2 km) away. Much of the original Abingdon branch line is now a cyclepath, whilst the land on which the station stood has been extensively redeveloped, and is now the site of a large Waitrose
store and surrounded by a large number of new flats and houses.

The corporation was reformed, under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 but was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972. In 1974, under local government reorganisation, Berkshire County Council was abolished and Abingdon's governance was transferred to Oxfordshire with the town becoming the seat of the new Vale of White Horse District Council, with Abingdon becoming a civil parish with a town council. Since the 1980s, Abingdon has played host to a number of information communication companies, with many based in the town's respective business and science parks. With this, and the result of Abingdon's proximity to academic and scientific institutions in Oxford, the town has seen an influx of young professionals taking residence in the town's many residential areas such as Peachcroft.

The town was sometimes historically called "Abingdon-on-Thames",[17] but the official name of the borough (as given in statutes from the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 to the Local Government Act 1972 and all intervening Ordnance Survey maps) was simply "Abingdon".[18][19] Local councillors voted in November 2011 to change the official name of the town to "Abingdon-on-Thames",[20] and the change took effect on 23 February 2012.[21]

Leisure and media

Sport and recreation facilities include the White Horse Leisure and

cinemas but all have closed.[22] The last was the Regal, which closed in 1989. It stood derelict for 24 years until it was demolished in 2003 and replaced by housing development, Regal Close.[23] The Unicorn theatre was built in an area called The Checkers Hall in the ruins of the Abbey buildings and shows plays and films on an irregular basis. In addition, a new cinema, called the Abbey Cinema has been built in one of the Town Council buildings and operates in conjunction with the Regal in Evesham
.

The local newspapers are

Jack 3 and Heart South (historically 'Fox FM' and later 'Heart Thames Valley'), while the town is also covered by the Oxfordshire DAB multiplex. There was a Six TV local TV channel until 2009 and the town's further education college was the home to That's TV studios for Oxfordshire until it relocated to Oxford Science Park.[24]

The

B & M, Dreams and Pets at Home stores. It originally had two long established Abingdon retailers—Vineys Home Furnishings (now part of the Lee Longlands chain but retains its name) and Mays Carpets (now part of the Carpetright chain and has re-branded accordingly). In the town centre, many independent stores, estate agents and charity shops make up the Bury Street shopping centre as major high street names have chosen to go to other towns. However, a recent renovation has attracted stores such as New Look, Peacocks and WHSmith
to open branches.

The town centre of Abingdon was renovated in 2012

Gaol site, most recently a leisure centre, began in 2010.[28]
The first stage was demolishing the 1970s additions and swimming pool extension. The Gaol has been converted into luxury flats, shops and restaurants, with access to the riverside.

Sport

Abingdon has two

Athletics
Club. They train at Tilsley Park and take part in county cross-country leagues.

Abingdon RUFC was formed at the Queens Hotel on 27 February 1931. During the 1930s the club was based at the Queens Hotel and games were played on the Council owned recreation ground at Caldecott Road. Immediately after the

Sports Club; an amalgamation of the town's rugby, cricket and hockey clubs and the bid to establish a sporting centre at Hales Meadow. In a short time the ground was developed and a pavilion erected but the organisation was plagued with financial difficulties and very soon dissolved with hockey disbanding and Abingdon Rugby remaining at the site as tenants to the cricket club. In the mid-1980s a determined effort was made to acquire grounds and a clubhouse dedicated to rugby. In 2022 Abingdon Womens Rugby Club known as “The Albatrosses” was formed and they currently play in the Inner Warrior League.[citation needed
]

The current base at the town's Southern Sports Park was opened by former Abingdon MP

Royal Charter, it proved so successful that the competition has been held on an annual basis ever since. Several years ago it was decided to introduce the youngsters of Abingdon to Club Rugby. The Youth Section has 200 playing members from the ages of 6 to 18. In 2013–14 Abingdon RFC's President, Paul Murphy MBE, was also the President of the RFU. Since 2016, Oxford Rugby League have played in Abingdon at Abingdon School's Tilsley Park
.

Economy

The Pavlova and Gloria

leather works were major employers but both are now closed. Alfred Booth and Company of Liverpool traded with the Pavlova Leather Syndicate from 1860,[30] bought a share in it in 1917–18[31] and took it over in 1921.[32] In May 1947 at the annual British Industries Fair in Birmingham, Pavlova advertised doe skins, chamois, lambskins and goatskins, much of it as suede, for uses including shoes, gloves and belts.[33] In 1958 Pavlova's site covered 35 acres (14 ha), employed neary 200 people and included a staff sports field. At that time its factory still processed imported skins of sheep, lamb and goat, mainly to make suede.[34] Garner Group took over the Booth Group in 1979 and became Garner Booth. Pittards plc took over Garner Booth in 1987 and became Pittard Garner. It closed the Pavlova works in 1993.[30]

Abingdon was originally home to the

Harwell Laboratory, the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the new Diamond Light Source synchrotron, which is the largest UK-funded scientific facility to be built for over 40 years. Many inhabitants work in Oxford or commute by rail to London, from nearby Didcot. The Army now occupies Dalton Barracks, which, prior to 1993, was the Royal Air Force station RAF Abingdon
.

Abingdon has a business park which has offices for several local, national and international companies including, until recently,

RM, an educational computing supplier, commonly refer to themselves as being Abingdon-based, which is technically true—even though their HQ is actually in nearby Milton Park, Milton, they have an Abingdon post code (as does the rest of Milton Park). Penlon Ltd, a medical equipment company, have their premises on the outskirts of Abingdon (their previous site, near the former railway station, has been redeveloped as residential housing). Another major employer is the British head office of the German appliance company Miele
.

Industrially, Abingdon was best known for the

Second World War, MG was established as one of the most popular brands of sports car in Britain. After the war, the MG factory continued to churn out increasing volumes of popular sports car which were available at competitive prices but the factory closed in October 1980 on the demise of the ageing but still popular MG MGB range, and was demolished within months. The headquarters of the MG Car Club, founded in 1930, is at 11 & 12 Cemetery Road, next to the old factory offices. A police station was built in its place, which was later extended with the addition of more cells, as Oxford
's police station could not be extended further.

Geography and transport

A sign in Abingdon-on-Thames' town centre showing directions to nearby locations

Abingdon is 9 miles (14 km) south of Oxford, 15 mi (24 km) south-east of Witney and 22 mi (35 km) north of Newbury in the flat valley of the Thames on its west (right) bank, where the small river Ock flows in from the Vale of White Horse. It is on the A415 between Witney and Dorchester, adjacent to the A34 trunk road, linking it with the M4 and M40 motorways. The B4017 and A4183 also link the town, both being part of the old A34 and often heavily congested. Local bus services to Oxford and the surrounding areas are run by the Oxford Bus Company, its sister company Thames Travel and smaller independent companies.

Abingdon no longer has a rail service.

cycleway
from Radley.

Culham station was called "Abingdon Road" when it first opened in 1844, being the nearest station to the town at that time. It was renamed "Culham" when the Abingdon Railway branch line to Abingdon railway station was opened in 1856.[37] That branch line initially connected to the main line at Abingdon Junction, before being extended to Radley station when that opened in 1873. The branch line from Radley to Abingdon closed to passengers in 1963. The nearest major stations with taxi ranks are Oxford (6 miles/9.7 km) and Didcot Parkway (8 miles/13 km). All are managed by Great Western Railway. Frequent express buses operate between the local railway stations and Abingdon, run by Oxford Bus Company and its sister companies Thames Travel and Pulham's Coaches.

Governance

The town is also represented on Oxfordshire County Council. The incumbent Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon is Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat). Abingdon is represented on the Vale of White Horse district council, as well as having its own town council. Control of the town council has passed between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives in recent years. After the 2019 local elections, political composition of the council is:[38]

Places of interest

The Long Gallery at Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Bridge spans the River Thames. It was built in 1416 and much altered in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

Of the

Thames, near St Helen's Church, was built in 1416 and was widened or altered in 1790,[39] 1828,[40] 1927 and 1929.[8][39][41] Abbey Gateway between the Abingdon County Hall Museum and the Guildhall remains a point of local importance.[42]

Abingdon has the remains of a

Thames. In the 1970s the gaol was converted into a leisure centre. In 2011 the site was developed into residential and commercial premises. According to local legend, prior to its conversion in the 1970s, the gaol was haunted by the ghost of an eight-year-old boy who, after being convicted for arson in the mid-19th century, became the youngest person in the UK to be executed by hanging.[44]

The Roysse Room was the site of Abingdon School (then 'Roysse's School') from 1563 until it moved to its current site after an indenture by John Roysse, who had been born and educated in Abingdon before he moved to London. The room is now part of the civic offices. St. Helen's Church dates from around 1100 and is the second-widest church in England, having five aisles and being 10 feet (3 m) wider than it is long. The tower of St Helen's Church has a modern ring of ten bells, cast by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 2005 and hung in a new frame with new fittings by White's of Appleton in 2006.[45] Abingdon's county hall by the main market square, built in 1677–1680 reputedly by Christopher Kempster, stands on columns, leaving the ground floor open for a market and other functions. It was once hailed by Nikolaus Pevsner with the comment "Of the free-standing town halls of England with open ground floors this is the grandest".[46] It now houses the Abingdon County Hall Museum and is run by Historic England.[47]

Culture and folklore

See also: Abingdon bun throwing
Children running for a bun in 2006

Bun-throwing is an Abingdon tradition that began with the 1761

Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012, the centenary of the end of the World War I in November 2018 and the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2022.[citation needed
]

The centre of town and the whole of Ock Street (half a mile) are closed every October for two days for the Ock Street Michaelmas Fair, once a hiring fair but now maybe Britain's longest and narrowest funfair. The much smaller Runaway Fair, the following Monday, was traditionally for workers who were unsatisfied with their employment after the first week. Abingdon has a very old and still active Morris dancing tradition, passed on since before the folk dance and song revivals in the 19th century.[48][49] Every year a Mayor of Ock Street is elected by the inhabitants of Ock Street; he then parades through the town preceded by the famous Horns of Ock Street, a symbol of Abingdon's Morris Dance troupe.

The Friends of Abingdon's Unicorn Theatre, housed in the old Abbey buildings, is the site of first productions of many stage adaptations of

Greene King along with several complementary beers.[citation needed] The rock band Radiohead formed at Abingdon School in 1985.[50]

Abingdonians

See also Abbot of Abingdon, Abingdon School and List of Old Abingdonians.

Education

International relations

Abingdon is

twinned
with:

Freedom of the Town

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Town of Abingdon-on-Thames.

Military Units

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Abingdon-on-Thames". Abingdon Town Council. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Abingdon on Thames". Mapit. Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  3. Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original
    on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Area selected: Vale of White Horse (Non-Metropolitan District)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  5. ^ Harden 1940, p. 165.
  6. ^ Zeuner 1952, p. 240.
  7. ^ Healy et al. (2011), pp. 407-410.
  8. ^ a b c d Hoiberg 2010, p. 33.
  9. ^ Mills & Room 2003, Abingdon
  10. ^ Gelling 1957, pp. 54–62.
  11. ISBN 9780300143720
    .
  12. ^ Townsend, James (1910). A History of Abingdon. London: Henry Frowde. p. 33.
  13. ^ "Introducing Abingdon". localauthoritypublishing.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009.
  14. ^ Abingdon County Hall: Information for Teachers (PDF). Colchester: Palladian Press for English Heritage. 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 March 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  15. Privy Council
    to make the change. The petition was duly submitted and the change was officially approved with effect from the summer of 1869.
  16. ^ Jacobson, Curtis (September 2007). "Abingdon For MG Enthusiasts". Longmont, CO: British V8. Archived from the original on 21 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  17. ^ "Abingdon-on-Thames". britannica.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  18. ^ Archbold, John Frederick (1835). Municipal Corporations Act 1835. p. 188. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  19. ^ The English Non-Metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972 (S.I. 1972 No. 2039). London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1972. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  20. ^ Williams, Amanda (25 November 2011). "Public to have say on renaming town". Oxford Mail. Newsquest. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  21. ^ Wilkinson, Ben (24 February 2012). "It's all change at Abingdon-on-Thames". Oxford Mail. Newsquest. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  22. ^ Meyrick 2007, pp. 29–35.
  23. ^ Meyrick 2007, p. 34.
  24. ^ "That's TV - Contact Us". Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2017.
  25. ^ Gordon Rogers (7 December 2006). "Traders fear bigger Tesco". Oxford Mail. Newsquest. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  26. ^ "Traders claim revamp 'hit business'". 15 April 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  27. ^ "Abingdon Integrated Transport Strategy (ABITS)". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2007.
  28. ^ "Construction starts on Abingdon Gaol development". BBC News. 25 August 2010. Archived from the original on 8 November 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  29. ^ "Abingdon Golf Club/North Berks Golf Club". Golf's Missing Links. 2012. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  30. ^ a b "History". Booth and Co. 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  31. ^ John 1959, p. 116.
  32. ^ John 1959, p. 130.
  33. ^ "Pavlova Leather Co". Grace's Guide: The Best of British Engineering 1750–1960s. 1 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  34. ^ John 1959, p. 186.
  35. ^ "Getting to Abingdon-on-Thames by train". Abingdon-on-Thames. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  36. ^ "United Kingdom: South East England, Counties and Unitary Districts". City Population. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  37. ^ "Railway time tables". Oxford University Herald. 28 June 1856. p. 15. Retrieved 27 March 2022. Culham, late Abingdon Road
  38. ^ "Election results 2019". abingdon.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  39. ^ a b Jervoise 1930, p. 7.
  40. ^ Jervoise 1930, p. 6.
  41. ^ Leeming & Salter 1937, pp. 134–140.
  42. ^ "Abbey Gateway, Abbey Close". Abingdon Council. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  43. ^ "Pillbox FW3/28A Abingdon". tracesofwar.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  44. ^ Sullivan 2012[page needed]
  45. ^ "St. Helen, Abingdon, Oxon". Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers. 2009. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  46. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). "Abingdon County Hall Museum former website". Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  47. ^ Historic England. "County Hall and Market House, Abingdon (1199601)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  48. ^ "Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers". Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2006.
  49. ^ "Mister Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris Dancers – Maintaining the Tradition of Abingdon Morris Dancing". Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  50. ^ a b McLean, Craig (14 July 2003). "Don't worry, be happy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2007.
  51. ^ a b c d "Abingdon-on-Thames Twin Towns". Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  52. ^ "Abingdon Airfield – Abingdon on Thames Town Council". Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  53. ^ "Oxfordshire troops return from Afghanistan". BBC News. 28 September 2010. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2020.

Sources

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Abingdon".
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Abingdon-on-Thames.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Abingdon.
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