Blewbury
Blewbury | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | Didcot | |
Postcode district | OX11 | |
Dialling code | 01235 | |
Police | Thames Valley | |
Fire | Oxfordshire | |
Ambulance | South Central | |
UK Parliament | ||
Website | Blewbury | |
Blewbury is a village and
Prehistory
The southern part of the parish is
Manors
The parish was historically divided into three manors. The Great Manor was held by the Crown until the 17th century. The Prebendal Manor was held by the Church. Nottingham Fee was bought by a long-established local family, the Humfreys, in about 1652. They retained some of it including the manor house Hall Barn until recent times.[when?][6][7][8]
Parish church
The earliest parts of the Church of England parish church of St Michael the Archangel are the early Norman 11th-century nave and sanctuary. At least two Norman windows survive. St Michael's was transformed in the late Norman period in about 1190, when the transepts and present chancel were built to make it a cruciform church. At the crossing a central tower was built, and of this only the columns and vault survive.[9] The south aisle was added in the 13th century, linked with the nave by a five-bay arcade in which the two western arches are taller than the other three. In the 14th century the north aisle were added with its two-bay arcade of octagonal columns, and the Lady chapel south of the chancel.[10]
The west tower was also added in the 15th century.
The west tower has a ring of eight bells. Joseph Carter of Reading cast the sixth bell in 1586.[12] As well as his name and the year, the bell bears the legend Blessed be the name of the Lorde.[13] Henry II Knight, also of Reading, cast the third bell in 1663. His successor Samuel Knight cast the fourth bell in 1689 and the fifth bell in 1704. Edward Read of Aldbourne, Wiltshire cast the seventh bell in 1752. John Hunt, who briefly ran a bell-foundry at Cholsey, cast the tenor bell in 1825. These may have completed a ring of six bells, until John Taylor & Co of Loughborough cast the present treble and second bells in 1906. St Michael's also has a Sanctus bell that Thomas II Mears of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry cast in 1819.[12] St Michael's parish is part of the Churn Benefice.[14]
Economic and social history
In 634, St
The East Field would have been
The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway was built past the village in 1882. The nearest station was called Upton and Blewbury but was at Upton, 2 miles (3 km) away. British Railways closed the line in 1964. Around the end of the 19th century, the open areas of the downs were used for military manœuvres each summer, the camp being victualled by the local farmers. A firing range was also introduced, and was used intermittently until the 1970s.[23] Since the 1950s Blewbury has become an attractive place for people commuting to work in the area, or even in London. The old cottages have been improved and extended, and a number of estates have been built. Until about 1970 there were several racing stables in the village[citation needed]; one is still[when?] in business a mile to the south, and several racehorse gallops on the Downs to the south of Blewbury are still in use.
Secular buildings
Blewbury has a number of historic timber-framed buildings.
Transport
Thames Travel route 94 serves Blewbury from Mondays to Fridays, linking the village with Didcot town and with Didcot Parkway railway station. Buses run mostly once an hour, with a half-hourly service in the evening peak. There is no Saturday or Sunday service.[28]
Notable people
In the 20th century the village attracted a number of notable artists and writers. Writers have included Elizabeth Ferrars,[29] Dick Francis (from 1954 to 1980),[30] Kenneth Grahame,[31] Marguerite Steen,[32] GB Stern,[33] Barbara Euphan Todd[34] and Ben Fergusson.[35] Artists have included William Nicholson,[36] father of abstract painter Ben Nicholson, Susan Beatrice "Twissie" Pearse, illustrator of children's books, including Amelia Anne series,[37][unreliable source?] H Davis Richter known for much-reproduced interiors and Eli Marsden Wilson.[38] The tradition continues, and keen amateur artists receive direction from the professional artists Roy East and Ron Freeborn.[39] The village used to have an art gallery devoted to the work of local artists.[40]
Performing arts
Every two years or so, the village puts on a festival with various shows, dances, and exhibitions in many of the old houses as well as a walk along the path of the Millbrook as it threads its way through many private gardens. The village has a theatrical tradition. There is an open-air theatre[41] in the grounds of Orchard Dene house with capacity for an audience of 250, where productions are performed each summer. These involve amateur actors and back stage workers under professional direction. There are also theatrical events put on in the Village Hall.
About every five years since 1978,[42] the village has commissioned a new opera for amateur performance. This has been performed in St Michael's church. The earlier operas attracted media attention, including a one-hour television film about The Snow Queen in 1982. More recent productions have had less attention. The productions were not widely seen, since once St Michael's has been adapted for the large cast and orchestra, there is room for only about 120 in the audience each night. In April 2009, there was a new production of Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fludde. In 2012 or so, it was planned to revive the first of Blewbury's commissioned operas Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by the composer Richard Blackford, who now lives in the village.
Gallery
-
Blewburton Fort
-
St Michael's 15th-century west tower and 13th-century south aisle
-
Bells in St Michael's west tower
-
Blewbury House, a timber-framed house in the village
-
Turnpike House, a timber-framed 17th-century house on London Road
-
Dragonwyke, a timber-framed 16th-century thatched cottage
-
The Red Lion public house
-
A Thames Travel bus on route 94 on the A417 London Road arriving in Blewbury
-
Great Tree Farm Barn, aweatherboardedand thatched 17th-century barn on London Road
References
- Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Archived from the originalon 10 October 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ^ Pevsner 1966, p. 74.
- ^ a b c d Pevsner 1966, p. 92.
- ^ "Lowbury Hill walk" (PDF). oxfordshire.gov.uk. Oxfordshire council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "Lowbury Hill Camp". themodernantiquarian.com. The Modern Antiquarian. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ "Blewbury with Upton and Aston Upthorpe". british-history.ac.uk. British History. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Blewbury Manor". berkshirehistory.com. Berkshire History. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Hall Barn". berkshirehistory.com. Berkshire History. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ Pevsner 1966, p. 90.
- ^ a b c d e f Pevsner 1966, p. 91.
- ^ a b Historic England. "Church of St Michael, Blewbury (Grade I) (1368625)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
- ^ Central Council for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
- ^ a b c Page & Ditchfield 1923, pp. 280–291.
- ^ "St. Michael and All Angels Blewbury". Our Churches. Churn Benefice. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
- ^ "Churn Knob". historicengland.org.uk. Historic England. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Saint Birinus". stbirinus.co.uk. St Birinus Catholic Church. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Blewbury guide". h2g2.com. h2g2. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Blewbury Mill". historicengland.org.uk. Historic England. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Blewbury History". berkshirehistory.com. David Nash Ford Royal Berkshire History. Archived from the original on 15 May 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Blewbury Environment". sustainable-blewbury.org.uk. Sustainable Blewbury. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Enclosure Handbook (entry 34)" (PDF). oxfordshire.gov.uk. Oxfordshire History Centre. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020. Alt URL
- ^ "Blewbury Enclosures". berkshireenclosure.org.uk. Berkshire Record Offices. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "People's WW2 history - Berkshire)". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ Page & Ditchfield 1923, pp. 378–384.
- ^ "East Hagbourne Blotting Paper". easthagbourne.net. East Hagbourne. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "East Hagbourne Industry". easthagbourne.net. East Hagbourne. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Turnpike House Blewbury". britishlistedbuildings.co.uk. British Listed buildings. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "route 94/94S/94C" (PDF). Thames Travel. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
- ^ Swanson & James 2003, p. xiii.
- ^ "Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932)". Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board. 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ^ "Who Was Who: 1971–1980", London, A. & C. Black
- ^ "Characters". sites.google.com/site/wallingfordhistorygateway. Wallingford History. Archived from the original on 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ Morse, Elizabeth J (1885–1900). "Barbara Euphan Todd". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
- ^ "An Evening with Ben Fergusson". Blewbury Bulletin. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- .
- ^ "Blewbury Photos p99". www.blewbury.co.uk.
- ^ "Eli Wilson". ossett.net. Ossett. Archived from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Follow your heart". telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 October 2020.(subscription required)
- ^ "Art galleries and museum exhibitions in and around Oxfordshire". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- ^ Northeast 1992[page needed]
- ^ Blackford, Edwards (1982). Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Opera in Six Sections. Vocal Score. OUP.
Bibliography
- Greenway, Diana E, ed. (1991). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300. Vol. 4, Salisbury. London: Oxford University Press for the Institute of Historical Research. pp. 53–55.
- Horn, Joyce M, ed. (1962). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541. Vol. 3, Salisbury Diocese. London: Oxford University Press for the Institute of Historical Research. pp. 36–38.
- Northeast, Peter (1992) [1981]. This Venerable Village. Blewbury: Blewbury Local History Group. ISBN 0950479454.
- Page, WH; Ditchfield, PH, eds. (1923). "Blewbury". A History of the County of Berkshire. Victoria County History. Vol. III. assisted by John Hautenville Cope. London: The St Katherine Press. pp. 280–291.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 90–92.
- Swanson, Jean; James, Dean (2003). The Dick Francis Companion. New York: OCLC 52269585.