THE STORY OF TRADE IN BAMPTON
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A STORY OF TRADE IN BAMPTON OVER THE LAST 160 YEARS Researched and compiled by Janet Rouse May 2013
Reprinted Nov 2016
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Business in Bampton The last 160 years
Bampton, like every hamlet, village, town and city has developed through the centuries in its own unique way. The influences through the millennia on all places have been many and varied. For Bampton they have included amongst other things local geology, geography, how far we are from the nearest trading port, if and when we’ve been on trade routes and the influence of invading peoples and disease. Also, the availability of fresh water and the ability to feed and house ourselves from local sources, the available local resources for developing any industry and latterly, from goods brought in from outside the immediate community and how well and fairly we have been governed and ruled through the centuries. Bampton was the centre of a royal Anglo-Saxon estate, the site of a late Anglo-Saxon Minster and had a market by 1086; it is mentioned in Doomsday Book.
It was not badly affected by the Black Death and life for most people through the centuries, as elsewhere in the countryside, was centred on agriculture; there were times when supporting trades experienced times of great hardship. 3
Fast flowing rivers prompted the early building of mills for both corn-grinding and for the fulling of fleeces and until at least the late C17th there was textile and leather working in Bampton. There were fishing rights in the rivers, streams and fish lakes.
The first maps showing Bampton by name, showed the rivers and brooks but not the roads, which all goes to suggest the importance of the water courses. Bampton had salt rights in Droitwich, just north of Worcester, as early as 1086 with the salt road finally coming into Bampton via Brize Norton. In 957, Eadwig’s kingdom was divided between himself and his brother Eadgar, in an orderly fashion, with the Thames forming the boundary between Eadwig’s Wessex and Eadgar’s Mercia. Through the centuries, nothing of any huge, town-changing note occurred in Bampton. Oliver Cromwell passed close by with his army and may have stayed over-night at Cromwell House. There was a short skirmish here in 1142 associated with Queen Matilda and King Stephen. Expenditure on the poor in 1819 was over 35s (£1.75p) per head of population which was significantly above the national and county average. By 1829 it had come down to 15s (75p) which was below the county average. 4
Inclosure in Bampton was finally agreed and dated 1821. At the Inclosure of Bampton, Weald, and Lew, the vicars each received c200 acres in lieu of tithes, and equal shares in an ÂŁ85 corn rent from Lower Haddon to be re-assessed every 14 years. By the 1850s, Bampton was predominantly an agricultural community, supported from mixed farming. It used larger markets at Oxford, Witney and Faringdon as well as its own small market at the Town Hall, which was used mostly for pork, milk, cheese & eggs.
Some of the land, granted to the church at Inclosure, can be seen by the names on the fields. 5
Ham Court
Ham Court, better known to us as Bampton Castle (although the building that remains is not the remains of a castle, but simply the western gatehouse to the castle), along with the medieval houses of Weald Manor and Bampton Manor, were probably built mostly with stone from the Taynton quarry. The use of brick came into fashion in the C19th.
Windsor Cottages
Victoria Cottages
Folly View
Some bricks came by train to the new Bampton railway station, opened in 1873, on the Witney to Fairford line. (Strictly speaking the station was just north of the parish boundary and was later called Brize Norton and Bampton Station.) Other bricks were made locally in Brighthampton, where the last remaining part of the factory forms the front wall of the shop of the Oxford Wine Company in Standlake, pictured opposite. Only the frontages of Windsor Cottages, Victoria Cottages and Folly View are built with the new fashionable red brick, the back and sides being built with the ‘common or garden’ Cotswold stone. 6
By 1808 a considerable coal wharf existed near Tadpole Bridge and was in use until 1877. Once Bampton station opened, coal was brought there by train. Initially, it was collected by horse and cart to be sold in Bampton. By the 1940s, Mr Townsend of Castle View Farm (one of Bampton’s entrepreneurs) was collecting coal in his lorry and this lorry was one of the first to be owned in Bampton. Once a year it was scrubbed spotless, seats fastened in and the Methodist children were taken for a day out in Savernake Forest.
Many wellwishers seeing off three men bound for Canada
Mill Brook bridge on Mill Street, now called Bridge Street, referred to locally as ‘The Arches’, was rebuilt in 1877, because it was near to collapse. Meadow Arch bridge (Buckland Road) was repaired in 1878. The two turnpike roads – Lew to Clanfield and Brize Norton to Buckland – were dis-turnpiked in 1874. The Bridges Mill Street
From the 1820s poverty, brought about in no small measure by land inclosure and the loss of commoners’ grazing rights, along with unemployment, prompted large scale emigration to America and the British colonies. This was actively promoted by the Vestry (forerunner of the Parish Council) and continued into the 1850s, yet the population continued to rise, fairly slowly, until 1961 when it reached 1,713 when 393 houses were lived in and 15 stood empty.
Oxford Wine Company in Standlake
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In 1872 the incoming vicar commented on the broad, clean streets and tidy rows of shops. However, eleven years later in 1883, residents of High St were still throwing their rubbish in the gutters, so the vicar’s comments are quite enlightening as to the expected norm of the times. Street lighting finally came in 1887. Gas Lights in Broad Street
An area of slum housing called Kerwood’s yard, also known as Jericho, existed behind the Talbot and was cleared by the end of the C19th. Another slum area existed behind Bakery Cottage, Rosemary House and The Poachers Rest on the west side of the Market Square in an area called Rosemary Square. All but one of these poor houses was demolished as late as the 1970s; one was ‘done up’, the one with the TV aerial in the old photograph.The photographs of Rosemary Square slum housing and text are from an album collated by Lloyd Hughes-Owens. From the early C19th, there were resident solicitors with businesses in Bampton and from as early as the mid C18th there were two resident surgeons living and working here. The small number of resident landowning, leisured, professional people living and working in Bampton, exercised much power on the institutions of the town and on the appearance in general. Until 1893, Bampton was administered by the Vestry; from 1893 The Vestry’s powers were limited to church matters. December 4th 1894 saw the first elections to Bampton Parish Council. Vestry meetings were dominated by the squire, the parson and the principal rate payers. In many parishes, particularly rural ones like Bampton, the Vestry system worked perfectly well. See Hughes-Owens’s extracts from the Vestry meetings in Appendix One; they make a truly interesting and amusing read. 8
LETTERS By private arrangement, letters in the C18th were collected from Witney and Wantage. In 1796, a receiving office was opened in Bampton in Waterloo House (formerly called St Oswald), Broad Street. In 1817, a penny post from Witney was established. In the 1840s, the postal business was moved to the premises of the printer George Holloway (better known to many of us as Adrian Simmonds’ home, on the west side of the Market Square). Waterloo House, Broad Street
Martins Printing Works: previously Holloways
High Street
By 1911, it was Martin’s Printing Works and Post Office with Mr Martin taking on the role of post master. By 1864 money orders were being dealt with and in 1877 a telegraph office was established. In 1883, the post office moved to No.7 High Street and in 1918, to Wheelgate House. (Now a B&B and Bistro).
Wheelgate House
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In 1971, the Wheatsheaf Inn on Bridge Street became the Post Office and in 2010, it moved to its present site in the centre room of the Town Hall.
PO in the former Wheatsheaf Inn PO in the Town Hall
INNS AND ALE HOUSES
It is possible that up to 17 places have been either Inns or retailers of beer over the centuries; some have had more than one name and the precise location of some is not known. It is probable that fourteen is the most that have existed at one time. THE TALBOT HOTEL
So called by 1668, after the Talbot family, who owned it and were Lords of the Manor. A County Prosecution Association service had Bampton subscribers by 1756 and a Local Association of gentry and clergy, set up in 1778, when crime was a problem, still met in the Talbot in the 1850s and occasionally at The Bell. By 1870 the Talbot offered stabling for 10 horses and the Friendly Society, called the Old Club, met here. In 1842 Ann King was licensee, by 1854 it was Robert Dennis and in 1875 Mrs M Jones. The first coaches known to run from Bampton went from The Talbot Inn, to Moreton-in-Marsh via Bourton-on-the-Water and Stow, while a second one ran to London, using the railway. 10
Carriers in the C19th went from Bampton to Oxford, Witney, Burford and Faringdon. Carriers linked Bampton with Faringdon station on the GWR line and with Bampton station on the East Gloucestershire Railway line. The first documentary reference to the inn is to be found in Thomas Bainbridge’s survey of the Shrewsbury estates in Bampton in 1798, where it stated:‘…the Talbot public house is situate in Bampton Street. The house is very old and the rooms small and inconvenient but … in tolerable repair.’ The girl on the right of the group is Iris Taylor, daughter of the landlord. After leaving Witney Grammar School, she became a teacher. Later on she joined the staff of the local school and served several generations of Bampton pupils who knew her as Mrs Pratt.
THE BELL
The Bell Inn stood where our Village Hall now stands and for that reason the little path behind it, from Lavender Square to Cheapside, is known by all long-standing locals as ‘Back of the Bell’. The Bell is behind the railings
Along with The Talbot, The Bell was used frequently for public meetings and auctions. In 1842 the licensee was Charles Cox, by 1854 Cornelius Clare and in 1875 it was Henry Jakeman. In 1921 four Bampton ladies took out a mortgage to build the WI Hall on the site of The Bell Inn. Bell Lane aka ‘back of the Bell’
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Wenman’s Bakery stood on the site of the War Memorial
Wenman’s Bakery and Mrs Ward’s Cottage
The Bell Inn, along with Wenman’s Bakery, owned in 1895 by Mr Embury with Mrs Amelia Sheppard, a wheelwright, plus a little cottage, where Mrs Ward sold wet fish on Wednesdays and Saturdays were all demolished to make way for the War Memorial, which was dedicated on Sunday September 19th 1920.
Dedication of the War Memorial
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FLEUR de LYS (also spelt Fleur de Lis) In 1842, the licensee was Robert Kearse. The inn was on the SE side of the Market Square behind the two semi-detached houses of the same name. In 1854, Robert Langham was the licensee. It closed in the early 1870s and was demolished early in the C20th. The Friendly Society, called the Old Club, met here occasionally, but usually in The Talbot. A court of the Ancient Order of Foresters met here from 1869. HORSE SHOE In 1842, the licensee was Charles Clinch; by 1854 it was James Perkins, who was also a blacksmith and in 1875 it was Abraham Bowles. By 1911, it was owned by Daniel Bunce, who also owned The Swan. It was rebuilt c1925/26 after the fire in 1925. The Friendly Society, called The Victoria Club, met here. A stonemason lived in and owned it and had his smithy at the premises while his wife ran the ale house side of things. It was usual for the man owning an inn, to have another trade and skill while his wife would run the inn.
The present licensee is Alan Clarke. A single story building to the right, pre 1925, was a butcher’s, run by Mr Kimber. Later, in 1920, Percy Hughes owned the Horse Shoe; he also owned and ran the butchery business next to it. When the Horse Shoe was rebuilt after the fire of 1925, a new, free standing small building was built, this time to the left of the inn and again, it was used as a butcher’s shop. It was later an antique shop, run by Mr & Mrs Hill and after they retired, by their son Arthur Hill, who added bric-a-brac. More recently, this small building has been used to sell items to raise funds for the RNIB. It was the first ever charity shop selling goods to raise funds for the RNIB. Later it became the Bampton Charity Shop and is now a barber’s shop.
Mr & Mrs Hill in their shop on the west side of the rebuilt Horseshoe
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WHEATSHEAF The Wheatsheaf was sited in Bridge Street opposite Knapps farmhouse. In 1854, Joseph Fruin was the licensee and by 1885 it was Mrs Mary Lane. In 1911, it was owned by John T David. It ceased to be a pub in 1971 when it became the post office. The Victoria Club met here when members stopped using the Horse Shoe. Wheatsheaf Inn 1956 Roy Shergold fool
THE RED LION The Hermitage and The Priory, now two semi-detached houses in Broad Street, were let as one property to a baker who also ran an ale house from here, called The Red Lion, in the 1780s and 1790s. He may also have offered accommodation. (The Priory is now called The Old Dairy). In the 1950s and early 1960s there was a dairy here run by Mr Robey, who had an electric milk float, driven by Eileen Horne. MORRIS CLOWN It was called The George around 1811 – an old inn sign with this name was found in the cellar by the present landlord’s father – and from c1821 it was called the New Inn. In 1842 the licensee was William Higgins, by 1854 it was John Simpson, who was also a boot and shoe maker and in 1875 it was Robert Neville. By 1895, the licensee was Mrs Emma Clack and she was still there in 1911. The name was changed again in 1975 when it acquired its present name, Morris Clown. It was originally a Posting House with Livery Stables. The Court of The Ancient Order of Foresters met here when they stopped using the Fleur de Lys. The Morris Clown
The New Inn
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THE PLOUGH Ann French was the licensee in 1911. This ale house was on Broad Street and closed in 1923. The Bampton Pig Club held its annual supper here each autumn.
The Plough Inn in Broad Street
THE LAMB Sited where Thornberry flats have been built in the Market Square, it started life as a substantial cottage. In 1911 it was owned by William Lock, a bricklayer. It closed in 1956 and was demolished in 1960 when the Market Square Garage was built. A very large Ash tree grew next to The Lamb and locals would say they were going to ‘The Tree’ for a drink. There was a smithy on its eastern side and to the west, facing the main road, the butcher Percy Hughes had his butcher’s shop. Later, a fish and chip shop used this single story building. The small boy, on the left by the tricycle is Len Hughes and years later, he had the garage and shop that is now Exeter House.
The Lamb with single storey shop attached
Participants in the Bampton Shirt Race ‘Back of the Lamb
Percy Hughes in the single storey shop
The Lamb with the large Ash tree
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THE ROMANY Originally, in the early C20th, it was a butchers and slaughter house. It was owned by the descendants of the butcher Henry Taylor (d.1854), whose family continued to run the butchery business into the C20th. The Taylor family also bought the Doilly Manor House site. The building (ie the Romany) became a high-class grocers shop, serving the gentry and the better off, with the name Thompson over the door. The Thompsons left the shop to Fred and Mrs Tongue.It became The Cotswold Grill in the 1970s and not long after, an inn with the final name change to The Romany.
Thompson family grocer
ELEPHANT AND CASTLE This was the most westerly of all the inns and ale houses in Bampton. In 1854, the licensees were Thomas Spurrett and Son, who were also shopkeepers and coal merchants. By 1895, Francis Edward Day was licensee and by 1911, it was owned by William Wardle. Mr Albert Townsend bought it in 1913; he reared pigs at the back where they were also slaughtered. Local lads used to watch the slaughterer through knot holes in the big gates. Fire destroyed the thatched roof in October 1958. It ceased to be a pub in 2002.
The Elephant and Catle pre 1958
The Elephant and Catle after the fire in 1958
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THE SWAN The licensee of the Swan, in 1842 was Mark Saunders. By 1854, it was Edward Walsh and by 1911, it was owned by Jesse Neal who was also a jobbing gardener. It was later owned by Mr and Mrs Bunce and then by Mr and Mrs Sollis and was sold as a private dwelling in 1964. For many years the Shirt Race started from The Swan.
Mr and Mrs Bunce
Mr and Mrs Sollis
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GEORGE AND DRAGON Along with the Horse Shoe, this was a Morlands Brewery public house. Early in 1854, the licensee was Thomas Banting and later in the same year, it was Mrs Mary Banting. By 1895, it was Thomas Greenwood and by 1911, it was owned by Edmund Shelton. Mr & Mrs Barr were at the George and Dragon during the 1930s. Vera Elward, née Tanner, used to play the piano there when she was a very young teenager. Mr and Mrs Inch followed but remained for only a very short time. Mr and Mrs Horne Snr. then took over and were there through the 1940s.
Their son and his wife Mary became the landlords. The Stocks arrived mid 1950s but stayed on only briefly. Ilene and Fred Hammond (Ilene was Mrs Slim’s sister from The Stores), arrived mid1950s, remaining until they retired, which is when Alan Clarke took over and Alan was the last licensee. Alan became the landlord of the Horse Shoe in 1993, while still having the license for the George & Dragon. He had two tenant landlords in the George; the last tenant landlord failed to make it a success; on Alan’s advice, the brewery closed it about 1995.
The George and Dragon
The Bampton Shirt Race at the George and Dragon
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MALT SHOVEL Originally a Malt House, it became a public house in the 1870s and in 1875, John Pinnock was the licensee. It was owned by Thomas King by 1911, then Mr Kent who reared pigs at the back. It was an inn with a grocery outlet where people bought bacon, ham, sausages, lard, homemade pickles and sweets, and the Kents sold vinegar from a barrel. David Niven, the actor, was a frequent visitor to the pub when visiting friends at Little Place.
The Malt Shovel Inn and grocers
The Malt Shovel now a private dwelling
PROSPECT COTTAGE A simple ale house with settles along the sides; the beer kept in the cellar and brought up in jugs. 19
EAGLE The Eagle was built and owned in 1828 by the stonemason William Stone, who called it the Masons Arms. He and his wife ran it from 1850-1860. By the late C19th it was called The Eagle, becoming a private dwelling in 1991. In 1911, it was owned by George Townsend who was also a haulier. The Roman Catholics used the upstairs as their church and the picture shows the licensee’s wife, Mrs Martin, at the altar. The Roman Catholic children in the National School used to have their assembly here, while a Church of England service was held in the school next door. Downstairs, sweets were sold through a window like a tuck shop. JUBILEE In 1911, Ann Daniels was the licensee. Later, Reg Pratley owned it and he sold it on to Frank Godwin, who subsequently sold it as a private dwelling in 1999. The single story extension on the east was where Algernon Colin Townsend had a small garage with two hand-winding petrol pumps and it was a place to get bicycles repaired. Colin originally had a cycle dealership somewhere in Cheapside. It was also a place to get your hair cut during WWII.
There was an air raid shelter outside in the Market Square. It was later used as a cafĂŠ. Before WWII, Len Hughes, later the owner of the garage that is now Exeter House, was the licensee. Len rented a field by the cemetery, (glebe land) and when he left the pub, the family slept in the barn there for two days until their new home in Carterton was available.
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THE BLACK BOY Paul Bovington, who owned and ran the wet fish shop on High St told me his shop was once an inn called The Black Boy. So far, I’ve not been able to find any documentary proof of this. Paul took a keen interest in this type of research, so I’ve no reason to doubt him. Some farms and most inns had a brew house. The building sticking out into Church Close, opposite Bourton Cottages, which can be seen on the inclosure map, was a brewery owned by Exeter Cathedral. It was let in 1789 to the tenant of the Talbot Inn and in the early C19th, to members of the Bateman family, who were grocers, ironmongers and drapers, as well as maltsters. It was held in the 1850s and 1860s by the tenant of Deanery Farm on Broad Street and was demolished before 1903.
Brewery, part of Kilmore House
By the late C19th and early C20th, some public houses were acquired by large commercial breweries such as Clinch & Co of Witney. The brewery name was then put on signs outside the inns. See the photographs of The New Inn, The Wheatsheaf and the Eagle. Unidentified inns prior to 1850:-
The Roebuck, The Three Compasses The Crown The White Hart,
known to have been in a cottage. It may not have offered accommodation and so therefore would have been just an ale house like one at Rushey Weir and The Plough on Broad Street.
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TOWN HALL When it was built in 1838, it was hoped it would revive the flagging agricultural market. With alternate Thursday cattle markets in Witney, and the associated special cattle trains to London, (Witney station opened 1873) it didn’t stand a chance. Bampton would never be a cattle and sheep market again. Approximately 1,500 gallons of milk went in churns daily, by train, to London. This would have been taken by horse and cart to the station in its early days and later, by lorry. Penny readings that included musical items were held here frequently in the late 1800s. A subscription news and reading room opened in 1884 and a charitable bequest, in 1905, provided annual payments of £5 for the men’s and £2 for the boys’ reading room.
Town Hall with Fire Brigade practising
Town Hall with two arches opened to make a bus shelter
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SCHOOLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL In 1635 Robert Veysey of Chimney left £200 to endow a Free School at Bampton and a further £100 to erect the building. There were fees for attendance. £100 left by Suzanna Frederick (d.1798) was to be used to educate 12 poor boys and girls but as the school took only boys, the girls were taught elsewhere. The girls and their endowment were transferred to the National School in 1812 and that of the boys in 1824. The bequests left by several other people, for education at the Grammar School, were also transferred to the National School. The Girl Guides and Scouts used the room upstairs. Mrs Vera Elward, now 90 years old, attended both the Torch Bearers and the Guides. Through the middle of the C20th the Torch Bearers, a church led organisation, used Cobb House Vicarage. Mrs Gegg, the vicar’s wife, took the girls for needlework, embroidery and knitting and Mr Eden, the woodwork master from the National school, took the boys for woodwork. All items made were sold for the missionaries. The room which now houses the library was used by the Roman Catholics, on a Sunday morning, when they ceased using The Eagle. The room was available for general hire and it was not uncommon for it to smell of cigarette smoke from a party the night before. Since c1980 the Roman Catholics have held their Sunday service at 9am in St Mary’s, before the ringers started ringing at 9.50am prior to the Church of England service at 10.30. THE NATIONAL SCHOOL The school was run on the Bell System, whereby children were taught according to ability. The best and brightest were then used to teach other children. The school was established in 1812, in a purpose built schoolhouse at the top of Bridge Street where Box House now stands. Attendance rose from 65 boys and 75 girls in 1812 up to 81 boys and 92 girls in 1815. Nearly 200 children attended an anniversary meeting in 1855.
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Before 1860, the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury provided a site for a larger school in Church View. Building, financed by subscription, began in 1863.
The architect, William Wilkinson, also designed the Randolph hotel in Oxford. The new school was opened in 1864 with accommodation for 156 children in two rooms; its forerunner in Bridge St was demolished before 1876. The National School used to charge a weekly fee of 1d for infants and 2d for others. (240d made ÂŁ1) Attendance was not regular until the Education Act of 1903. The school was also used for penny readings and musical items (see Appendix Two). The performers and organisers were local clergy, gentry and local farmers and by all accounts these events were very well attended. By 1927, the upper forms had become the senior school for the surrounding villages. New buildings of the Horsa type were added in 1947 and the school acquired controlled status in 1949. By 1959 there were 294 pupils. In 1960 the senior department became a Secondary Modern School with 140 on the register. In 1965, with a roll of 96, all the pupils were transferred to Wood Green Comprehensive in Witney, and the school closed.
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A new school, built on the town’s northern edge, opened on September 9th 1960 with 140 children. By 1970, 260 children were on roll and the Horsa buildings and wooden buildings, at the back of the former National School, were brought back into use as an annexe for several years. They are about to be demolished. The primary and infant school roll was down to 142 in 1993. In February 2013 there are 131 pupils.
Two Horsa Buildings added in 1947 and about to be demolished (2013)
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From: ‘Bampton and Weald: Education’, A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 13: Bampton Hundred (Part One) (1996)
“A young ladies’ needlework school was mentioned in 1782 and from the late 18th century there were several private boarding schools with pupils drawn chiefly from outside the parish. An academy for young gentlemen mentioned in 1790 was followed by John Beechey’s Mansion House Academy, established reportedly c1815 and moved in the 1820s to Weald Manor. In 1841 it had 17 boys aged from 9 to 14, but closed in the later 1850s. G. H. Drewe’s St. Mary’s College opened in Weald Manor in 1859 and similarly modelled on public schools, had over 50 boys in 1861 aged from 5 to 18, but closed c1863. A third gentlemen’s boarding school, Thomas Leforestier’s Classical and Commercial Academy was established by 1841 apparently in the Grange on High Street and closed c1864. A boys’ boarding school on Lavender Square, reportedly closed in 1880, is otherwise unrecorded. A ladies’ boarding school later in Prospect House on Broad Street, established by 1830 and with 11 pupils in 1841, was taken over c1863 by Sarah and Rebecca Pembrey and moved before 1871 to the Elms on Broad Street, where before 1876, schoolrooms and extra accommodation (later South Elms) were added. It moved before 1903 to Valetta (later Ampney Lodge) on High Street and closed by 1915. A ladies’ boarding school on High Street, apparently in Lime Tree House, was recorded from the late 1840s to 1868. John Bryant ran a small day - and, for a time, boarding school - on Weald Lane by 1861, which moved later to the market place (Wheelgate House) and continued into the early 20th century. J.A. Giles, curate 1846-1855, prepared private pupils for Oxford University and the army. 26
THE MISSES DUTTON’S SCHOOL Open in the early part of the C20th, this was next to The New Inn (Morris Clown) and was for the children of the local trades’ people.
Miss Duttons School
The Elms, Broad Street
Miss Pembrey’s Fees
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FIRE SERVICE For a town of approximately 2,500 we are very lucky to have a local fire station and we are blessed with a team of dedicated, retained firemen and women who man the service. Our firemen were National Champions at Crystal Palace over 100 years ago and have maintained their professionalism throughout the decades. There is mention of repairing the fire appliance in the 1876 Vestry Minutes (see Appendix one). Our present fire station in Manor Road opened in 1971. The siren was removed from the Town Hall in 2012. POLICE The two semi-detached police houses, in Station Road, were homes to two policemen and their families. There was a desk that was manned most of the time and they looked after Bampton and surrounding villages for many years. We haven’t had a resident policeman who patrolled our streets since George Hardy left. LIBRARY A public library, run by the County Council, opened in Rosemary House in the Market Square, after the building ceased to be the gas showrooms, some time before 1957. In 1964, the library moved to the Old Grammar School in Church View where, thanks to a dedicated team of activists and local support, it still exists.
Save our Library 2nd May 2011
Rosemary House
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THE BAMPTON, ASTON AND DISTRICT GAS AND WATER COMPANY The Bampton, Aston and District Gas and Water Company later became part of the Mid-Oxfordshire Gas and Water Co. The works were established on the south side of the Aston Road c1907, where the chicane has been built. Water was supplied from a 125-foot bore hole and a 40-foot water tower near the gas works. People used to be able to buy coke from the gasworks. A common sight on a Saturday was children racing down to the gas works with a trolley to get the available sacks of coke. On Sundays, a boxing ring was put up for local people to have fun boxing. Ernie Parker, Len Hughes, Dr Wood’s son and Ted Lay were a few who made good use of it. John Quick, founder member of the SPAJERs (Society for the Preservation of Ancient Junketing), worked at the Gas Works most of his working life. His father-in-law, Percy Sheppard, also worked there. SAN TOY Now a private dwelling, it was once Mr Webb’s butcher’s shop with a large window facing the road. Stone steps, on the outside, led up to a small room where the butcher’s wife ran a second hand clothes shop. It is the first building after Valance Court on the right going towards Aston. ‘CARRIER’ GREEN The business, John Green & Son, is listed in Kelly’s 1935 Directory. John was known as ‘Carrier Green’ by everyone. Mr Green and his son William (Bill) had a sort of minibus, which they housed in a barn. The barn has been converted into a house, originally called April Cottage and now called Radcot House. It is behind Valance Court along Buckland Road. In the middle of the C20th a packman used to go around Bampton, showcasing items that could be bought from a shop in Swindon, called Morse.People would give the packman an order and on Fridays, carrier Green would fetch the items from Swindon to Bampton for the people. Mr Green’s son worked with him. There was another packman, called Mr Lee, from a different company, who also did the rounds in Bampton. 29
Bill Green was the first person to be used to take children to school in Witney. He was also used by Miss Cooper to take children down to Sandy Beach, along the Thames, near the Trout Inn on Buckland Road. Miss Cooper taught children to swim for the small charge of 6d which included the transport.
Bill Green
Green’s Bus
An old Bampton Bus
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OATHURST From the 1860s to 1908 the general practitioner Dr Oates lived and practised here. In the early 30s, it was used as a mental home for children of the well-off, when it was disparagingly called ‘the loony house’ by locals. In 1939, it became a language school for foreign students and in 1976 it became an old people’s nursing home, which has changed ownership several times. It is now called Rosebank. GRANGE COTTAGE Grange Cottage was called Alma House from early Victorian times, until the early 1900s, when it was bought by the owners of The Grange, who renamed it Grange Cottage. It was sold in 1930. Dr Morton ran his General Practice from the back room of this house, with the small side entrance opening into the waiting room. It had no heating, as several of his ex-patients, who later became patients of Dr Landray, commented. The medical notes of a number of patients carried Dr Morton’s name, as they were registered with him, on the ‘panel’.
T W PEMBREY In 1837, Lesta House was bought by the mason, Robert Oakey. Late in the C19th, Pembreys had bought it, along with what is now No7 High Street and Strawberry Cottage and collectively, these three properties became the department store, T.W. Pembrey. Clothes, shoes, carpets, lino, millinery and more, plus the Post Office, could be found within this department store. In 1861, the building across Bushey Row, now Bampton Physiotherapy, was added to the department store and the Pembreys sold furniture from this latest addition. 31
Excluding what is now Bampton Physiotherapy, the store was later owned by R.C. Smith and then Isaac Edward Busby.
THE CYCLE SHOP The sign ‘Cycles’, seen on the left of the picture, which was taken before 1911, advertised the cycle shop, which was in what is now No 4 Town House.
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When Les & Stella King bought Busby’s in 1960, No7 was a private house and Fleur de Lys (Bampton Physiotherapy) was an independent hairdresser. Strawberry Cottage, together with Lesta House, became Kings of Bampton. It ceased to be a shop altogether in 1970.
After Fleur de Lys hairdressers, it was Chennells hairdressers (1994) and in no particular order: a video shop; an insurance office; Garden Trading, which sold twee garden related ornaments. It is now Bampton Physiotherapy, offering Physiotherapy, hypnotherapy, sports massage, homeopathy, reflexology, foot health care and aromatherapy.
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HOUSEHOLD STORES This was sited next to the New Inn and owned by Dolly and Eric Stroud. They created the shop in the 1960s. It sold wallpaper, paint, pottery, paraffin, building tools, household pottery, pots and pans etc. Dolly ran the shop while Eric ran his building business. They sold to Frank and Eve Godwin who eventually sold it as a private dwelling, when they bought the Jubilee Inn. No 9 HIGH STREET Solicitor, James Rose, formed a partnership with R H Bullen (son of a Bampton doctor), which later became Bullen and Ravenor and then Ravenor and Cuthbert. They had offices at No 9 High Street in 1923. No 10 HIGH STREET For a short time, in the 1980s, Mrs Audrey Court sold knitting wool and dress patterns and associated tools of the trade.
The Household Stores
No 11 HIGH STREET At the end of the C19th, this was Stephen’s grocery shop. Mr Clark, the shoe snob (boot and shoe repairer) and shoe maker took over the premises. His son helped in the shoe shop and his daughter-in-law ran a grocery business in No 4 Town House. When Mr Clark senior died, his son joined his wife in the grocery business and the brothers, Paul and Les Bovington, took over the shoe shop premises, where they ran their fruit, veg and wet fish shop.
Les died first and Paul continued with the business on his own. When Paul died, the shop was empty for many years before the whole property was put in sound order, over a period of a couple of years from 2010, and it is now a private dwelling.
Outside Bovington’s Shop
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GRAYSHOTT HOUSE The house was built around 1700 by a wealthy maltster called Jethro Bunce (d.1726), who was also a considerable dairy farmer. Jethro left goods worth over ÂŁ200 in his will. It was the home of Dr Frank Herbert Woods, surgeon and medical officer and public vaccinator. He was also Assistant Medical Inspector of Schools to the County Education Committee in the first part of the C20th. This House has been home to Mr George Collins, the owner of Glebe Farm, Weald, from about 1950.
Grayshott House
Peggy Roberts
FLEUR DE LYS HOUSES Peggy Roberts lived in the one on the left, as you look from the footpath. Upstairs, she had a hairdressing salon and Peggy Awcutt was the hairdresser. Peggy Roberts moved her business to what is now Bampton Physiotherapy and Peggy Awcutt went with her. When Peggy Roberts retired, Peggy Awcutt continued to look after a few clients, in her bungalow, behind the semi- detached Fleur de Lys houses, and when she fully retired, Brenda Chennell, in 1994, started hairdressing in Bampton Physiotherapy, later moving to what is now Bampton Law. 35
November 1954
No 4 TOWN HOUSE No.4 is the thatched building
Groceries were available here from at least the second half of the C19th, when it was a thatched building. It was a cycle shop for a while. Mr & Mrs Jacques sold hardware from here, while Mrs Sugg was the last person to sell fruit and veg here, in the 1980s. It was finally sold to Wilsons, the Witney Estate Agents, who bought it specifically to sell the newly built properties of Calais Dean. That job done, it was sold as a private dwelling. WHEELGATE HOUSE It was once owned by the maltster Richard Haskins (d.1770). It was a private school called The Bampton Commercial Academy, owned and run by Alfie (Alfred) Bryant at the end of the C19th and early C20th, while he also ran a fire and life insurance office. The Post Office was here from 1918 to 1971. After several years as a private dwelling, it became a B&B and now includes the ‘biztro’; both run by Biz Gooddy.
Alfie Bryant’s Academy probably decorated for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee
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Chandler’s Workshop
HAYMAN HOUSE The neighbouring house, to the west of Wheelgate House, set at an angle to the road; it was owned successively by a butcher, a farmer, a mercer and a haberdasher called Thomas Bryan. Thomas Bryan also sold trade licences and was an agent for the Phoenix Insurance Company. From about 1794, it was owned by the owner of Bampton Doilly Manor, who sold it around 1800 to the corn dealer, Thomas Collins. Mr Albert Chandler and his daughter Doris were the last people to run a business from here. Albert was a skilled saddler and leather worker, with his workshop above the garage doors. He was clerk to the parish council for several years. After his death in 1967, his daughter, Doris Chandler, ran a small antiques business from his workshop.Albert served a 7-year apprenticeship and at one time, he was working for 900 horses. Albert worked in his shop above the double gates for 50 years.
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Albert Chandler aged 83 in his workshop in 1960
FOLLY VIEW Before the present building was put up in 1906, it was the home and workshop of the blacksmith, Daniel Gibbard, who retired to live in Church View.
Daniel Gibbard
THE BAMPTON CLINIC This was originally a slaughter house. In the 1970s, it was bought by Graham Newman and Keith Paice and served as a lawnmower repair business. It was later sold and converted to a dental practice by Sinson and Sykes in 1980. The dentist had his practice downstairs and complimentary health practitioners worked on the top floor. When the dentist left in 2000, the osteopath and physiotherapist remained, renting the building from 2000-2004. It was then bought from the dentist by Philippa Rayne. It is now run as a complementary practice with acupuncture, osteopathy, psychotherapy, reflexology, homeopathy and massage.
The Bampton Clinic in Moonraker Lane
CBL ELECTRIC VEHICLES LTD Behind the Talbot, where once was the site of Kerwood’s yard slum housing, there have been garage workshops, for many decades. Originally it was the workshop for the Central Garage, but for several decades it has serviced electric vehicles. BAMPTON COFFEE HOUSE This was Mr Gill’s butcher’s shop in the early C20th. It has also been used as a launderette and John Temple’s hardware shop. John gradually built up a wonderful range of items for sale, based on what people wanted from him; it was rare to find the shop without a customer. He sold the business to Mr Reg Cooper, who in turn sold to Yasar and Kudret Iletmis, who run a delightful café called the Bampton Coffee House. 38
EELES / BUDGENS Through the first half of the C20th, this was J. Eeles Grocery Store. (Notice no building to the right of it in the photograph.) It then became a self-service International Store, Londis and now Budgens and has increased in size, in its depth, since early 1970. J. Eeles Grocery Store
SPRING HAIR BOUTIQUE Built, adjoining Eeles’, about the middle of the C20th, this was part of the Central Garage and contained the garage’s hydraulic ramp. It was later used as a car showroom in the 1970s. Faye Ham, who for many years ran the shoe and toy department at Kings of Bampton, started a little toy shop at the back of the garage. She then moved in here and added workmen’s clothing and ‘sensible’ footwear. Patrick Constable took over the business from Faye Ham. A florist followed, calling the business ‘Flower Power’, before Spring Hair Boutique bought the building. In January 2013 it was bought by Hollie Reynolds and it is now called Polished: beauty and hair specialists.
Fay Ham (left) and Joan Bartlett
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ABBEY PROPERTIES This was J H Brooking, drapers & outfitters, before Mrs Hutchins and her two daughters acquired the drapers shop. It became the London Cash Drapery Store, before the front was removed and the pillars installed. When it became the Central Garage, four Petrol pumps were added between the pillars. It was the first, and the only place, to sell tractors in Bampton: Ferguson tractors, which started on petrol and once warmed up, most models ran on TVO (tractor vaporising oil). Farmer Ogilvy, of Calais Farm, had a Ferguson tractor which ran on petrol all the time and he used to fill up his tractor at these pumps. Barclays Bank moved across from The Poachers Rest into the premises, when the garage closed. The bank was followed by Abbey Sadly, after a few years, Abbey Properties, who later rented to The Cotton Club. Properties returned and the wonderful Cotton Club ceased to exist. When the Cotton Club rented the shop from Abbey Advert from Properties, the Estate Agent retained the November 26th 1954 right to advertise in the left-hand window, although the room behind was used by the Cotton Club. It was here that, Cotton Club owner Linda Kerswill, ran some excellent quilting classes.
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TOWN HALL There has been a market in Bampton for about 1,000 years. The Town Hall, designed by John Wilkinson, was built by subscription in 1838, in the hope that it would revive the flagging market. It failed in that aspect and was somewhat of a white elephant until the 1970s. The ground floor was originally an open arcade and used as a market place, but it was never a large market, being used chiefly for pigs, eggs and dairy produce. Other livestock and crops were sold in Oxford, Witney and Faringdon.
The Town Hall
Permission was sought at a Vestry meeting, on June 25th 1880, to house and shelter the fire appliance in part of the Town Hall. It was agreed, subject to permission from the trustees of the building being acquired.The arches were filled in during the early C20th, but two, facing Rosemary House, were unblocked in the mid C20th to provide a bus shelter for people, whilst waiting for one of the many buses that served the village on routes to Swindon, Oxford and Witney. Following a village referendum on the future of the Town Hall, which was in a poor state of repair, major restoration work was completed early in 1972. The new fire station in Manor View had opened the previous year and the space left in the Town Hall, which had been used to house the appliance, was made into toilets. West Ox Arts have used the upstairs accommodation since the restoration and the middle room, downstairs, has been our Post Office since December 2010.
Newspaper cutting August 18th 1972
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BOJANGLES This was originally part of Constable’s bakery. It was first converted into a hairdresser’s shop in Rosemary Lane, by Monty Shayler; his wife Sue employed an excellent hairdresser. It is still a hairdresser’s, called Bojangles, managed by Kerry Barrodell since 2012. BAMPTON COMMUNITY SHOP This is a small shop in Rosemary Lane that is staffed by a wonderful team of volunteers, under the dedicated and watchful eye of Patrick Constable. This Community shop gives away many thousands of pounds annually, to village organisations, to help improve the life of us all. Before the Community Shop moved here from next to the Horse Shoe, the shop was used as the first premises of the Cotton Club and then by a wine seller and Bampton Cars, a taxi hire firm. MARK’S KITCHEN There is a date stone showing 1871 on the wall facing Rosemary Lane. In the latter part of the C19th, what is now Mark’s Kitchen was a draper’s shop called Viner’s, owned by Archibald Viner, and the shop next door was Joyner’s bakery, selling groceries and confectionery. Mr Shepherd bought the bakery from Mr Joyner and he, in turn, sold it in 1898, to Tom Constable from Lechlade. Tom also bought Viner’s shop and converted, what had been Viner’s, into his bakery shop and the buildings behind were made into the bakehouse. He converted the original baker’s shop into his sitting room. The sitting room, along with the rooms above it, is now a separate dwelling called Bakery Cottage. Three different solicitors operated from what is now Mark’s Kitchen, one of which was Parker’s Law Firm, before it became the Chinese Takeaway, Mark’s Kitchen. 42
Date Stone 1871
THE POACHERS REST Gillett & Co were here before Barclays Bank. Barclays stayed for over half of the C20th, before moving across the road, when the Central Garage closed. This property became a very good cafĂŠ, run by the Walker family. It then became a restaurant, owned and run by Helen and Philip Deacon, before becoming a private dwelling in 2010.
THE STORES
The Poachers Rest Restaurant
This is now Adrian Simmonds’ private dwelling, since he retired in 2010. It has variously been: a printers, stationers, post office and general stores probably since it was built in 1795.
Adrian Simmonds outside The Stores
People who ran the businesses had the names Mr Holloway, Mr Martin, HB Jones, Mr Beard (about 1890, he printed the programs for the concerts and plays: see Appendix two) and Applegate in the early 1930s. Mr & Mrs Loverock came in 1939, when they were evacuated from Singapore. They took the shop to get the living accommodation that came with it; Mr & Mrs Slim, then Mr & Mrs Harris and finally Adrian Simmonds followed. 43
COTSFIELD Now a private house, it was Mr Harrison’s butcher’s shop through the middle of the C20th. Mr Harrison died in 1982. Later, Peter Lewis sold small electrical goods and accessories, followed by Mike Whalley, who sold carpets and vinyl floor covering. Cotsfield
Exeter House
EXETER HOUSE Now a private house, at the start of the C20th it was a shop with a very eclectic mix of items for sale. Jewellery was displayed in one window, while all manner of household items were offered for sale in the other three. In a workshop, at the back, Oliver Onesiferous Collett made the first car to run in Bampton: his Voiturette. He was an inventive engineer, as well as being a clock maker and mender. When he dismantled the car, he used the engine to recharge batteries for people. Around 1925, his 9-year old nephew Eric Jennings, lived with him for just under a year and attended the Misses Duttons’ school. He can be seen in the photograph. The garage and shop were later owned by Len and Elsie Hughes with their son, Jim, employed to drive their coaches. Jim took a coach full of our Morris Dancers, under squire Francis Shergold, plus friends, on a 10-day tour of Ireland in 1968 for the princely sum of £27. This included: the ferry from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire and back; accommodation and breakfast throughout plus dinner on 4 nights. Mr Hughes had petrol pumps in front of Cromwell House and a garage behind it, while Mrs Hughes sold knitting wool, sweets and all newsagent items in the shop.
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Elsie was an excellent knitter and knitted for customers. She also made wedding cakes including mine. The garage went first and several years later, the shop closed and the property became a private dwelling.
Local press advertisements
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CROMWELL HOUSE AND THE OLD FORGE It is possible that Cromwell House got its name because Oliver Cromwell stayed here overnight. The two establishments are principally a late C16th building. A C19th subdivision has obscured a four-centred fireplace. The outbuildings along Church Street were made into part of the dwelling of The Old Forge in the late C20th. The forge was owned by Mr Cripps in the early C20th while Jesse Wheeler became blacksmith in the property after him.
The Blacksmiths Townsend and Wheeler at Cromwell House
Blacksmith Cripps and family, Cromwell House
BAMPTON LAW LLP This was a butcher’s and grocery shop owned by Charles Robinson at the end of the C19th. It was bought by the Brown family who ran it as a grocery shop. Their daughter, Winnie, worked in Mr Gill’s butcher’s shop where Bampton Coffee House is now. Winnie later worked on the tills next door in the International Stores and continued to live above the Law firm’s premises. It has been used (not necessarily in the following order) as an antique shop, called ‘Quetta’, Brenda Chennell’s hairdresser’s, a florist and as a forerunner to the shop at our surgery. ROSEMARY HOUSE The tailor, Levi Robins (d.1852), had a business here. In the first part of the C20th it was the gas showrooms run by John Quick snr. (Father of John Quick the founder of the SPAJERS), where you could buy cookers, lights, gas mantles and arrange for gas appliance repairs. The library followed before it finally became a private house in 1964. 46
FISHMONGER AND FRUITERER In 1911, according to the census, Charlotte Wardle had her shop somewhere in the Market Square but I’ve been unable to discover the exact location. HAYTOR The house was almost certainly completed in July 1870, because an inscription,etched on to a window pane, states “James Rose 1st July 1870”. Dr Rose ran his surgery from this house. It was later the home and surgery of Dr McCartney, whose wife was a midwife. Dr Poaching also practised from here. Haytor
BOX HOUSE This house was built after the first National School was demolished. It was owned by the mason and publican, Charles Lord, who owned the Horse Shoe public house at one time. Dr Atkinson ran his surgery from here in the mid 20th Century.
DUTTONS
Box House
Established c1751, Duttons was a general grocers and at various times: a tallow chandlers,chemists, and oil merchants. George Dutton (b.1854) had the shop by the beginning of the C20th. The Lodon, City and Midland Bank established a branch in his shop and his only son, Arthur, was appointed clerk in charge.
The original shop with two windows
The London, City and Midland Bank sign
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Arthur was good at numbers but had no business head. He inherited Duttons, on the death of his father George, but as soon as the Midland Bank moved to the site of the present day HSBC he continued as their chief clerk and sold Duttons to Billy Matthews, who had worked for George in his youth. Arthur may have been the last surviving pupil of the grammar school. Since Duttons ceased to be a grocery store, it has been used to sell second hand clothes; stationery; as an Estate Agency; it was the second home of The Cotton Club; sold all things to do with horse riding other than saddles and it now sells outdoor clothing.
George Dutton and 15 year old Billy Matthews
10A BRIDGE STREET Between Duttons and HSBC, Miss Penfold sold homemade cakes and did well, despite the presence of Constables almost opposite. She had cakes in the window for passersby to see. It became the private dwelling of Miss Farmer, who taught several generations of children in Bampton. PATRICK STRAINGE, BUTCHER Have a look at the shape of the windows in the photograph (in the photo of the Horse Fair in Bridge St), which is about 90 years old, and it is clear there was no shop of any sort here in the early C20th. Since becoming a shop, it has always been a butcher’s, with several owners down the years. Even though Patrick retired in 2012, it is good to see it is continuing as a butcher’s shop, so that people can buy quality meat; award winning sausages; excellent homemade pies with their beef free of ‘contamination’ with horse meat. It is to be hoped it stays in the village for many more years. Horse Fair in Bridge Street
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Miss Farmer
OBAN In the mid to late C19th, the barn at the back was used as a tannery. It was later the home of Mr Green the builder, whose yard was behind Eton Villas, in the first part of the C20th. Sherbourne Villas
SHERBOURNE VILLAS Pre 1865, this was a stonemason’s yard. He sold the land in 1865 to William Aries to build two dwellings as a speculative venture for lettings. In 1938, it was let to William Edgar Jones on a 14 year lease to live in and to use for his trade as a furniture dealer. Mr Jones would have all his chairs, tables and other small objects placed outside along the garden wall. In 1946, his son, Samuel Albert Jones, bought the property for £725, selling it, a year later, in 1947, to RJ Brickell for £1,500 with a covenant that the purchaser would not, within a period of five years, carry on the trade of furniture dealer. In 1948 Mr Brickell sold it to TT Bartlett for £2,600. STENTON COTTAGE The premises were sold by Thomas Cripps of Aston to Squire Philip Southby on March 29th 1894. It was later sold to the boot and shoe maker, Mr Charles Suffling, whose widow sold it to the bootmaker, Percival Owen Money, on July 29th 1934. Since the middle of the 1970s, it has been used as a shop run by Mrs Henly, of Deanery Farm, Broad St., to sell clothes; by Mona Wilkins who also sold clothes; by Peter and Sylvia Lewis to sell small electrical items; Julia Taylor Rouse to sell cakes and is now the home of Leslie and Mike Wareham, where Leslie makes and sells beautiful pottery by private viewing and during Arts Week.
Percy Money Boot and Shoe Maker
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EMMIES In the first half of the C20th it was called Bridge Street Stores where two ladies, who were always called Miss Miranda & Miss Teresa (Spurrett), sold a few sweets, sugar, tea, cocoa, paraffin, candles and lamps. George Bishop took over the shop, followed by his sister Emmie Papworth. Pre WWII, Emmie used to take produce from the shop round Bampton on a horse and cart, but with wartime rationing, eventually, there was little available to sell and her horse and cart round ceased. Emmie’s son Tom, with his wife Sylvia, took on the shop after Emmie died and enlarged it as far as was possible. Tom tried for several years, without success, to find a buyer for the business so that he and Sylvia could retire. Sadly, the shop closed on May 26th 2012 and it, plus the friendly banter with Tom and Sylvia, is sorely missed by very many people.
Emmie outside her shop
Tom and Sylvia Papworth
Emmie and her brother George Bishop selling groceries
PEAR TREE COTTAGE This is the one opposite Emmies – there are two other houses in Bampton with the same name. Mr Wells ran a papershop here in the first part of the C20th. His children delivered the papers for him before school. It became a butcher’s shop for a few years, then became a private dwelling. In the 1970s there was a tearoom for a short time, but no planning permission had been sought for change of use from a private dwelling; sadly it was not granted retrospectively, resulting in its closure. 50
CASTLE VIEW FARM Frederick Walter Payne, carrier, was living here in 1920. Other family members i.e. William Payne & Sons had premises in Witney but had an advert in black lettering painted on the side of Castle View farmhouse, some of which can still be seen. Mr & Mrs Albert Townsend (left) bought the farm and house in 1935 when they sold the Elephant & Castle across the road. Apart from farming land around Bampton, Albert had pigs by the farmhouse, ran a horsedrawn taxi service - which was later run by Mr Harwood who lived with the Townsends - and he continued to sell coal, as he had done when he was at the Elephant & Castle, using one of, if not the first lorry in Bampton. That same lorry was used to take the Methodist Sunday School children to Savernake Forest for their day out.
Castle View farmyard from the farmhouse
Albert’s haulage truck Mr and Mrs Albert Townsend
Albert with his horsedrawn taxi
BRIDGE HOUSE Mrs Rogers sold sweets from her house in the first half of C20th. Somehow, she managed to register for a sugar ration in Oxford and Swindon, both 18 miles away, so she did well! She opened seven days a week. Mrs Rogers
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COACH HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST This is a fairly new, high quality, award winning B&B in Bridge Street, next to College Farmhouse, run by Robin and Pip Shuckburgh. Pip is a talented artist; she opens for Arts Weeks and has generously supplied several paintings for use in fund-raising for Bampton Archive. YORK HOUSE Patrick Constable tells me that this used to be a hat shop. Robin Shuckburgh
York House is on the right in Cheapside
ETON VILLAS Eton Villas were built in 1907 by a stationer from Eton, replacing a thatched house and shop seen in the old photograph. This was probably once owned by Edward Bateman. He was a grocer, ironmonger, draper & carpenter and also ran the Malt House on the corner of Kilmore House, in Church Close, in 1788. William Angell Smith, (d.1854) had a drapery and grocery shop somewhere in Cheapside but I can’t find out where. Eton Villas, Broad Street
GOODMAN TEA DEALER This shop and cottage in Cheapside were old and rather dilapidated, when they were pulled down early in the C20th, to create a carriage entrance to Little Place. They were in slightly better condition when the photograph (right) was taken, where they can be seen next to the George and Dragon. 52
SLIMS As well as having The Stores in the Market Square, the family also ran a little shop, selling groceries, right next to the school, in Bowling Green Close. In the 1980s, under different owners, it became the place to buy things for pets and for dog grooming. It has been a private dwelling for around 30 years. A hundred years ago there were ladies who took in washing, did dressmaking and there were many jobbing gardeners and general handymen, all too numerous to mention. People made items at home for sale. An example of this was the flag baskets, made by Grannie Wiggins of Weald, which were used by men to carry their tools and lunch to work. William Collins (d.1912) was a basket maker. Susie Lamb was an old lady who lived on Buckland Road, just before Fisher’s Bridge, on the right going out of Bampton, in one of a row of little cottages, end on to the road. She walked round Bampton each week, with her wares, selling from an old pram. She sold elastic, tape, pins, ribbons, reels of cotton etc. She always wore black and a very battered black straw hat. Grannie Wiggins
Mr Loveridge, the tinsmith, pushed a hand-truck round the village hawking baskets, scoops, skimming dishes, buckets and colanders which he had made. Potato nets were made by several people to hold the potatoes, which were placed in the big iron crocks on the fire with bacon, onions, dumplings or meat puddings. In the early part of the C20th, pedlars like ‘Tiddles’ Clark came from Aston selling fish from door to door. An old man, called Castle, pushed a hand cart all the way from Witney each Sunday morning, with papers, fish, kippers and bloaters. Another man came, with a basket on his head, selling oranges for 1/2d each, with kippers in the same basket! From Witney, came yet another trader in a pony and cart, selling black and white puddings, known then as hogs puddings and he did a roaring trade. Once a year, in the spring, Mr Burrows came with his flat-bed cart and pony to sell scythes, rakes, hoes, pitchforks and other farm implements. He left his cart outside the Jubilee Inn for two days, and then moved on to the next village.
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In a barn, belonging to the Wheatsheaf on the corner of Bridge St and Church View (now a home called Wychwoods), a penny bazaar was held once a year. On Saturdays in the summertime a cheapjack had a stall, outside the Town Hall, selling all sorts of things but mostly crockery. ‘Raggy’, an old man 100 years ago, came with a pony and cart to collect rags and rabbit skins. He gave sweets in return for the rags, but he also sold paraffin and the sweets sometimes tasted of the paraffin. Years later, Mr Stallard, from Faringdon, came for the skins and paid 3d each for them. Fred Able came once a year with his dog and two donkeys, pulling a little covered trailer, giving a one-man show. Carpenters Arthur J.K. Plaster of Church View, John Rose of Broad Street and John Tanner also from Broad Street were carpenters and cabinet makers in 1911. Alfred Joyce from Buckland Road and John Henry Joyce from Cheapside were carpenters and wheelwrights. Alfred’s son Jack was the coffin maker. Samuel Spencer & Robert Plaster were from a line of carpenters and wheelwrights and had premises on Bridge Street. They built several houses in Bampton.
Fred Able
Arthur Plaster made the top tray and the counter below it, which Tom and Sylvia had full of sweets in Emmie’s, their newspaper shop. Arthur Beckley, a retained fireman, was an excellent carpenter who made rocking horses after he retired. Arthur’s grandfather was the carpenter employed when Bourton Cottages were done up in 1906. The sweet counter at Emmies
There was a town crier early in the C20th, called Mr Cox, who lived in a cottage belonging to the Elms. He wore a uniform and went around the village on a tricycle ringing his bell and making announcements. (That same bell is on view here in the exhibition.) His son, Bob Cox, died in the 1980s and he left the bell to a friend, who has lived here all her life, and it will be very carefully looked after for posterity. One of the doctors, 100 years ago, went on his rounds in a dog-cart driven by a man in livery.
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Masons In 1911, James Dewe from Lavender Sq. and George Stone (d.1931) from Church St. were masons. George Pryor from Church View was a mason with the Thames Conservancy Works. In 1861, 24 men were recorded as farmers with some having other trades as well; over 350 people were recorded on the census as agricultural labourers, which included 12 shepherds. 16 farms were 100 acres or more employing 168 men, women and children. Deanery Farm, (470a) with its farmhouse on Broad Street, Calais Farm, both Ham Court Farms and Mount Owen Farm were over 200 acres. Some people owned one or two fields such as Thomas Spurrett, publican, who had 36 sheep on 48 acres in 1861 but they were not named farms. In the C19th, most people were employed in agriculturally related jobs, with the building industry being the second largest employer. 1861 19 masons, some having other trades 15 carpenters 6 plumbers, glaziers or painters A builder with premises in Weald, New Road and Buckland Road. Another, James Pettifer, built the Town Hall and Sandford House and did work at Ham Court and The Talbot. There were 20 + cordwainers, cobblers or shoemakers, several tailors, drapers, bakers, grocers, smiths and wheelwrights and many had more than one trade. 1 watchmaker 1 tinsmith and brazier Joiner & cabinet maker Hairdresser Toy dealer 2 veterinary surgeons Inland revenue officer There were 50 domestic servants, who were nearly all women, working for the landed and professional classes, farmers and prosperous trades people. Some wives & daughters of traders added to the family income by laundering, dressmaking, bonnet and straw hat making, corn-dolly making and basket making.
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Two or more coal merchants got their coal by river transport from the wharf by The Trout along Buckland Road and later from Bampton railway station.By the mid C19th the Horse Fair, in late August, brought money into Bampton and local traders had a chance to sell their wares. By this period, on the occasion of the Horse Fair, there was also a carnival in the Market Square, which brought in people from neighbouring villages. The Horse Fair was a small affair by the 1940s and had disappeared entirely by the end of the decade, although the Fun Fair remained. Fellmongers, collar makers, leather dressers, saddlers and harness makers are mentioned from the mid-1800s to early 1900s. In Kelly’s 1920 directory there is mention of two chimney sweeps. Today, there are secretarial services to be had, several B&Bs off the main routes through Bampton, painters and decorators, a haulier, writers, a master thatcher, IT specialists, plumbers, TV editors, builders, photographers, electricians and a library open to all, not just men and boys. In addition, there are two business parks in Weald where the Signal and RAF camps used to be.
Chapman = wandering pedlar Cordwainer = makes shoes and other articles from fine, soft leather cordovan Cordovan = originally fine soft leather from goatskin, now usually horsehide Fellmonger = a dealer in hides and skins My thanks for proof reading to:Terry Rouse, Vera Elward, Janet Newman, Tommy Gerring, Frank Hudson and Lis Page Also to the people of Bampton who took the time to answer my request for information Information from: • ‘The Victorian History of The County of Oxfordshire’ • ‘Old Folks’ Memories’ gathered by the Darby and Joan Club in 1962 • WI Survey of Bampton 1965 • Lloyd Hughes-Owens’ account of schools in Bampton and Bampton life • Many trade directories from 1854 to 1935 • 1911 Census April 2013 © Bampton Community Archive
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Appendix One
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Appendix Two
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A Bampton Community Archive publication. First published May 2013 BCA-41 (November 2016) www.bamptonarchive.org
£15 52 PLU
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