Bampton Architecture
£12
Volume Two
by Gilbert Marsh with photographs by Michael Cooper A Bampton Archive Publication
A Bampton Archive Publication
First published in 2009
Revised August 2015
BCA-28/A - August 2015
Bampton Architecture Volume Two
By
Gilbert Marsh with photographs by Michael Cooper
Contents Old Bampton Pages 4 to 37
New Bampton Pages 38 to 48
Around and About Bampton Pages 49 to 69
Part One
Old Bampton
Two of Bampton’s oldest buildings in a beautiful landscape.
4
One of the remaining unconverted buildings in Bridge Street is getting a new thatched roof.
An unusual three-storied Georgian House with a parapet frontage on the High Street has now become a Nursing Home. 5
An unusual garden and conversion off Bushy Row
The stable block in a beautiful setting. 6
A dramatic stone eagle built into a garden wall.
A recent thatched cottage conversion.
7
An extension from the original house approached from Moonraker Lane.
Good use of an old cowshed to produce plenty of space and an upper level study.
A pleasant court formed by the house and greenhouse, and greenery everywhere. 8
The cellar in the original part of the Deanery is of great age and great interest. The walls show many changes in design over the centuries. The windowsills are at ground level.
Here an old opening has been filled in. The floor level is some four feet below present garden levels and this might have been due to levelling a sloping garden generally and thus creating a cellar deep in the ground. 9
Another window lost in alterations.
Even arrow slits were included in the old Deanery.
10
The old cellar has a magnificent worn stone floor and window sills are at ground level.
In the centre stair of the Deanery, where there is another filled in Gothic doorway, a ghost is said to have been seen.
11
The Deanery and lawn.
A superb avenue of topiary resembling Russian wooden dolls.
The elevations of the Deanery show a substantial structure.
12
An unusual view towards St. Mary’s church.
Here is the largest remaining section of a canal that is said to have run from Shifford via the Mill leet to the Deanery and on up to the Highmoor brook. 13
Could it be that the spoil from the excavation of the canal was used to level the Deanery garden nearby?
A further stretch of the canal.
Good stone lettering at the entrance gate. 14
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College Farmhouse is one of the most beautiful buildings in Bampton. It has a Norman feel about it though the date could be early 17C. 15
This part of College farm used to be a brewery.
A stone flight of steps outside the Hay Barn. 16
Traditional leaded lights beside an entry door.
Pronounced chimneys above a stone tiled roof and simple elevation give character to the farm. These roof stones are known as “Stonesfield Slates� which come from a village quarry now exhausted. 17
“Stonesfield Slates� being carefully set aside for reuse. Although of charming appearance, these stones are sometimes porous and fragile with age.
An old extension to the east could well have been used to stiffen a weak older structure with infilling. 18
The south face of Churchgate House, one of three Bampton houses occupied by vicars at one time (Cobb House and Kilmore House are the others).
The view looking north and an added frontage bay window.
19
The east front of Churchgate house.
The front door and semicircular fanlight. 20
The tree may outlast us all.
Church Close cottages enjoying the south western sunlight. 21
A substantial 17th century house in Church Close.
A charming flank wall window.
Garden elevations are sometimes a mixture of styles with no hint of their range from the front.
22
Leaded lights in a bold window frame.
The curved mullioned window of an old pigeon loft.
The design of windows is inexhaustible.
23
A little known private chapel.
A quatrefoil window.
A rescued carved cornice.
24
A detail of an upper Chapel window.
A Chapel stained glass window. 25
A composition of graves.
St. Mary’s spire dominates many views in the area. 26
Thatch and stone many centuries old at Knapp's Farm, now under alteration. The deeds of the farm date back to 1176.
An old dovecote in the heart of Bampton. The upper windows suggest a late Tudor date. 27
The superb fireplace and mirror in a Georgian Bampton House.
A Georgian window compliments this garden view. 28
The correct period staircase in this house.
Space and elegance in the dining room. 29
Good proportions follow on the frontage.
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A scaled down house of similar proportions. 30
The thatched house long predates the Georgian neighbour, but that applies to the frontage only.
The entry to Cobb House, one of three vicarages in use at the time. 31
Good street architecture of its time.
A simple Victorian farmhouse. 32
Quiet domestic architecture in Weald.
A peaceful cottage and garden. 33
A barn converted to a studio in Weald.
One of the stones from Bampton Castle, which became a quarry for much of the village it would serve. 34
This view of St. Mary's is now historical as this roof finish was replaced during the winter of 2008-9.
Stone decorations in the west porch. 35
The stone details at the ridge.
The door in the north transept. 36
A memorial in shadow along with the window in the north wall of the north transept.
Gravestones in the sunlight. 37
The Architecture of Bampton Part Two
New Bampton
New buildings do get built in this area. This one stands on the road from Bampton to Clanfield.
This garage and workshop is a recent addition to the Bampton scene. 38
This house in Glebelands is proposed to be demolished in favour of a pair of new houses. This may therefore be an historic record.
One of the four remaining pubs, the Horse Shoe in Bridge Street 39
The new arched doorway on the High Street leading into the courtyard of the Grange.
A symmetrical terrace in New Road not often seen from this view.
A typical courtyard development in Bampton.
40
An entrance door and canopy.
New toilets on the south face of the Town Hall.
41
Bampton lost a bank, Barclays, but gained a new home for the Cotton Club.
Bampton has hidden courtyards and attractive trees. 42
Few buildings escape the need for constant maintenance. Timber sills simply do not resist decay, despite paint.
A barn that once housed a grain dryer, now converted to domestic use 43
On new properties the gas and electric readings can be taken from outside.
A converted barn now looks fully established. The planting is effective.
Houses are further improved by additions.
44
The Vicarage, erected as part of a courtyard development off Broad Street.
Houses in Fox Close, Bampton.
A new house of period design off Bushey Row.
45
A new pillared porch.
Electric vehicle repairs occupy one of the few remaining workshops. Gilbert Marsh investigates! 46
In Bampton we are proud of the services provided by Budgens, which includes being open long hours.
If you can’t find something just ask.
One day this photo will become a useful record. 47
The bar at the Talbot Inn. The courtyard once took carriages and in 1842 a daily coach service ran from here to Morton-in-Marsh and to London linking with the railway. In 1870 it had stabling for 10 horses.
48
The Architecture of Bampton Part Three
Around and About Bampton
49
The view of St. Mary’s Bampton from the Clanfield Road. The magnificent spire is in scale with the whole countryside and thus justifies its size on the ground.
A lucky moment is recorded when Shetland ponies emerged from the smoke of a bonfire in a Bampton garden. 50
A small door almost opposite the postbox in Weald Street used to be opened for deliveries to the Manor.
No photographic survey should omit our local post-boxes which probably do not comply with EU regulations. This one is at the junction of Bridge Street and Weald Street.
This is the view of Bampton from the east where the road is never straight and therefore one is presented all the time by a changing scene of terrace houses.
51
The first of the bridges at Radcot when approaching Bampton. It has more charm in a photograph than in fact, and is narrow by today’s standards.
Tadpole Bridge is reflected in the Thames. The traffic lights erected recently have saved lives. 52
The Thames at Tadpole Bridge.
The busy main bridge over the Thames at Radcot. Tradition has it that ambulances and fire engines will not cross it because it links two administrative areas. A peaceful scene of moorings on the upper Thames at Radcot. There used to be a castle nearby, showing the strategic importance of the area. TV’s Time Team did a dig for the castle in 2008. 53
Old stables at the Swan Inn, Radcot. Such buildings were vital when the only local transport was by horse.
An old rear addition at the Swan Inn.
A green direction to the Thames Path. The Thames can now be walked along its entire length.
54
The traffic lights at Tadpole Bridge.
Not strictly Bampton, but the Trout Inn at Tadpole Bridge is gaining an excellent reputation.
Before the county boundary was altered in 1973 The Trout was in Berkshire where the closing time was 30 minutes later than Oxfordshire. A dash to The Trout to get in one more pint before closing time was common on a Saturday night. 55
The interior of the Trout Inn.
A trout at the Trout.
Coal was once delivered by barge through this door. There was a large coal wharf at Tadpole Bridge until 1877.
Someone knows how to catch crayfish near Tadpole Bridge.
56
The road from Brize Norton to Buckland was turnpiked in 1777 and stone bridges were built over Isle of Wight brook and Meadow brook and circa 1789 a wooden bridge was built at Tadpole Bridge.
A road sign on the Bampton-Buckland road to most quarters of the compass. 57
The western boundary of St. Mary’s Church. It is believed that the old road from Brize Norton used to run from Landells to Church View along this line but was abandoned for a higher road.
Running east beside Glebelands is a lane which it is believed was the old road into Bampton from the north.
The line of the old road is believed to have run across this field to the gap in the hedge beyond. This field was the cricket ground at one time. 58
The line of the old road into Bampton at Landells.
Autumn colours near Isle of Wight Bridge.
Teasels growing wild by the Shill Brook. These plant heads were essential to teasing wool and also used in the glove making industry here.
59
The estate east of Bushey Row is interlaced with footpaths such as this one.
Chimneys emerge from the early morning mist.
The flat land between Bampton and Chimney attracts water and swans are swimming in the field.
60
The bridging of many streams now makes access possible and shortens journeys.
The footpath west of Landells into fields - a view which may be lost to us one day because a row of trees has been planted.
The fenced-off right of way south of the village running from Buckland Road to Primrose Lane.
61
The field path gate at the south end of Primrose Lane.
The Shill Brook flowing east in a calmer state than it was in July 2007.
Truly free-range chickens enjoying life.
62
Roy Shergold and his brother Francis together at Francis’ cottage in late 2008. Francis has since died but Bampton has lost a core personality and we owe a great debt to him for Morris dancing support.
Francis Shergold’s cottage. 63
A blacksmith’s vice now in retirement.
A trench digging tool used by the Home Guard in 1940. They were drilled in Coronation Hall by a Captain Webb.
Ancient slashers on display.
An original type of garden scythe.
64
A bull-stick for hooking into the ring in a bull’s nose to enable the farmer to lead the bull.
A well established wind machine working long before Eco-systems were commonplace.
A smart new notice board is placed next to Emmie’s (that used to be the Newsagent’s).
65
This metalwork solved the problem of gate security by repeating the steps at the Methodist Church, Bridge Street.
A Victorian oriental style pot graces a garden patio.
An old wooden lintel survives in a barn wall. Often the opening below gets filled in. The wood face may be good oak, but starved of oxygen the back of the beam may have rotted away.
The Master Thatcher and his sign.
66
An old sink cut from stone in the old Dutton's premises.
It may not be fair to judge these alterations before they are completed.
The place that many of us will ‘visit’ some day - the cemetery at Landells.
Known to be an old outbuilding, the slit could be for ventilation or an arrow slit.
67
Sun hats through a glazed door.
Essential repairs on the Bampton-Clanfield road. On checking the state of the bridge after the 2007 floods it was discovered that the arch beneath the road had been washed away and only the tarmac was supporting the road.
The Piers of the old railway bridge are the last vestiges of Bampton railway station. 68
The car business on the site of the old railway station at Viscount Court.
Cottage garden profusion.
The smaller stream at Mill Green is still lined with sandbags to give some protection from flooding, but the worst flooding came from the west into the backs of the cottages.
Mill Green suffered the floods as much as anywhere being at the confluence of many streams.
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A Bampton Community Archive Publication