History Shorts: snippets of local history

T he diaries of 17th century Oxford antiquarian Anthony Wood offer a fascinating glimpse into academic and social life in the university city, with a mixture of history, commentary and anecdotal material.  A new kind of feaver One particularly curious entry caught my eye: Memorandum, Friday, Aug 14 1657, Mrs Read of Ipston departed this life, who three weeks before her death was taken with a fit of vomitting and vomitted a live spider. Her name was Acton before she married. This summer rages a new kind of feaver, especially in the country villages. — Excerpt from The Life and Times of Anthony Wood, Antiquary of Oxford (1632–1695), Described by Himself, Vol. I (1632–1663), collected from his diaries and other papers by Andrew Clark, M.A., Fellow of Lincoln College, published 1891. Concern for illness is a common theme in 17th-century diaries but I will assume the note about a live spider is drawn from local hearsay as opposed to being a symptom of a "new kind of feaver". The I...

Though technically within the boundaries of Oxford city, Iffley retains a distinct village charm and historical significance of its own, most notably through its remarkably well-preserved Norman church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. Perched on the east bank of the River Thames (or, Isis in this stretch), Iffley sits safely above the river, approximately two miles downstream of Oxford. The origins of Iffley can be traced back to the chronicles of Abingdon Abbey in the 940s, where it was referred to as Gifteleia. In the Domesday Book in 1086, it was called Givetelei , with "ley" likely deriving from the Saxon term for cleared ground. The name transitioned through Iftele in the 13th century and to Iffley in the 16th century. Evidence of even older settlements is abundant: a sixth-century Saxon brooch found in Iffley is now housed in the British Museum, while nearby Roman pottery sites and Neolithic artifacts hint at a site with a long history. A timeless masterpiece  Dating ...

Is this a surprising change of use for a Victorian building? An insight into how Oxford once managed its water supplies... View this post on Instagram The South Oxford community centre in Lake Street, #Oxford was originally built in 1856 as a pumping station for the city waterworks. Water was pumped from the neighbouring Hinksey reservoir, itself only formed in 1850 as a result of gravel extraction for an extension of the railway from Oxford to Banbury. The waterworks were in operation until 1934. Its cooling lake is now the boating lake in Hinksey park and filter beds were converted to swimming pools. #history #urbanhistory #Victorian #architecture A post shared by bishib70 (@landscapeandhistory) on Oct 14, 2019 at 12:48pm PDT Lake Street front: See the OS 25 inch map of the area from 1898.

According to Wikipedia, this is a Palladian villa built in the 1750s-60s for Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, a British diplomat and general, with grounds later landscaped by Capability Brown. The old village of Nuneham Courtenay was uprooted to make way for the house and grounds and was recreated a mile away on the Oxford to Dorchester road (now the A4074). Destruction of the old village has been linked to the Deserted Village, in the poem of that name by Oliver Goldsmith. During World War II, it was used by the RAF, home to a photographic reconnaissance interpretation unit. It is now owned by Oxford University (their Harcourt Arboretum is also nearby) and the building used as a retreat centre.

Old public bathing area , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. Another photo of Long Bridges public bathing area in Oxford. On the right of the photo you can see the steps into the water. (You can see these highlighted if you click through to the photo on Flickr.)

Long Bridges bathing place , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. This was once a public swimming area in Oxford.