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Dorchester-On-Thames

Dorchester-On-Thames photos (8 available)

Old photo of Dorchester-On-Thames

Dorchester-On-Thames maps (2 available)

Old map of Dorchester-On-Thames

Dorchester-On-Thames books (11 available)

Dorchester-On-Thames memories

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You can also read memories of nearby places in Oxfordshire below.

Oxfordshire memories

Sheila and Lily Phillips

Does anyone remember my mother and grandmother?  My mother Sheila, married John Edwards and moved to Jersey in 1959.  Lily lived in Warborough till her death in 1979. She lived in Gravel Walk, Warborough until approx 1973 then moved to sheltered accom until 1979. My mother died in 1977. I went to the local village school where I remember teachers called Mr Dance and Miss Kirby. My father who is still alive played cricket on the village green. He also played badminton and tennis. My gran also worked in the village shop. I also remember Mr King who had the post office. My brother Martin now lives in Spain. We were 5 and 3 when we moved to Jersey but I ...read more here
A memory of Warborough contributed by lesley perry

Wartime memories

I well remember living in the village  from 1940 to 1944 being evacuated there as a 6 year old from the East End of London. I lived very close to the war memorial and attended school set up for evacuees in the cricket pavilion on the village green. My temporary parents were Mr & Mrs Bailey who looked after me very well and  their  upbringing has stood me well  during my lifetime.  One very strong memory I have is attending the church regularly and on one occasion giving a reading during the service. I recently located Mrs Bailey's grave in the church grounds and was pleased to find it but a little disappointed at the state it was in. During my ...read more here
A memory of Warborough contributed by Peter Grimble

Parish Church Cemetery

I visited Warborough had lunch in local pub looked round the church cemetery.There were quite a few 'Beislys' interred there during the 1800's.
Also one name on the WW1 memorial.
Are there any Beislys still living in the village or nearby.I believe one of the landlords of a pub in Shillingford was Beisly at one time?
A memory of Warborough contributed by John Beisly

Family connections.

Clifton Hampden, the Barley Mow Inn 1890

This was my grandfathers favourite inn at the time the photograph was taken. He was coachman at the Manor House at Long Wittenham a short walk along the 'Maddy' (a road from the inn to Long Wittenham following the river and very prone to flooding). Its a family story that he would often spend too long here and Granny would have to prepare the horse and coach and dress up in his clothes to fetch the master of the house from Didcot station several miles away. I remember her as a very resourceful woman. She died in 1938 on her 83rd birthday.
A memory of Clifton Hampden contributed by Mr BK Seeney

Extracts From Dorchester-On-Thames & Oxfordshire books

Dorchester-On-Thames, High Street 1924

Our progress down-river reaches Dorchester. It was a Roman town and the seat of an Anglo-Saxon bishopric, and is now dominated by its great late 11th-century Abbey church. Nowadays the by-passed winding High Street is again peaceful. The cottage on the left has been demolished but the others remain, including the rather fine White Hart Hotel, dated 1691 but in fact earlier, a former coaching inn.
An extract from from"Down the Thames Photographic Memories".

Dorchester-On-Thames, High Street 1924

The Romans built a town here, though its ramparts are now only faintly recognisable, and in Saxon times it was the bishopric for Wessex and Mercia. The abbey, at the heart of Dorchester, dates back to the 12th century. The White Hart Hotel and garage can be seen along the street.
An extract from from"Oxfordshire Photographic Memories".

Abingdon, the Crown and Thistle Hotel c1955

The Crown and Thistle Hotel, first mentioned in 1605, was a coaching inn, and one of the town’s best known ones. It is still popular, and has the truncated remains of its inn courtyard within – we see it here from the yard end of the carriageway through the building. The further part of the yard in this view now has a roof supported on posts to give shelter to tables and chairs.
An extract from from"Abingdon Photographic Memories".

Abingdon, Stert Street 1893

Skirting the modern shopping centre, our tour reaches Stert Street, which runs south towards the Market Place; in the 1890s, it was one of Abingdon’s main shopping streets. On the right, W H Hooke’s bookshop (now a jeweller’s) is the start of the market place encroachment. We are looking towards St Nicholas’s Church. Until 1883, only its tower was visible; then two pubs which jutted into the street, one on each side, were demolished for road improvement. Little survives on the left today apart from the two gables of No 3, a 15th-century house, partly hidden by the horse-less cart.
An extract from from"Abingdon Photographic Memories".

Abingdon, Bridge and River Steamer c1955

The Fraternity of the Holy Cross built the two bridges, the causeway across Nag’s Head Island, and then the long causeway that runs south for over a thousand yards across the flood plain to Culham, where they built a five-arched stone bridge between 1416 and 1422. Culham Bridge crossed the cut dug for Abbot Orderic in 1052 and known as the Swift Ditch. It is difficult nowadays to see that quiet stream as the main navigation channel, rather than the Thames itself, but so indeed it was for centuries. This view shows Burford Bridge.
An extract from from"Abingdon Photographic Memories".