Shrivenham
Shrivenham maps (2 available)
Map of Wiltshire
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Shrivenham books (11 available)
Banbury Town Walk Guide
Paperback
Banbury - A History and Celebration
Hardback
Henley-on-Thames Town and City Memories
Paperback
Shrivenham memories
Read and share memories of Shrivenham and Wiltshire inspired by Frith photos
Be the first to add a memory of Shrivenham.
You can also read memories of nearby places in Wiltshire below.
Wiltshire memories
Paras at Watchfield
Hi Alan, I can confirm that there was a military airodrome at Watchfield. I remember watching from a distance as learner paras jumped from a baloon basket. The baloon was let up to a great height and the men in the basket jumped out one by one.
Tony Stayne
A memory of Watchfield contributed by First Name Last Name
2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment
My Father tells me that there was an airfield at Watchford and that the Paras used it as a drop zone in the 1950's. Taking off from Abindon, they would drop at Watchfield. My Father did his night drop here and said that the staff on the ground would leave the hanger doors open with the lights on so that the young paras could just see enough to assess how much the wind was making them drift. Does anyone have photos of this aspect of lift in Watchfield. There is no mention of Watchfield in current aeronautical charts. Your Watchfield, NAAFI Corner photograph suggests some military ties. I would be interested to learn more.
A memory of Watchfield contributed by Alan Wells
Fire at The Rose and Crown
I was four when my family moved from London to Manage the Rose and Crown in 1940. The Rose and Crown was then about four hundred and fifty years old. After six months there was a devastating fire which destroyed the whole of the thatched part of the hotel and part of the building which is in Church Lane. The cottage immediately opposite across Church Lane was also burnt down. The fire started during the evening and as it was war-time it was important to put it out as soon as possible it could be seen for miles. Fourteen fire engines attended.
I was in bed and I called out to my mother for a drink. She came upstairs with ...read more here
A memory of Ashbury contributed by First Name Last Name
A foreigner's memories
My other half and I are having a great time here, in Woolstone at the foot of White Horse Hill for nearly 4 years now. I can only recommend this charming little village to anyone who wants to have an idea of the typical English countryside. Worth a visit for all nature lovers. You are always welcome here.
A memory of Woolstone contributed by Diana Horvath
Extracts From Shrivenham & Wiltshire books
The village lies in the far west of the county, close to the Wiltshire border. Village halls and memorial halls have
long been an integral part of the local community, providing a venue for public meetings and social functions.
An extract from from"Oxfordshire Photographic Memories".
Beckett Hall was acquired by the War Office in 1938 for use as an Artillery School. However, during the Second
World War it became an Officer Cadet Training Unit. Up to 10,000 US troops were based in the area, and after
the war Beckett Hall became the United States Forces University in Europe. It is now the Royal Military College
of Science.
An extract from from"Oxfordshire Photographic Memories".
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".
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".
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".