On Wednesday 9th September, around 60 members and guests enjoyed our first talk of the season given by Andrew Meller who entertained us in lively fashion in ‘Tolkien in the Cotswolds – The Shaping of Middle Earth’.
Even from his infancy in South Africa and childhood in Birmingham, Tolkien drew inspiration from the landscape and people around him.
Andrew gave us many examples of places and characters in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings with direct links to Tolkien’s experiences.
Later, settled with his wife Edith in Oxford, Tolkien made regular trips into the Cotswolds where the couple had many connections including Tolkien’s brother Hilary who lived in Evesham.
Famously Tolkien is said to have based the Doors of Durin on the tree-lined door of St Edward’s church in Stow and the Bell Inn in Moreton-in-Marsh is said to have inspired The Prancing Pony in Bree where the Hobbits meet Aragorn for the first time. Broadway Tower is rumoured to be the idea behind the creation of Amon Hen with its ancient Seat of Seeing enabling the occupant to see great distances.
Tolkien’s time working on the Roman dig at Dwarf’s Hill Lydney Park in the Forest of Dean in 1929 and the myths and archaeology discovered there must surely have been a huge inspiration in shaping Middle Earth.
North door of St. Edward’s Church, Stow-on-the-Wold: rumoured to have inspired J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘Doors of Durin’ in The Lord of the Rings.
About Andew Meller
When not researching the past, historian Andrew has worked as a head teacher, actor and storyteller and has just retired as a bookseller with Waterstones.
Our talk on April 8th welcomed Sue Honoré (a very experienced researcher & long standing Oxford Family History Society member).
Based on over 40 years of family history research, Sue’s talk was a helpful introduction to resources available to the beginner and the more experienced.
Sue covered important elements of the research process, key research strategies to encourage the use of information sources wisely and with care, as well as hints and tips for success, plus common pitfalls and ideas for projects.
Family History Explored
Sue introduced her talk by reminding us of the deep overlap between “Local” and “Family” history. Research into family connections will always reveal important stories. These revolve around, for example, the houses our ancestors lived in, the wars in which they fought as evidenced in war memorials in every village, the ownership and sale of land and much else which is the warp and weft of local history research.
Sue also reminded us of the importance of talking to family members and recording their memories through the generations. She reminded us also that memories of neighbours can also be important and useful. Every long life is lived with a backdrop of events, decisions, family moves and other stories. These all help to further research, but also to create a living history around the creation of a family tree.
Thus setting the tone, Sue then discussed the many and varied potential resources available for family research: for one’s own family, or indeed any family of interest.
Family History Resources
Sue directed us to the extraordinary list of resources shown on the Oxfordshire Family History Society website here[ Link opens in new tab]
The OFHS website has easy to follow links to all these resources and more.
Ancestry/FindMyPast/FamilySearch/The Genealogist
Victoria County Histories (British History Online). The Wychwoods is No.19
National Archives Discovery
Oxfordshire Heritage Search
Maps, military records, wills, Google Books, real books, newspapers & many more
DNA – FamilyTreeDNA, Ancestry, MyHeritage
Full details are on the OFHS website. It is well worth a look.
Advisors and Helpdesks
Sue also reminded us of the services offered by OFHS advisors around the county. These advisors offer expert help in all aspects of family research. Advisors are always keen to meet new people.
Here is a list of libraries currently offering this service, including the Wychwood Library in Milton.[Link opens in new tab]
Tips for Family and Local History Research
For the rest of her presentation, Sue demonstrated how family history research is best seen as an iterative process, building on different strands of research to cross-verify findings, making sure to avoid any tempting leaps towards easy answers.
She chose surname examples to watch patterns over centuries, as well as a case study featuring a local Wychwoods family, which demonstrated by example some of those easy assumptions.
The evening was again – as have been all our talks this season – well-attended, and gave us the opportunity for questions, and to remind our membership of the extensive range of family history stories in our archive.
About Sue Honoré
Sue Honoré has no Oxfordshire ancestors but has been working with the Oxfordshire Family History Society in a number of roles for the last 14 years, including Editor of the journal and DNA project co-ordinator. Currently she manages the database of details of over half a million records of Oxfordshire people from 1100 to 1946. Her ancestors are mainly from Scotland, Northumberland, Derbyshire, New England and 4000 years ago, the Rhine Valley.
Our talk on Wednesday 11th March welcomed Geoff Bayley, a graduate of Manchester University with a deep interest in 17th Century history .
Geoff presented the story of the English Civil War with a focus on Thomas Fairfax, which offered an important perspective on the events of the war.
Once again we had a good attendance, with over 60 members and guests. An enjoyable evening was rounded off by an engaging Q&A.
Here is a summary of key Civil War events with a focus on the role of Thomas Fairfax. The summary includes the milestones in Geoff’s presentation.
Fairfax and His Role in the Civil War
When the guns fell silent in 1646, Thomas Fairfax stood at the height of his fame. He had commanded the New Model Army with a steadiness that made victory seem almost inevitable, though nothing about the Civil War had been easy.
He was the conqueror of Naseby, the man who had taken Bristol, and the general to whom Oxford surrendered. Yet the moment the war ended, Fairfax found himself entering a different kind of battlefield—one in which clarity of purpose dissolved into faction, ideology, and the slow corrosion of trust.
Nothing strained Fairfax’s conscience more than the trial of Charles I. He had fought the King’s armies, but he had never sought the King’s death. When the High Court of Justice convened, Fairfax refused to attend. His wife, Lady Anne, famously cried out from the gallery, “He is not here, and he will never be here,” a protest that echoed her husband’s own silent refusal.
Fairfax did not obstruct the trial, but neither did he lend it his authority. It was an act of quiet dissent—one of the few available to a man who had no taste for political theatre. After the execution, he withdrew further from the centre of power, his sense of purpose dimmed by the knowledge that the war’s end had brought not settlement but a new and harsher uncertainty.
In 1650, he resigned his commission and retired to his estate.
The Scottish Question and Fairfax’s Resignation
The final break came in 1660. The Scots had crowned Charles II and prepared to invade England. Fairfax, who had fought to defend the rights of Parliament and the liberties of England, could not bring himself to wage war on a nation that had once been an ally in the struggle against tyranny. He believed the conflict unnecessary, unjust, and contrary to the principles for which he had taken up arms.
He backed General George Monck in his campaign that led to the restoration of the monarchy under King Charles II.
It was a moment of profound moral clarity. He stepped away from power at the very moment when power was most within his grasp. Fairfax finally returned to Yorkshire, to live quietly in retirement.
He had fought a king, refused to join the regicides, resigned rather than wage an unjust war, and finally helped restore the monarchy in a constitutional form when the nation needed peace more than principle. His actions were never driven by ambition, ideology, or self‑interest.
Geoff’s talk thus enabled us to follow the role of Fairfax throughout the war. The talk offered a revised perspective, one that has been lost over time to the focus on Oliver Cromwell’s role during the conflict and particularly in its aftermath.
Geoff Bayley is a graduate of Manchester University and has held a strong interest in the history of the 17th century for many years. Semi-retired from a role as Company Director in the automotive industry he decided to undertake a course at Oxford University about the English Civil war.
It was during this studying that he became increasingly aware of this man named Fairfax, so he decided to find out more about him. He discovered that this modest man was in fact the most influential figure in the outcome of the war and also in the subsequent creation of our constitutional monarchy.
Sadly Fairfax has been overlooked by history in favour of Cromwell so Geoff decided to try to put the record straight and give him the recognition he deserves.
Geoff has given numerous presentations on the subject and written a historical novel based on the life of Fairfax.
For our latest 2026 talk on Wednesday 11th February we welcomed David How, Chairperson for the Witney Museum. Assisted by museum administrator Beverley Sherwood, David presented a history of Witney’s New Mill.
Witney’s New Mill is a historic woollen mill site, one of several in Witney, famous of course for its centuries-old blanket industry.
Witney New Mill
David’s insightful presentation began with an introduction to the work of the Witney Museum and the lottery funding which helps its work and projects.
We were reminded of the reasons for the success of blanket manufacture in the area, including the quality of the wool of the Cotswold sheep, and the benefits of the River Windrush for quality production, before the industry’s eventual decline.
He then gave a quick round-up of the blanket types which were produced in Witney, including the Witney Point Blankets which were the subject of 19th Century trade agreements with native peoples in America and Canada when the Northwest Territories were formed in the 19th Century.
The site has deep historical roots in the woollen industry, being recorded as having a grist mill as early as 1277 and possibly dating back to the Domesday Book. David’s talk took us through the ownership and developments in the early 1800s, specifically by the Wright family and later the Early family, to demonstrate the importance of the site and its successes.
Witney New Mill – A Chequered Past?
On the way we had stories of accidents, of a possible arson attack or two, and certainly a litany of disasters by fire in 1783, 1809, 1818 and 1883 – and so reminders of tricky working conditions which surrounded the development of mechanisation.
David’s talk also presented the various processes involved in blanket manufacture and included a fascinating short video to illustrate the origin of the expression to “be on tenterhooks”. A real gem.
The talk concluded with a quick summary of the mill towards and after the end of its function as a working blanket factory in 2002. He also named the various companies which were housed in its building in recent times to the present day.
Another fascinating talk, then, for a group of 50+ attendees, ending with a short Q and A and a chance to look at cloth samples and some interesting memorabilia.
Visit these Sites for More
The Witney Blanket Story: [Opens in new tab ] Discover more about why the words ‘Witney’ and ‘blanket’ were so closely linked.
Witney Museum : [Opens in new tab ] Information and guides to the best of Witney’s heritage, including opening dates, a picture gallery and links to the museum’s social media sites
About David How
David moved to Witney in 1989, and was a Development Manager (General Insurance) until retirement. He has been active in the Witney community, including stints as a football referee for Witney and District Men and Boys, a cricket umpire in Cherwell League which includes West Oxfordshire, and as a school governor until recently at the Witney primary school.
He joined Witney museum over 10 years ago as a steward and became more involved, resulting in becoming a committee member and chair person for the past couple of years.
Next Talk : A profile of Thomas Fairfax. Details here >>>
For our first talk of 2026 on Wednesday 14th January we welcomed Gillian Cane, who presented in lively and witty style, her profiles of the Mitford Sisters.
It is fair to say that for most of us these six Mitford sisters were, by anybody’s standards, outrageous. Gillian’s spirited talk reminded us how they often shocked, occasionally appalled but in the case of all six of them, always fascinated.
This fascination was reflected by a record turnout of 100+ members and visitors and an interesting Q&A session afterwards.
Unique Anecdotes around Familiar Stories
Gillian interweaved many – what were to most of us – unique anecdotes around the more familiar stories of the lives of each sister
Though Gillian did not quote him, perhaps the lives of the sisters might be characterised – as writer and journalist Ben Macintyre does – as: ‘Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the unobtrusive Poultry Connoisseur’.
There was much in Gillian’s talk to embellish and expand on these aphorisms, and she did so with humour and obvious relish. The references to Unity’s odd pets including a snake and a rat named Ratular, and Jessica’s penchant for teasing her father and measuring his head to compare its size to Piltdown Man – these were among many amusing moments to create a fine rounded picture of the sisters.
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters
As a post-script Gillian referenced the collection of previously unseen letters written by the six sisters, gathered by Charlotte Mosley, Diana Mitford’s daughter‑in‑law. These were published as ‘Letters Between Six Sisters’ and were stored in a building at Chatworth House, home of course of Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire.
Drawn from family papers preserved across decades in various Mitford homes these letters – only a fraction of the total – capture the shifting social world and political storms of the twentieth century, while also tracing their own complicated, lifelong bonds.
About Gillian Cane
As Gillian’s family hails from the Derbyshire region, Chatsworth House and the Mitfords became a fascination from an early age. She devoured books by and about them. Later in life she met some of the family, and suddenly found herself living close to where they were born and brought up. Thus this talk followed.
Gillian has had an eclectic career after studying archaeology, such as: serving as an Army officer, sitting on the Governing Council of the Alliance Internationale de Tourisme, (where she incidentally worked with Max Mosely, Diana Mitford’s son), assisting in a programme for recovering drug addicts and alcoholics, and guiding and volunteering at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University.
Next Talk: A History of Witney New Mill >>Details here
For our Christmas season talk on Wednesday 10th December we welcomed Sean Callery, Blue Badge tourist guide, writer and raconteur.
Sean showed how today’s Yuletide celebrations grew from a mixture of pagan customs, folklore and royal fashions. In doing so, Sean linked these to a whole host of Cotswold locations and how they shape Christmas celebrations and traditions.
Included in a rich tapestry of images, Sean explored the Cotswolds background to several of our most famous Christmas songs. These included the tune known as ‘Cranham’ – set to Christina Rosetti’s poem ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ . It was composed and named by Gustav Holst, resident of Cheltenham, after the nearby village where his mother was born.
We also learned, for example, that Christmas carol ‘The Holly and the Ivy’ is directly connected to Chipping Campden. The version we sing today was collected there in 1909 by folk music scholar Cecil Sharp, who heard it from a local resident, Mary Clayton.
Sean covered subjects such as wassailing, mummers, Christmas tree lights, light trails, Christmas markets ( especially at Tewkesbury Abbey), and the origins of charitable giving on Boxing Day .
It was a lively and entertaining look at the roots of our Christmas traditions and gave useful ideas for yuletide entertainment in key towns throughout the Cotswolds, with interesting questions to round off the evening.
About Sean Callery
Sean is qualified tour guide with a background as a teacher and children’s author.
His Blue Badge tourist guide is for the Heart of England (which covers the area between Birmingham and Gloucester) and he specialise in the Cotswolds.
Sean draws on his experience from writing about 60 children’s books. Some of these were stories but mostly were non-fiction, for some of the UK’s top publishers. Sean researches his information and finds fun ways to present it .
See much more on Sean’s website at Offbeat Cotswolds [opens in a new tab]
Our November 2025 evening talk welcomed Juliet Heslewood, who presented a history of Fairford Church with particular emphasis on the developent and design of the stained glass windows which are a prime feature of the building.
The evening saw around 50 members who were entertained by some fine and detailed illustrations of the windows. We also had insights into their construction and stylistic influences.
About Fairford Church
The Church of St Mary in Fairford is one of the Cotswolds’ finest wool churches — built in the late 15th century when local families grew wealthy from sheep farming and trade. Their prosperity – Juliet used the term “visible spending” – is reflected in the church’s beautiful stonework and magnificent windows.
Fairford is an outstanding church because of its fascinating complete set of medieval stained glass windows, the only such set in England. The glass is rare, and is of the highest quality.
Juliet gave us a brief outline of church architectural development from Romanesque to late Gothic, with several illustrations of some well-known examples of churches in those styles. Fairford represents the Perpendicular Gothic style, and typical of this style, the church is full of light, with its tall windows supported by elegant buttresses.
Fairford’s Stained-Glass Windows
Fairford’s 28 stained-glass windows are almost unique in England, forming a complete medieval story of the Bible, from Creation to the Last Judgment. Highlights include the Creation Window, showing the making of the world, and the Annunciation, where Gabriel greets Mary.
Juliet also took us through some insights into the construction of such stained glass windows, and explored the influences – North European rather than Renaissance Italy, which informed the style of the designs and imagery.
Window No 9: The Ascension
Survival Stories
The story of their survival is told in several landmark events. A few of the panes were damaged during a storm in November 1703; they were either repaired, some being modified or replaced. During 1889-90 twenty-six windows were repaired and re-leaded.
The windows were taken down for safekeeping during the Second World War and in recent years this remarkable heritage has been carefully restored between 1986 and 2010 under the direction of Keith Barley.
Juliet reminded us that although little is recorded about its founders, the Tudor writer John Leland noted that the wool merchant John Tame began the church, and his son Edmund completed it. As for the designs themselves, there are no written records, and so historians have to piece together hints and guesses – this gave the talk an extra dimension of interest, as Juliet explored these for us.
Today, St Mary’s remains one of Gloucestershire’s most remarkable examples of faith, art, and local pride.
About Juliet Heslewood
Juliet Heslewood is the author of The History of Western Painting: A Young Person’s Guide, as well as a series of themed art books for Frances Lincoln and the recent novel Mr Nicholls.
She has written many other books including one on Van Gogh that led her to be interviewed in a BBC 4 Arts programme on television.
Our October 2025 evening talk welcomed Diane Purkiss, professor of English Literature at Oxford University , and fellow and tutor at Keble College.
Diane’s talk explored the often-overlooked history of English food from the perspective of the poor, focusing on the 99% who lived hand-to-mouth.
Another well-attended evening was rounded off with a string of questions from members who clearly enjoyed a fascinating and entertaining talk.
Diane drew from personal experience and historical sources to illustrate how poverty shapes food choices though the ages. She touched on medieval subsistence diets right through to 20th-century working-class meals. In particular, she highlighted the ingenuity of families who stretched meagre resources — surviving on foraged greens, dairy scraps, and offal — and the emotional toll on mothers trying to provide for family needs.
Diane used Langland’s Piers Plowman to illustrate the harsh realities of medieval subsistence, where hunger was a constant threat and diets consisted of oatcakes, curds, and foraged greens.
This portrayal aligns with the broader climatic backdrop of the Little Ice Age — a period of cooling that disrupted agriculture across Europe. Shortened growing seasons and crop failures deepened food insecurity, especially for the landless poor. Piers’s seasonal diet, lacking fat and protein, reflects the nutritional deficits common during this time, when even modest luxuries like pork or bacon were rare.
Diane warned against romanticising such diets, noting that children often suffered from pellagra, scurvy, and rickets. The Little Ice Age magnified these hardships, turning subsistence into a daily struggle. With these and many other examples, Diane showed how climate, poverty, and social inequality intertwined — and how the poor, despite everything, developed resilient foodways to survive.
As the industrial revolution took hold, rural families with gardens and communal knowledge fared better than urban slum dwellers, who had to rely on convenience foods. Government denial of malnutrition and misguided advice compounded hardship, while experiments revealed the transformative impact of simple additions like milk and butter.
Evacuees during WWII exposed cultural divides in food habits, revealing how deeply foodways are tied to identity and survival. Diane urged respect for the resourcefulness of the poor, reminding us that bad diets stem from scarcity, not ignorance.
Her talk – delivered with humour and wit – was a tribute to the dignity and creativity of those who made do with little — and a call to honour their legacy in how we think about food today.
About Diane Purkiss
Diane works on witchcraft, folklore, the English Civil War, and food. Her book ‘English Food: A Social History of England Told Through the Food on Its Tables’ is available now in paperback.
She is now working on a book about the English at sea and a study of executions in Tudor England.
Our first talk of the new season was held in Milton Village Hall on Wednesday 10th September.
We welcomed Stephen Barker, who offered what was for most of us, a unique view of life for the soldiers of the First World War.
Upwards of 50 members appreciated a fine multi-media presentation, which included Stephen’s fascinating commentaries around a set of amusing and incisively satirical contemporary postcards.
Soldiers often turned to humour to alleviate the stress of life in the trenches. Jokes, puns, and satirical songs were a part of the soldiers’ oral culture. Much of the humour was lost on those outside the soldiers’ group, but it resonated with the soldiers and allowed them to cope with the strain of service and combat.
Stephen’s presentation took a light-hearted look at trench humour in slang, in tunes and cartoons – plus satirical journals and concert parties. Humour around the subjects – including joining up, training, officers and men, jibes at the enemy, and the view of war through “Old Bill” – were all illustrated in contemporary cartoons and images.
Stephen’s rendition of a hilarious episode featuring the strictly Presbyterian General Haig and a column of particularly expressive marching men drew much laughter and warm applause from the group.
This was most definitely an alternative view of war, and what came across quite emphatically was that the participants of the time did not see themselves as victims. Use of irony and bawdy humour, coupled with a sense of detachment, gave soldiers an element of control in the face of extraordinary pressure.
About Stephen Barker
Stephen is an independent Heritage Advisor who works with museums, universities, and other heritage organisations to design exhibitions and make funding applications. He worked at Banbury Museum, the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum amongst others.
Stephen has delivered projects for various universities including Birmingham and Oxford. He delivers presentations and tours related to the First World War and British Civil Wars. He is a Trustee of the Bucks Military Museum Trust and is an Arts Council Museum Mentor. He is the author of ‘The 8th East Lancs in the Great War’ and ‘The Flying Sikh: Hardit Singh Malik’.
The Wychwoods Local History Society presented a special evening of entertainment with the renowned band Oxford Waits on June 11th 2025.
Mr. Tim Healey: Narrator, vocals, shawm, recorders
The Oxford Waits presented a lively evening of 17th Century music and song that ranged from the bawdy to the lyrical and poetic. Despite being all acoustic the music filled the village hall. Readings from contemporary records were woven into the performance along with a demonstration of country dancing from the period. We were also given an exposition of some of the historic instruments they were using – including the cittern, lute, hurdy gurdy, nykelharpa and hammered dulcimer.
The event was a special addition to our season of activities and proved to be a great success. It was a very entertaining evening, with many comments from society members and visitors saying how much they enjoyed the show.
The Oxford Waits take their name from a real-life band of city musicians, known as ‘waits,’ who flourished in Oxford during the 17th century. Performers appear in period costume, and concerts are enlivened by street ballads, dance tunes, airs and rounds as well as readings from diarists and poets. Superb singing voices are matched by specialist skills in an array of period instruments.
The Oxford Waits have performed at a wealth of festivals, churches, theatres and arts centres, as well as featuring on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. In 2006 they performed before her Majesty the Queen at the Royal Opening of Oxford Castle.
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