Category: Talks and Events

Background

Between 2005 and 2017 Trevor was the Registrar and Manager of Oxford City’s cemeteries at Wolvercote, Botley, Rose Hill and Headington. He and his team were also responsible for maintaining the grounds of 11 closed Anglican churches in the city. Trevor came to the work after 30 years with the RAF, which included work around the repatriation of war dead from overseas operations, and the attendant management of service funerals.

Nineteenth Century Developments

Trevor’s talk took us through the reasons for the establishment and development of the cemeteries at Osney and St Sepulchre (Jericho) in the mid 19th century. In addition to the effects of regular cholera outbreaks, there were other capacity issues in existing cemeteries, where the practice of “continuous burials “ was no longer sustainable. However, both new cemeteries filled rapidly, with continuing cholera outbreaks, and so were closed to new burials from 1855.

New Capacity

For new capacity, land was sequestered in the late 1880s to create the three cemeteries of Rose Hill, Botley and Wolvercote, with a further cemetery established at Headington in 1928.

Using these examples, we learned something of the structural maintenance of cemeteries, using retaining walls and careful monitoring of underground subsidence and the attendant danger of falling monuments, and also the layouts to include specific areas for children and victims of sudden infant mortality.

Some Highlights

Sobering subjects indeed, but intermixed with these realities, we had insights into the use of the cemeteries as filming locations – including the filming of “Any Human Heart” which transformed Rose Hill cemetery to a New York location, and also an episode of the TV series “Endeavour” at Headington.

We looked at the chapel architecture for each of the four cemeteries, including gate lodges which have now become private dwellings, as well as some biodiversity initiatives amongst the necessary ground maintenance work.

Trevor’s talk also took in stories of individual WW2 service personnel, and something of the Commonwealth War Graves, particularly at Botley. We also learned of some famous names whose resting place is at the large Wolvercote Cemetery, which has the graves of JRR Tolkien, Sir Roger Bannister and Isaiah Berlin.

The evening was a fair mixture indeed, with no small amount of dark humour to make for an educational and entertaining time.

Romans in Britain: Background

Marie-Louise began with the background context before and after the arrival of the Romans, referring particularly to accounts of pre-Roman Britain in Ptolemy’s Geography, and to examples of pre-Roman artefacts. These demonstrate, via some examples she showed, of excavated or found votive offerings, of a living, sophisticated culture among the tribes of the Iron Age.

So, with the arrival of the Roman Legions under the Emperor Claudius in 43 AD, we have a mixed story.  This is a story of a consolidation of pre-invasion diplomatic and trading relationships exemplified for example in a Romanised version of the Atrebatean triple-tailed horse. It is also a story of insurrection and revolt as epitomised by the Iceni rebellion under Boudicca, which saw the destruction of the vital port of Londinium in a wave of other devastating but temporary setbacks for the new Roman era in Britain.

A Soldier’s Tale

As an example of an individual who lived on the cusp of the worlds of Empire and Britain, Marie Louise mentioned the soldier of the Second Augustan Legion, Lucius Valerius Geminus. His repurposed and fragmented gravestone was unearthed at Alchester near Bicester. Details here.

Here was a soldier who came with his legion to Britain, and took the option after 30 years’ service, to settle with his plot of land. By inference, this would have been a common pattern.

Roman Villas

By using examples of the many Roman villas in our region, Marie Louise was able to introduce simple insights in the everyday lives of citizens of the time. Particular examples are the engraved glass beakers found by the South Oxfordshire Archaeological Group at a recent dig at Goring Roman Villa. “This may help” and “Give this to a loved one” are slogans we can all relate to.

The Goring Roman Villa is an example of an “Aisled” villa, one of two types of construction. The villa at North Leigh is an example of the “Courtyard” construction, with a communal space flanked by the living accommodation and bathhouses common to both types. The recent excavations by the Earth Trust at Wittenham Clumps offers a tantalising glimpse of the social hierarchy of the time – a villa with at least 15 nearby Iron-Age style round houses.

With these and several other examples of villa excavations, as well as examples of the reconstructions at Segodonum ( Wallsend) at Butser Ancient Farm in Petersfield , with its trompe d’oeil décor, we had interesting insights into how our Oxfordshire villas might have been set up, designed and furnished.

About Marie Louise Kerr

Marie-Louise’s background is in Ancient History and as a museum curator. She has over 15 years’ experience in the heritage sector, looking after museum collections and developing exhibitions around the country.

These have included archaeology, history of science and textiles collections as well as military and social history artefacts. She set up her Curator Without Museum talks business when she was between collections, but she is now Curator at West Berkshire Museum

This was another successful evening for the society, enjoyed by 50+ members and guests, and we are grateful to Tim for a lively and richly-illustrated presentation.

Tim’s talk focused particularly on the cattle droving from West and North Wales through to London and the Southeast which invariably covered routes through Oxfordshire. Cattle droving (and the movement of sheep and other animals) has a deep history, covering the country as far north as Skye and particularly the Great North Road. Records exist for example of Welsh cattle driven to London for the coronation of King John, and it is known that Welsh beef fed the army at Agincourt, and over time the burgeoning trade became subject to licenses and controls by the time of Henry 8^th and Elizabeth 1^st.

He showed images of typical drovers’ tracks, with lush borders and tunnels created by hedgerows – all a consequence of the rich soils fertilised by centuries of passing cattle.  Tim quoted from Thomas Hardy as an illustration of how the presence of the drovers over centuries had become embedded in the consciousness of people of the countryside   ” They wandered up the slopes till they reached the green track along the ridge, which they followed to the circular British earth-bank adjoining, Jude thinking of the great age of the trackway, and of the drovers who had frequented it, probably before the Romans knew the country.” – Jude the Obscure: Chapter 8

We had insights into how a token system to replace cash transactions was developed. Eventually new banks were opened to meet the need for control over the handling of cash for the sake of security and for the sake of avoiding criminality amongst the drovers themselves. The first of these, David Jones of Llandovery, opened in 1799. His brand was a black ox, which became over time the black horse of Lloyds Bank.

The effects of the development of the Turnpike system in the 18^th century had a huge impact on the economics of the business, culminating in direct action epitomised by the so-called Rebecca riots.

Some compromises were made with a system of special passes at reduced costs, but more crucially, the drovers found new routes away from the Turnpike roads, which created their own networks in the landscape. Tim’s talk covered some of these networks, and particularly the routes from North and West Wales through Oxfordshire and to the markets in London, further into Kent and Sussex, as well as southward to Salisbury and beyond.

Some typical reminders of these routes are to be found in place names such as “Coldharbour” – from the Norman French “Cul d’Arbre” – a sheltered spot beneath a tree, or “Little London”. Other reminders are in pub names, streets and lanes, and the wide verges on many roads, which allowed grazing “on the move”. Along the Ridgeway, other evidence of these drovers’ routes is found in the Scots Pines, a non-native tree, which were planted by drovers as a long-term marker for future generations.

With Tim’s accompanying map illustrations of these routes, we learned much about the reception of local people to the drovers and stockmen – most of whom spoke only in Welsh.

Among many other topics, we heard of the Lurchers and other dogs who worked the herds, the special shoes made for the cattle for the long journeys, and the transport back to Wales of Windsor chairs in flatpack form.

Tim also covered something of the cultural legacy of the drovers’ roads and livelihoods, which is only rarely reflected in true folk tradition, although reference is made in work by Alfred Williams, and an opera by Vaughan Williams.

Postscript:

For those interested in some in-depth research on the drovers roads, here is a useful link : Welsh Cattle Drovers in the Nineteenth Century

About Tim Healey

Tim Healey is a freelance writer and broadcaster who has presented many programmes on BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. A frequent contributor to the Oxford Times he has a special interest in the landscape and heritage of our county.

Our speaker Simon Wenham was as surprised as the rest of us to be greeted in the car park by a fine example of the famous Morris Oxford “Bullnose” – we all thought this was part of his talk, but in fact it belonged to local resident Peter Meecham – a nice touch to set the stall out for the evening.

Simon’s talk took us through the early stages of the evolution of the Morris empire, the “town vs. gown” dichotomy and the idea of Oxford as a city with “air of studied backwardness” caused by the conservative, established control of the city through the University hierarchy.

We learned of the early beginnings when William Morris at the age of 16 was repairing bicycles in his parents’ garden shed, to the development of a business which employed thousands of workers. We learned of the acquisition and development other businesses and brands – MG in Abingdon, Wolsey, and Pressed Steel included – in a career which elevated him to the title of Lord Nuffield.

We gained some insights into the man as a creative and energetic business brain, a man who liked to “get things done” – but also a man of extraordinary philanthropy, giving most of his fortune to good causes in health care and education.

Woven through Simon’s talk were insights into the transformation of the city. High wages brought in workers from South Wales and the Midlands, and the factory expansion in the inter-war years meant housing developments swallowed up villages – not just Cowley, but Headington, Marston, Wolvercote, Botley, Littlemore, and Iffley – and filled the gaps between them.

Hence, we have a story of a tension between old and new and a constant debate on progress and conservation.

The debate is perhaps epitomised by the establishment of Morris’ Nuffield College. Here in the city centre is an extraordinary example of Morris’s philanthropy. It was built as Morris wished, in a traditional design in Cotswold stone. It was Oxford’s first co-educational college and first all-graduate college. Revolutionary. But also, even Morris had to compromise, having intended his college specialise in engineering but the university wished otherwise. He was persuaded that it should specialise in the social sciences.

About Simon Wenham

Dr Simon Wenham is a part-time tutor on the panel of Oxford University’s Continuing Education Department where he teaches courses on the Victorian period. His doctoral research at the University of Oxford was on the history of Salter Bros Ltd , an Oxford-based Thames boat firm, which resulted in several books.

Simon has been a regular contributor to Radio Oxford and has done interviews for a number of television documentaries .

Jonathan Maisey’s presentation on the Windrush Quarries was particularly well-received and attracted interesting questions and feedback.

Jonathan has been involved in caving with the Gloucester Speleological Society (GSS) since 1983 and has a particular interest in the stone mines of the Cotswolds. Over the years he has  been involved in the discovery and exploration of a number of these stone mines.

The Windrush in particular has led to the best discoveries. The underground quarrying industry of the Cotswolds is one which is not well known or publicised, but it is hoped that a forthcoming Windrush book will help to address this in some part. In general terms, these quarries – for example also at Barrington and Moreton – were locally-run by families who had no particular need for intensive record-keeping, and so detailed research is difficult and challenging.

About Windrush Quarry

During a wide-ranging talk from Jonathan, we learned that Windrush Quarry consists of several passageways that are usually about 2 by 1.5 metres in size. The stone was moved by carts underground for both local use and for nearby towns and cities such as Oxford. The carts have left a series of well-preserved ruts along the passages. Graffiti from the quarrymen dates from at least 1853 with the majority being between 1860 and 1909.

Several smaller old quarries are dotted around Windrush Quarry on the 1891 O.S. Map, and these are thought to have provided employment from the 15th century at least as Windrush provided stone for St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, in 1478. The best example of Windrush stone in use is the front of Oriel Library (Oxford). For some time, the stone quarried here appears to have been grouped under the generic term of ‘Burford Stone’ (including other local quarries).

The quarry closed about 1900, because parts had become unsafe and expensive alterations would have been required, to comply with government regulations, although surface quarrying, for example for walling stone, continued to be quarried and dressed here until 1911.

Windrush Quarry was reopened by Gloucester Speleological Society in 1981. It is now gated with access available to bona fide cavers.  

Timeline of Exploration

Though the site was first visited and reviewed by Maurice Febry (GSS), no work was started until the quarry was opened by the GSS and fully explored – that is ‘Windrush 1’  – from the main cutting. In 1988 new access arrangements were made with the landowner and a full survey made of ‘Windrush 1’, and by 1994 a new wall and secure gate installed under the arch in the ‘Windrush 1’ entrance. Also at this time, Maurice Febry dowsed what ‘could be’ passages coming off from the second cutting, heading towards the so-called ‘clay bell’ and the eventual breakthrough into what would become ‘Windrush 2’.

This ‘Windrush 2’ section now connects back to a second entrance at a smaller cutting and at an area believed to be the ‘stables’ where it is quite possible that working horses were kept.

After several years of hiatus in GSS activity here, 2009 saw renewed interest in the mine by GSS members and a year later a graffiti survey started which is now ongoing as further areas are waiting to be discovered and explored. Such a survey was mindful of the fact of roof falls obliterating these markings. The forthcoming book by the Society plans to start with the graffiti survey as a starting point.

Graffiti and Artefacts

Far and away the most obvious reminder of activity in the Windrush Quarries is the extent and variety of graffiti left by quarrymen and others over time. We saw many examples of this, some which had been created with obvious skill, and at least one, mysteriously, created by candle soot and written in reverse on a ceiling.

Jonathan described to us some of the research being made to link as many as possible of these names to the population census, perhaps then to add more dimensions to our knowledge of these working men otherwise lost to history. Additionally, links can be made to war memorials and other local records.

Apart from ubiquitous clay pipes – and a solitary detached horse hoof possibly due to disease caused by damp conditions – among more mysterious finds were the number of abandoned workmen’s boots . Were these simply rough “working boots” changed into from everyday and cleaner footwear by the workers on arrival? Or some kind of ritualised farewell offering by retirees? One day we might know.

Post-Script: from Geograph:

This is a photograph of the main passageway in Windrush Quarry, shown on the Geograph website. Following the photographer’s profile, we can find several other examples of stone quarries in our region and elsewhere.

A feature of the evening was Simon’s display of his personal collection of historic books and documents relating to events and personalities of the period. This added a uniquely interesting slant to the subject matter of his talk, and certainly enhanced our post-talk conversation and interest.

A key element to the display was Simon’s 2005 book “Letters to my Father” which was available on the evening at a special members price, with proceeds going to society funds. This is a beautifully bound book, illustrated with twelve linocuts by Clare Melinsky.

Why the English Civil War?

Simon became interested in the English Civil War during his years of employment in the legal profession, when one day he was told by a colleague that the offices of a former employer were being cleared out, and it was possible that a large number of documents were being consigned to a skip.

Intrigued, he investigated, and found amongst much else, a set of interesting-looking papers. These he kept for several years, unopened and unread, until one day on further investigation, he discovered that they were the correspondence between a father and son during the post-Civil War early 1660s.

This period saw the government under Charles II moving to punish the regicides – the sponsors of the document which sealed the fate of Charles I. Families of the regicides were implicated, especially in terms of forfeiture of estates. And so those Abney family letters between a father and son over the son’s desire to marry, and the inter-family consequences, shed light onto the tensions which existed in these times in the aftermath of the war and the Commonwealth’s demise.

The Talk in Outline

Simon took us on a whistle-stop tour of the principal reasons for the Civil War of 1642-49, which included inter alia the outdated concept of the Divine Right of Kings, the discontent with absentee landlords and the opposition by Puritans to the ecclesiastical hierarchy. In particular relevance to the Cotswolds was the opposition to a Ship Tax in a region with no borders to the sea!

Of course, also relevant to our region was the fact that the King, initially having set up his flag at Nottingham, moved his court to Oxford where the University supported him, but the townspeople did not. And significantly, the last major battle took place at Stow-on-the-Wold in March 1646.

His talk covered key social and economic effects of the war, key events and battles, and of course the aftermath and its implications for the main players in the conflict. We learned for example that neither side had a trained army in 1642, although 75% of aristocracy had experience of war and joined the Royalists.

These Royalist supporters recruited their employees for the army. The Earl of Loughborough for example, recruited miners working in his coalmines in the East Midlands which naturally resulted in coal shortages. In terms of changes and appropriation of resources meantime, the Cotswolds was a hugely important area with natural resources for war, including iron for weapons and with timber and coal in Forest of Dean; Wool, Cloth and Corn from the Wolds; Fruit and Vegetables from the Vale and Tobacco (surprisingly to many) from Tewkesbury and Winchcombe.

Many individuals took no part in the War and remained neutral, although everyone was affected. Leading family members had to decide allegiance with potential consequences. Simon gave us a particularly poignant quote by Sir William Waller – ” I detest a war without an enemy”.

Books and Documents

Illustrating some of the key elements of his display of books and documents, Simon highlighted a particular letter by the King’s wife Henrietta Maria. She was accused of encouraging foreign armies to come in on the side of the Royalists, but the letter highlights the true nature of her involvement: a trading arrangement for arms and munitions to support the cause of her husband via the wool trade.

HENRIETTA MARIA SIGNED LETTER DATED 5 SEPTEMBER 1645
Right trusty and right wellbeloved We greet thee. Whereas we understand that certain wool belonging unto Mr Collimir Marchant of Ant have been stopped at Dartmouth in regard of his not performing the contract which he had enteredd into for the furnishing of powder and ammunition for the service of our Dearest Lord the King we have thought good to let you know that the failing therein, hath not proceeded from any neglect of his, we having found him as in all other things belonging to the service of our Dearest Lord the King, so in this particularly to have performed the part of a diligent and careful person: But he been occasioned by our not being able to repay him the sum of money by him formerly lent.
And therefore we shall desire you to give instant order that the said wool, and what else, may be stoped or distanced from him under [coullor] of his not satisfying that engagement may be forthwith restored unto him, or such as he shall employ: it being just that persons of his deserving should rather receive encouragements to continue in their good affection thin [distates] after services so truly and faithfully performed. And for as much as we conceive our self interest in this business, he having entered into the same upon our promises unto him, we shall also desire to understand from you of the proceeding therein. And so we bid you heartily farewell.
From St Germain this 5th of September 1645.

Letter addressed: To our right trusty and right wellbeloved the Lords and others of the Council to our Dearest Son the Prince of Wales.

Personalities in the Cotswolds

Of the several Cotswolds personalities in Simon’s presentation, we can highlight these four:

Prince Rupert

Peter Heylyn

William Lenthall

William Lenthall lived for many years at the Priory, Burford.

He was speaker of the House of Commons during most of the English Civil War and was most famously involved in a key event: the personal confrontation between the King and Parliament at the start of hostilities.

Addressing Lenthall in the chamber, the King, accompanied by men at arms, said “Mr Speaker, I must for a time make bold with your chair”.

Lenthall vacated it. Calling first for one of the members, and then another, Charles was met with total silence. He asked the speaker where they were. Kneeling, Lenthall responded:

May it please your majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as this House is pleased to direct me whose servant I am here; and I humbly beg your majesty’s pardon that I cannot give any other answer than this to what your majesty is pleased to demand of me.

It was the first time that a speaker had declared his allegiance to the liberty of parliament rather than the will of the monarch. Momentous indeed.

Marchmant Needham

Further Notes to the Aftermath

As part of necessary reparations and fund raising after the devastating consequences of the wars, a Sequestrian Committee was set up in 1643 to allow the confiscation of Royalists estates during the commonwealth. In 1655, a detailed catalogue was produced in book form of the Lords, Knights and Gentlemen that had compounded their Estates. The value in total for these estates was £1,239,769, equivalent £266,547,999 today.

So-called Compounding of Delinquents rules were set up to allow the buying back the estates based on value, and a promise not to take up arms again. Here is how some Cotwolds gentry were affected.

About Simon Randall

Although Simon Randall only moved to Shipton-under-Wychwood in February last year he has had a long association with the Cotswolds having owned a house in Blockley for over 30 years and founded the charity, Friends of the Cotswolds, which owns the Old Prison at Northleach. His consuming interest in the English Civil War arose following the 30 minutes he spent in a rubbish skip in Lincoln’s Inn.

A sizeable audience braved a snowy evening to attend. It was bolstered by a number of guests from Burford History Society who kindly brought along a selection of items from the Tolsey Museum collection, including handbells and mortars, as well as photographs and documents pertaining to the bell foundries of Burford.

The Wychwoods Local History Society also showed its own bell recovered from the Shipton’s now demolished tin tabernacle ( read about it here ).

Chris introduced his talk with a brief look at the origin of bells as instruments of communication showing photographs of some of the earliest examples, including a set of 65 musical bells cast in China 2400 years ago.

He then looked in detail at the eight bells in Saint John the Baptist Church in Burford one of which, the tenor weighing 17 cwt, dates from the mid-14th century.  Chris explained that Burford’s first bell foundry was run by the Neale family in the 17th century. Henry Neale was active between 1627 and 1641, joined by Edward Neale in 1635 and continuing the business until 1685.

Neale bells remain in use in several nearby churches including Brize Norton,  Buscot and Fulbrook.  Two Neale bells removed from Fulbrook, including the original treble bell, are now displayed in Burford church.

As well as casting bells, both Henry and Edward Neale made mortars, with fine castings and made for identifiable clients.

From 1685 to 1865 there was no bell foundry in Burford and work was mainly by the Rudhalls  in Gloucester (who cast Burford’s  small Sanctus bell in 1720), the Bagleys at Chacombe, Witney and Chipping Norton amongst others.

A catalogue entry shows that Henry Bagley of Witney added the final two bells at Burford ( both since recast) to make the full ring of eight. The accounts show that the augmentation took place in 1730. In 1771 Matthew Bagley, the last of the bellfounding Bagleys, replaced the Burford treble, smaller of these two.

Bell casting returned to Burford in the 1860’s when the Bond family established their business. Henry Bond, the father, had a foundry at Westcote from 1851 which he moved to Burford around 1865. His older son, also Henry, and  younger son Tom joined the foundry and it continued until 1947.

Chris took us through the Sheep Street and the later Witney Street locations of the Bond business. From here a further replacement of one of the Bagley trebles was made in 1868, and over time, the family worked in frames and fittings for bellhanging, which was always an important part of the work.

Between 1851 and 1939 there are records of 18 known bells made by the Bond firm, mostly for churches in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Worcestershire, and records for 152 bellhanging jobs.

Chris amused the audience with some examples where the Bond family standards fell a little short of perfection but Henry junior studied with William Blews of Birmingham and  had undoubted skill. Bond bells are still in use in churches in Taynton and Chalgrove and there is a Bond Sanctus bell in Saint Nicholas Chadlington.

Chris ended his entertaining and comprehensive talk with a look at bells in local churches to the Wychwoods, including Shipton, Taynton, Ascott, Fifield, Idbury, Leafield and Milton.

A special mention was made of Chadlington and a recent article by Chris in The Ringing World publication, which describes in detail the history of the bells at St Nicholas’ Church in the village. A PDF of the article is here courtesy of The Ringing World magazine.

About Chris Pickford

Chris has written books on The Steeple, Bells and Ringers of Coventry Cathedral (1987) and Bellframes (1993) – reflecting his spare time activity of church bellringing. He is among the leading historians of bells and ringing and he writes regularly for The Ringing World including an ongoing series “What’s up that tower?” Since 2010 he has been one of the volunteer archivists at the John Taylor Bellfoundry Museum and Archives, leading work on cataloguing and digitising the rich archival and photographic collections.

Chris took up bellringing while at school in Worcester and over time has now rung some 2200 peals of which he has conducted over 400.

After two years of fighting in the Great War, with no end in sight, it became necessary by act of parliament to introduce conscription to maintain the fighting strength of the army. The Military Service Act was passed into law in January 2016.

With this introduction of universal conscription, everyone eligible was ‘deemed to be enlisted’. This meant that those who could not, or would not, join the Armed Forces were subject to a Military Tribunal which examined their case and delivered a verdict.

The Oxfordshire Tribunals, as throughout the country, comprised men who were established local figures, including local businessmen, farmers, manufacturers, and councillors. The tribunals would invariably include a representative of the Military, who exerted an influence on them. The military representative on the Oxford Military Service Tribunal was Lieutenant Walter Baldry, whom we learned was particularly unsympathetic.

Sue gave the example among many, of Alfred John Bishop who was an employee of the Clarendon Press, and loyal member of the Wesley Memorial Church congregation. He said at his Tribunal hearing in March 1916, ‘The commandment says thou shalt not kill, and killing in the sight of God is sinful.’ Bishop’s sincerity and good character was vouched for by the Rev. Brash, Minister of the church at the time.

But Baldry accused Bishop of being a “drinker and a gambler”. He also implied that the Rev Brash was either ill-informed about Bishop, or he was lying to protect him.

This tendency towards character assassination could be summarised in terms of the “cold footed brigade” vs. “the bigwigs”, but of course the problems which arose were far more complex in scope.

Who Were the Conscientious Objectors?

There were 18,000 registered conscientious objectors in the First World War. Of those, 6,000 went to prison because they felt it was wrong to participate in the war in any way. There were approximately 100 Conscientious Objectors in Oxfordshire. Most accepted work in the Royal Army Medical Corps, the Non-Combatant Corps, or other ambulance units such as the one organised by the Quakers.

Objections to fighting would in the main stem from deeply held religious persuasion, around the command “thou shalt not kill” and to “love thy neighbour”, but also on political grounds and in solidarity with fellow workers in other countries.

Sue reminded us that the percentage of the UK population which as institutionally or occasionally active in the church was far larger than in current times, and although the Church of England as the state religion could justify fighting to be absolutely appropriate in the face of demonstrable wrong, most Free Churches would have congregations with mixed feelings, and an active minority of individuals in all churches and denominations rejected the war outright as unbiblical and blasphemous.

An example of an objector on political grounds was Raymond Postgate, who was a student at St John College in 1914. He was imprisoned in Oxford Gaol for two weeks in May 1916. In later life he worked as a left-wing journalist and set up the Good Food Guide.

The Response to Conscientious Objectors

Because the right to conscientious objection was so new, and in the patriotic atmosphere of the First World War, it was widely unpopular with the public. It is no surprise therefore that  conscientious objectors were mocked as cowards.

A general response, spread throughout the printed media and elsewhere, could be summed up in the phrase “What would become of England if all men were like you?”. Antagonism and debate was widespread, with regular questions in the House of Commons, and with a proliferation of cartoon mockery. However, the cause for those who came before the Tribunals was taken up by religious supporters and businessmen of faith.

Advocates for Conscientious Objectors

Among the several advocates in Oxford, Sue included Alderman J H Salter, a member of the Salter family who were Wesleyan Methodists, and  had a boat building business.

Also mentioned was Charles Gore, as Bishop of Oxford, who wrote to the local and national papers demanding fair treatment for Conscientious Objectors. He tabled, introduced, and led a debate in the House of Lords on 5 May 1916 on this subject.

A manifesto appeared in the Oxford Chronicle in March 1916, signed by 11 church leaders protesting the activities of many Military Tribunals, advocating that sincerely held opinions should not be mocked. One of signatories was William Temple, who eventually became Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1940s

Sue gave us several other examples of supporters of Conscientious Objectors, and reflected on how, as the realities of the carnage of WW1 became known, opinions gradually changed over time. This change eventually resulted in legislation to guarantee the right of Conscientious Objectors to refuse to join the Armed Forces.

The extent of the change of opinion is reflected in the picture we saw of group of former Conscientious Objectors who had become Members of Parliament in later years. A case of the ‘cold footed brigade’ becoming ‘the bigwigs’?

About Sue Smith

Sue Smith has a Masters in Historical Studies from Oxford University. In particular she has studied resistance to war, how it is organised and supported, and whether it has an impact on public opinion.