THE NEWSLETTER OF THE DEDDINGTON & DISTRICT HISTORY SOCIETY ISSN 1479-5884, issue 10, March 2002

mainly farmers, but also following Deddington House a variety of trades and professions. From the Chair Bartholomew was a hop dealer, tal- As members will recall, the Decem- (the Manor) low chandler, grocer and brandy ber edition of 224 was a bumper Deddington Manor stands towards merchant. He died in 1780 and his one. I would like to thank Colin the south-west end of New Street. obituary in Jackson’s Oxford Journal Cohen for finding and reproducing The street, now the main road from stated ‘By unwearied application the maps that were such an impres- Banbury to Oxford, was laid out at and diligence he acquired a hand- sive feature of it. I am delighted that the same time as the Market Place, some fortune, with credit and repu- in this edition we are able to pub- which is a little way to the east, both tation’. He was married but had no lish research by one of our mem- being created as part of a scheme of children, and his business passed to bers, Buffy Heywood, who has used c1200 to turn Deddington into a his nephew, also Bartholomew, who the Risley diaries (familiar to us market town. New Street contains inserted the following advertise- through her extracts in the an assortment of cottages and larger ment in the Journal in July 1780: Deddington News) in conjunction houses in stone and brick, the old- with other sources to compile a his- est house dating from 1325 but the TO BE LETT, and Entered upon tory of Deddington Manor. majority from the 17th to 19th cen- immediately, at an easy Rent,—A turies. The stone used is local genteel Sashed HOUSE, in I hope that Buffy’s work will en- golden coloured ironstone, and the Deddington, in the County of courage others to come forward Oxford; consisting of four good with material for publication. Per- brick probably came from the local Rooms on the ground floor, a Store- brickworks that stood just south of haps we could get the ball rolling Room, four Bed-Chambers, and with a ‘Notes and Queries’ section. Deddington from the early 19th to several good Garrets; a Garden, the early 20th century. It was in this Here’s one to start us off, with the Coach-House, Stable, Pigeon-House Jubilee in mind: how many shops street in the latter half of the 18th well stocked, and other very con- century that Deddington House venient Out-Offices, in good repair, were there in Deddington, Clifton, was built, almost certainly by and fit for a small Family: All ready Hempton and the Barfords in 1952? Bartholomew Churchill. furnished except for one Parlour What and where were they, and and one Bed-Chamber. A Quantity who ran them? Does anyone know? The Churchill family (no connection of well-brewed Beer in the Cellar Answers, please, to Colin Cohen, with Blenheim!) lived in may also be had, and a Close of for publication in the next issue of Deddington for three centuries, about two Acres near the Premises. 224. His contact details are on the Enquire of Mr Bartholomew back page . Churchill, at Deddington; or of Programme for the Messrs. Loveday and Clay, Oilmen, Finally, a reminder that we shall not Smithfield-Bars, London. have a conventional meeting in spring and The house must have stood out April, because of the trip to the from the rest of the street as it was, Hook Norton Brewery and Mu- summer of 2002 and still is, the only house built of seum (see also the back page). ashlar stone, and with its sash win- Our programme for the rest of We shall be back at the Windmill the year is: dows and Cotswold slate roofs be- hind parapet walls presented an Centre as usual on Wednesday 8 13 March—David Mander of the imposing if somewhat austere ap- May. Bletchley Park Trust on ‘Enigma’ pearance. In typical Georgian fash- Chris Day and the Government Code & ion the garret windows are well Cypher School concealed behind both the parapets and the first floor pitched roofs, 10 & 16 April—visits to Hook which are constructed in sections to Why 224? Norton Brewery [see back page the front and rear of the central at- For the curious: 224, the title of this for details if you have booked] tic block and surrounded by lead newsletter, is taken from the sheet 9 May—talk on Wroxton Abbey valley gutters. The exception is to number used by the draughtsmen the south, where the external wall of the Ordnance Survey in the early 11 June—summer outing to rises straight up and the attic room years of the 19th century to identify Wroxton Abbey has a delightful semi-circular win- the individual drawings made by dow overlooking the grounds. This the surveyors for the first edition Meetings are normally at the wall and the rear (west) elevation one inch maps. For more informa- Windmill Centre, at 7.30 are also built of Hornton ashlar tion see 224 March 2000. stone, all set in very fine lime mor- although it seems likely that some- take place here in the mid 19th cen- tar. There is a 3-window bay to the thing was there before—perhaps tury. sitting room and bedroom above to the store room, etc and kitchen the west (again with its own pitched quarters of which no mention is Samuel Churchill remained in occu- roof over the bay and attic windows made in the 1780 advertisement— pation until 1827. He had, however, behind), and the outlook on this as the coach house, stable and yard squandered his inheritance and a side is over rolling farmland. are further to the north. great deal more besides, and finally had to surrender to the Commis- Following the younger Barthol- Bedrooms appear to have been built sioners in Bankruptcy. His debts, omew’s death the house remained over a refurbished kitchen area, and after taking into account his assets in the ownership of the Churchill this almost certainly became the (including Deddington House), family. His brother Samuel, a nursery wing as it was later in the amounted to the then colossal sum wealthy solicitor lived opposite in century. There was a back door near of £77,000. The house remained in Leadenporch House until his death the tall arch at the end of the ashlar the hands of the Bankruptcy Com- in 1808, when Samuel’s son (also stone main block (a boot scraper is missioners and was rented out. It Samuel and also a solicitor), was still there), the door at the north end was in May 1836 that the Rev Cot- residing in Deddington House with being inserted in 1970 when one ton Risley took possession of his wife and four children. Consid- ground floor room and the whole Deddington House, firstly as lessee erable enlargement had taken place of the nursery wing above were and later as owner. During his time by then, as can be seen from the fol- converted into a self-contained flat. at Deddington Risley assiduously lowing description given in The As can be seen from the photo- kept diaries, most of which have Churchill Chronicles by Major Gen- graph, the whole construction is survived and are in the Bodleian eral T B L. Churchill: quite different from the south wing, Library in Oxford. It is from these which is also of Hornton stone but that the following information has ‘Deddington House contained an square-coursed rubble instead of been taken. Entrance Hall, a Breakfast Parlour, ashlar and lead-framed casement a Dining Room, a Drawing Room, windows instead of sash. However Risley was instituted vicar of a Servants’ Hall, two Kitchens, 11 ashlar stone was used both along Deddington in July 1836, and he— Bedrooms, a Conservatory, a Water the high parapet and as lintels, win- and later his sons—remained in the Closet, a Laundry, a Brewhouse, a dow sills and corner stones, which house until the beginning of the 4-stall Stable and a Hunter’s Box. helps to tie in the two forms of con- 20th century. In October 1838 he Outside there was a kitchen garden, struction. On the rear (west) eleva- also took possession of the farm surrounded by walls and well tion of this wing there are in fact next door (Park Farm) and in June stocked with fruit trees, running sash windows, a large one to the 1839 he attended the sale in altogether to 3 acres 1 rood and 15 kitchen and smaller ones to the bed- Banbury of Samuel Churchill’s perches. A pew in the church was rooms above. It is unclear if these property, buying Deddington attached to the house.’ were original or perhaps put in later. House and the farm for £8,920. The photograph shows the street There is a small cellar under the The next big expansion of the (east) frontage of the house as it is northern front room of this wing, premises took place soon after, today, the main change to this el- and a larger one under the inner hall though at first it took the form of evation from the early 19th century and dining room of the main block. buying up adjoining land and lay- is the recessed wing on the south This latter one contains a (locked!) ing out the pleasure grounds. That side and the addition of the porch. wine cellar lined with bins, and entailed the purchase of some 12 The coursed-rubble wing on the there are also wooden struts to sup- acres, including paddocks and spin- north was presumably made as an port beer barrels—brewing used to neys, and the demolition of at least addition in the early 19th century, one cottage. Risley then asked Mr The east front of Deddington Manor on New Street today Cartwright of Aynhoe Park if he would allow his gardener to come and suggest some ideas for laying out the grounds. They included rose beds, paths, herbaceous borders and an orchard as well as an avenue of lime trees, 7 either side of the lawns to the south of the house (there is a similar avenue at Aynhoe Park). Risley now had a 12 foot high wall of Hornton stone built that stretched south from the house along the Street and then curved to the west before proceeding south alongside the limes and behind the row of 11 cottages fronting the road. His privacy was now complete! The photograph, taken in the 1930s, shows part of the wall and one side first on 3rd December and then again on 17th March, when it looked well and handsome, the in- stallation was completed at the end of April and included a Venetian window half way up on the bend of the flight. The staircase was made from a Chesterton oak which Risley had bought some years before and had had sawn up in his saw-pit, and all the woodwork in the new rooms, including doors, windows and floors, was made from this oak. Grimsley of Oxford installed two marble fireplaces. The work in the house now being completed for the moment, the ma- The the garden side of Rev Cotton Risley’s 12 foot wall, stretching south from sons were employed in building a the house. sunk fence (or ha-ha) dividing the front lawn from the paddock. There of the avenue of lime trees. of their work can be found as far was a walled kitchen garden to the afield as Hobart in Tasmania. The north-west, the wall being brick on Risley’s first addition to the house masons were also a local firm, itself was in 1839 and was a larder the kitchen garden side and stone Hopcrafts, whose descendants were facing the pleasure grounds. A fur- leading off the scullery measuring in the village well over a hundred approximately 10 foot square with ther plot of land to the north of the years later (there is a Hopcrafts stable yard and adjoining the farm- stone-flagged floor and black slate Lane) and who owned the local shelving. It was built on the north- yard was bought at this time and brickworks for the whole of the lat- incorporated into the kitchen gar- east corner of the house, so is admi- ter half of the 19th century. rably placed to keep cool. During den, and another length of stone 1840 Risley was busy organising the wall was built separating the The addition was built to match ex- kitchen garden from the Street. refurbishing of the buildings in the actly the previous construction, stable yard. He also had men at with ashlar stone to the west and work in the entrance hall laying a square-coursed rubble to the north Buffy Heywood new oak floor which is still there elevation, and on looking at the today. The oak front door was hung house now it would be almost im- two years later. possible to know that it was not all I am grateful to Mrs. Primrose built at the same time. At the end of October 1841 Risley Buckle (nee Roberts) for the infor- employed Henry Underwood, the The new oak staircase was being mation she has given me about their Oxford ecclesiastical architect, to prepared at Franklin’s yard, and time here and for allowing me to use plan the addition of two new rooms took some time when compared copies of her old photographs. and the replacement of the existing with the building work. Risley To be concluded in the next issue of 224 main staircase with a new one. called to look at the preparations These rooms, comprising a library on the ground floor with bedroom The nineteenth-century rear addition is on the left of the photo above, faced west and north of the bay to the drawing room and main bedroom. Work must have com- menced in November, for by the 1st December the floor joists were be- ing put in for the new bedroom and a cart load of Hornton stone was being fetched from Banbury. The new roof was erected on 9th-10th, and on 11th the team went to Banbury again for a further load of Hornton stone for the parapet wall and some coping for the garden wall. The builders of the new rooms were Franklins, local builders who became well known for their work on churches and Oxford colleges. They made the pulpit and lectern in Deddington Church, but examples along the other side of the river to Princes (Edward Duke of Windsor, The death of King the Victoria Tower and Parliament Henry Duke of Gloucester, Philip Square. Then wait to enter Westmin- Duke of Edinburgh, Charles Duke George VI ster Hall. There, amidst the crowds of Cornwall) and Heads of State. I was a student in London at the of people we were able to pause in Behind them came the royal ladies, time, and was on my way to Charing profound silence before the cata- swathed in black veils, riding in a Cross Station to catch a train to falque, which was surrounded by carriage. Again it is the eerie silence Greenwich to work as a student the large candles, and the guard of that lingers longest in my memory. practitioner in a health centre. I was honour with their heads bowed, sitting upstairs by the window, of a and gave thanks for the life of a be- Ethelwyn M McDermid 73 bus, going around Trafalgar loved king. Square, when I became aware of the boards of the newspaper vendors, Emerging into the world outside, A chronology for 1952-53 and heard their cries ‘The king is with tear-stained faces, we made dead’.—it was a grey, cold, day, and haste to return to Queen 6 February 1952: King George VI dies the silence and grief on the bus was Alexandra’s house before dawn and peacefully in his sleep. as heavy and suffocating as the in time for breakfast. It was a long, weather. hard, night, but one filled with emo- 8 February: Princess Elizabeth is pro- tions and memories that have not claimed Queen on her return from Later in the day we decided to pay faded with time. Kenya our respects, and express our grief, by visiting the Lying in State in On 14 February, the day of the fu- 14 February: Funeral takes place. It Westminster Hall. After supper, in neral, we set out once more in the is attended by the Duke of Windsor the evening hours, armed with hot- early hours before daylight, forti- and Queen Mary—the King was the water bottles, snacks and warm fied with blankets, hot-water bottles third of her sons to die. Our con- clothing we set off from Queen and flasks of hot tea, to stake out tributor was one of 300,000 people Alexandra’s house, next to the Royal spaces along the route of the pro- who paid their respects. cession, just inside Hyde Park near Albert Hall [?] and made our way 2 June 1953: Coronation of Queen the Wellington Gates. We waited to Parliament Square. The end of the Elizabeth II. queue was halfway across Westmin- and waited, until at long last we ster Bridge heading east [the heard the sounds of muffled drums, We very much hope to publish mem- Thames here flows north, Ed]. We and the playing of the Dead March bers’ memories of the Coronation in the then had to walk, and wait, and from Saul, and the gun carriage June issue of 224. The editor would be along the Embankment, past St Tho- came into view, hauled by hand by most gratefull for any member’s remi- mas’ Hospital and Lambeth Palace, sailors of the Royal Navy. They niscences [you don’t have to have been back over Lambeth Bridge and were followed on foot by the Royal there!] at the address below.

Hook Norton Brewery visits Those who booked places for Wednesday 10 April should meet at the brewery at 7.15 pm. The tour will start at 7.30. Those going on Tuesday 16 April should arrive at 9.45 am for a 10.00 tour. The cost is £6.95, to include beer samples and a free glass (empty, I think!). We will have paid the cost in advance and would be grateful if you could make out your cheques to the Deddington & District History Society. The Hook Norton Brewery has brewed beer for the past 150 years, during which time it has remained in family ownership. The brew- ery was founded by John Harris in 1849 and rebuilt in 1899. Much impressive Victorian machinery remains, all of it in use: this is a working brewery, not a museum, although there is now a museum and visitors’ centre attached. Those with access to the internet might care to look at the brewery’s website: www.hook-norton- brewery.co.uk c If undelivered please return to: Deddington & District History Society, /o 37 Gaveston Gardens, Deddington OX15 0NX. 224 is the newsletter of the Deddington & District History Society, published three times a year and distributed free to members. The Society meets on the second Wednesday of the month during the season, normally at the Windmill Centre in Deddington. Membership £8/14 pa single/ couples, or £2 per meeting at the door. Editorial address: 1 South Newington Road, Barford St Michael, OX15 0RJ. e-mail: [email protected]