Author Archives: Backstreeter

Blocked up Abingdon windows – part 1

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The Window Tax was a tax on the value of a property. The tax could be assessed without intruding on the house owner’s privacy by going inside.

As a consequence of the tax, people blocked up windows, and built houses with fewer windows. It was repealed in 1851. (Fewer windows were a health and safety problem.)

The blocked up Abingdon windows, pictured here, were probably not blocked up to avoid the Window Tax, unless you know better.

It could be that internal alterations made the windows no longer necessary.

It could be that the space inside is being used for storage or that privacy is needed.

They could be an architectural feature – for classical symmetry

If you know buildings, in Abingdon, where windows are blocked up to avoid the Window Tax then I will do a part 2.

Hoarding panels put up at Old Abbey House

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Hoarding panels are being put up round the front of Old Abbey House.

Before being left empty in 2014 it was the home of Abingdon Town Council and the Citizens Advise Bureau. The Ede Group from Witney were the winning bidders for the property, purchased from Vale of White Horse District Council, and plan to turn it into a 20-bedroom hotel. Some work is needed to secure parts of the roof to keep the building from further damage. In their press release in February Ede Group said they look forward to ‘working with the planners to come up with an appropriate hotel scheme, whilst also restoring the building to its former glory.’

Abingdon riverside changes

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Work on the Grotto at Cosenors House is nearing completion. The work is to bring it back to a safe and usable condition without changing it too much.

Abingdon Lock has re-opened after a winter when the boat layby was being rebuilt. Hooks in the grass can be used as a temporary layby. Boats can now use the lock.

The new layby is nearing completion.

At the lock itself, crowd control barriers have been added to keep spectators away from people operating the lock – for the Covid-19 safety of everybody.

To improve the look of the barriers, children are being asked to print, and colour in sections of a long Narrow Boat.

The new boat house for the Kingfisher Canoe Club has been built and should soon be used, once Covid-19 guidelines allow.

For Covid-19 social distancing reasons, people wait if people are crossing the weir in the opposite direction.