In the feature on Abingdon in September 1926, I reported that the new church hall opened that month, but commenters wondered where it was. Elizabeth sent me a picture that she took – used in Abingdon Past and Present. It answers the question. The picture was taken in 1988, the year before the hall was demolished to make way for the Abbey Close extension from the Vineyard.

As you can see from this roughly drawn map, the church hall, the cattle market and, beyond that, the railway all stood in the way of the Abbey Close extension.

In the Oxford Journal, I found pictures of the hall under construction. This picture from December 1925 is when the foundation stone was blessed by the Archdeacon of Berkshire. The inscription on the stone is not easy to decipher and this is guesswork. It may say, ‘This hall was dedicated … Glory of God …  ????? … Ven Richard Wickham Legg ?? … Archdeacon of Berks.. Anno MCMXXV.’

When I first wrote about the Church Hall back in 2014, Dick Barnes said: “The Church Hall was sited in the Parish of Abingdon St Nicolas, although the legally separate parish of Abingdon St Helen was largely responsible for building and administering it. The dedication tablet over the entrance stated that it was for the benefit of ‘The Parish’.” 

Acknowledgments: Abingdon Past and Present by Elizabeth Drury and Judy Thomas; the Oxford Journal, accessed through Oxford Library.

Minister’s Farewell

The Rev. Norman E. Dando brought his four years’ ministry at Trinity Wesleyan Church to a finish on Sunday evening. After the service, the congregation adjourned to the schoolroom, where he was presented with a cheque from members and friends of the Abingdon section, amid expressions of regret at his departure and appreciation of his work.

The Rev. Dando is going to Stockport, near Manchester. His successor, the Rev. Charles G. Oyston, from Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, enters upon his duties in Abingdon on the first Sunday in September.

At a meeting of the Wesley Guild the previous Thursday, the Rev. Dando was also presented with a pair of pictures.

Hospital Sunday

Sunday was “Hospital Sunday” in Abingdon, with a church parade of friendly societies and other organisations. The Mayor and Corporation joined the procession at the Market Place, which proceeded to St. Helen’s Church for a special service. The Vicar, the Rev. C. S. Fleet, preached.

The collection boxes were opened on Monday and the gross receipts amounted to just over £50, a decrease of £7 on the previous year.

The programme was carried through without a hitch. Two doctors made appeals on behalf of the Radcliffe Infirmary and Oxford Eye Hospital in the Abbey House Grounds, where a large crowd had gathered. The musical programme was greatly appreciated.

Rusty Nail Causes Death

Three-year-old Roland John Ovenden, of Ock-street, Abingdon, died after scratching his leg on a nail while playing in his father’s garden.

The injury on August 29 was only a small scratch, but the child’s condition worsened. He was taken to Abingdon Cottage Hospital and later referred to the Radcliffe Infirmary. He died while being taken to Oxford.

Dr. Robert Strong said the cause of death was tetanus, which could have been caused by the rusty nail. A verdict in accordance with the medical evidence was returned.

Excessive Speed

Albert Edward Pullen, of Mountpleasant, Littlemore, was summoned for driving a heavy locomotive at excessive speed at the St. Nicolas corner. The steam wagon and tender knocked a piece from the kerbing as it went round the corner.

The defendant said he was avoiding a motor cyclist and was travelling at only two to three miles per hour.

The case followed evidence from three members of the public, who had also drawn the police’s attention to the way the vehicle negotiated the narrow bend from the Market Place into Stert Street. The regulation speed was five miles per hour.

He was fined £5 and 10s. costs.

Town Sports Club

Though the attendance at a meeting of the Town Sports Club was small, those present showed considerable enthusiasm.

It was unanimously agreed to invite people to take up debenture shares of at least £1 each towards the erection of a stand on the Culham-road ground. Before the meeting ended, £70 towards the estimated £200 cost had been promised.

Visit of Bostock’s Menagerie

Bostock and Wombwell’s menagerie was due to visit Abingdon on Tuesday, with the show staged on the Corporation Meadow at Caldecott. Lectures and performances were to be given at 2.30 and 8.30 p.m.

The collection included lions, tigers, bears and leopards, as well as “Bonzo”, a performing sea lion, and “Dempsey”, described as the only boxing kangaroo in Europe.

Admission was 1s. 3d. for adults and 9d. for children.

Choir Boys’ Outing

The annual outing of the choir boys of St. Helen’s, St. Michael’s and St. Nicolas’ Churches took place on Tuesday. The party left the Market Place at about 7.15 a.m. in two motor-coaches bound for Southsea.

At Southsea the boys split up, with some taking trips round the harbour while others bathed and paddled. Tea was served on Southsea Common before the party left at 5 p.m.

They stopped at Winchester for about half an hour and arrived back in Abingdon at 10 p.m.

Opening of Abingdon Church Hall

The new Abingdon Church Hall was officially opened by Mrs M. T. Tatham, who was welcomed by the Vicar. The Mayor and Mayoress and other guests were present.

The hall was built in a classic style with a Doric porch. The main hall has oak flooring and electric lighting, with the proportions and general appearance of the building particularly pleasing.

The Vicar spoke of its value for parish work, youth activities and general community use, while the Mayor congratulated the parish on the new building.

Abingdon County Police Court

Arthur Fisher, of Cothill Farm, summoned four men for wilful damage to a hedge at Cothill on August 21, valued at 2s. He also summoned two of them for assault and battery.

The assault case was dismissed, while the four defendants were each fined one shilling for the damage and ordered to pay 6d. each towards the cost.

In a separate Children’s Court case, a 15-year-old boy from Wytham was charged with obtaining a Berkshire County Council driving licence while disqualified because of his age. He was fined £1.

Rick Fire

On Sunday morning the Fire Brigade was called to a fire at Sunningwell. The engine left within four minutes and found a rick belonging to Mr F. C. Taylor alight on both sides.

Water was obtained from a pond about 600 yards away, and part of the rick was saved. The brigade returned to Abingdon about 9 p.m.

The cause of the fire, which had broken out on the exterior of the rick, was unknown.

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to the British Newspaper Archive for access to the Faringdon Advertiser and Vale of the White Horse Gazette for some stories; to the North Berks Herald microfilm at Abingdon Library for additional stories and the picture of the proposed sports stand and underwear advert; and to the Oxford Journal at Oxford Library for the photographs of the Trinity Ministers and Hospital Sunday; and the Abingdon Directory 1927 for the advert for Randalls which included a picture of the Church Hall.

Heritage Open Weekend on Sunday offered nearly as much as Saturday. A lot of the properties in East St Helen Street had their histories in their windows as well as information on the working life of their inhabitants.

At 25 Bury Street, the downstairs exhibition explored the working lives of Abingdon people in earlier centuries. Michael was working hard, clicking visitors in.

Among the displays was a reference to our house number in West St Helen Street. In the late nineteenth century, a taxidermist named H. Keates operated from a house with our house number.

An arrow pointed upstairs with the message: ‘Spinning.’ Up there, the exhibition had more information boards, demonstrations of spinning (and weaving too). Two short films were playing, including one contrasting the arrival of hi-tech atomic energy research in this rural area with scenes of local folk still using horse and cart.

Out on the Market Place, a Ferguson tractor was attracting attention. It was originally bought in 1948 by the convent, and when they upgraded their tractor it was purchased in 1975 by Brian Ford, who ran Radley Road Nurseries for over 30 years. His grandson was driving it today.

Guided walks set off from the Market Place in the morning and afternoon, and almost all were fully booked. Anne Dodd can be seen here at 2 pm preparing to lead the St Edmund’s Tour, while other afternoon groups headed out on the John Mason Tour and the Abingdon Arts Walk.

Downstairs in the Guildhall, the Roysse Room hosted artwork by Abingdon artists, many pieces depicting local industries and trades. Here are some of the artists.

Here is one sample of the work showing Abingdon Clothing Factory.

The Roysse Room also contained more information about workplaces in Abingdon. During the morning, lively evangelical music from the Lighthouse Church filled the building, but by the afternoon the atmosphere had quietened. In the Magistrates’ Court, visitors could watch a series of films, including one created by pairing old Abingdon oral‑history recordings with newly added visuals.

The upstairs rooms of the Guildhall were also open for viewing, giving visitors a chance to explore parts of the building not normally accessible.

Abingdon Museum hosted Hwitmearum, a living-history group from the Oxfordshire branch of Regia Anglorum, dressed in Anglo-Saxon clothing and demonstrating some of the skills and activities of the early medieval period.

One member demonstrated traditional fire-making, striking flint against a steel striker and sending sparks onto amadou, the prepared tinder made from the spongy material of the hoof fungus. Once the amadou began to smoulder, he transferred the ember into a bundle of dry plant fibres and blew gently until the smoke turned to flame.

Another member demonstrated a lyre, reconstructed from the famous lyre found in the Sutton Hoo ship burial. Lyres were used in the early medieval period and are generally associated with music, poetry, storytelling and feasting. Unfortunately, no musical notation survives that allows us to know what Anglo-Saxon secular music actually sounded like, so modern performances are imaginative reconstructions.

From early medieval music we moved forward a few centuries to a tradition that has been continuously passed down. The Abingdon Traditional Morris Men performed in the Market Place. Their history in the town can be traced back at least to 1560, when the parish churchwardens’ accounts for St Helen’s record a payment of one shilling for 24 Morris bells. Their roots may well be older.

Also in the Market Place was the Heritage Weekend information stall, directing visitors to the various activities, together with a stall run by Abingdon Flower Club, where members were demonstrating flower arranging.

The club had also produced displays in exhibition spaces around the town to fit this year’s theme of Abingdon people at work. The Morland flower display had lots of old Abingdon pub emblems among the flowers. The Flower Club was founded in 1960, so it has now been going for more than 60 years. The art of arranging flowers has a much longer history. There is evidence of formal flower arrangements in ancient Egypt dating back to around 2500 BCE, with flowers being used in decoration, ceremonies and burials.

In the Roysse Room (more on that tomorrow) were displays about the workplaces of Abingdon. Outside the Roysse Room was an exhibit on a lesser-known enterprise: the Abingdon Golf Club Factory, which operated in Abingdon in the 1920s. The exhibition explained how the town aspired to become a centre for the production of golf clubs with Frilford Golf Club not far away. Manufacturing involved shaping and finishing wooden clubs, with metal parts brought in from elsewhere. Two golf enthusiasts posed with period clubs to illustrate the clubs.

There were also a number of historic properties open to visitors. St Helen’s Church had a lot of information boards and old record books on display, including records relating to the workhouse that operated in the parish before the later Union Workhouse on Oxford Road. People queued for their turn to go up into the bell tower, while others were shown how the organ works. Refreshments were available there, and at St Ethelwold’s House.

Another church open to visitors was Abingdon Baptist Church, where the baptismal pool was on view. I was told all about baptism and even given a practical demonstration using Roland Rat, who, after today, is probably the most well‑baptised rat in Abingdon.

More about Heritage Weekend tomorrow, when the exhibitions at the Guildhall and at 25 Bury Street will be open again, along with a programme of walks around the town. See https://www.abingdonheritage.org.uk/.