SIR, – Old watermills, though less “regionalised” as to distribution and much less publicised, might be classified with windmills as dead or dying relics of rural industry.

Earmarked for demolition in the very near future is the watermill at Abingdon which has soon to make room for the building of a block of flats. The adjoining white house in the photograph was formerly the miller’s but is now the Vicarage. Left, and behind, rises one of the most famous chimneys in England, the thirteenth-century stack from the Prior’s House of Abingdon Abbey, a feature much copied by Victorian revivalists of Gothic details.

Watermills are an older invention than windmills. All the “mills” in the Domesday survey are watermills: none was a windmill.

A.B. Grist
Berkshire

(Letter published in the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News 30 August 1961)

Find out more about Abingdon’s Heritage this coming Heritage Weekend.

Apologies that the talk on local brick making has been postponed due to the ill health of the speaker.

But on Friday, you can still come and hear  A History of Morland’s Brewery – A talk by W T Mellor Head Brewer 1982-1994 – at St Nicolas Church.

There are still places for the tour of the Guildhall – 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 on Saturday 9th September. Book by e-mailing enquiries@abingdon.gov.uk .

If you go into the Community FreeSpace, as part of the Made in Abingdon exhibition, the newly commissioned map showing Abingdon Industry has arrived.

Abingdon then and now – a floral walk through Abingdon’s history at the Abbey Buildings between 8th and 10th September. Put on by the Abingdon Flower Club. etc…

The ‘Made in Abingdon’ exhibition opened in the the Community Free Space this morning. The first visitor was asked to cut the Heritage Bunting and open the exhibition.

The exhibition features a number of Abingon industries from the past. Of them only Penlon is still making things in Abingdon

The second visitor was interested in the display showing leather from Pavlova and gloves being made in the factory in East St Helen Street. She had once worked there and was the first lady to work on the setting out machine. Traditionally the men downstairs did the cutting, and the women upstairs did the sewing, and so she made history at the time by operation the machine that cut the glove patterns .

John Foreman, pictured here with the Town Crier, did a display on Davis Boat Building, but most of the exhibition was put together by Elizabeth Drury. It runs until and including, next Saturday, Heritage Open Day.

Captain Kaos 2 says “Having walked along East Saint Helens Street more times than I care to remember during my 60 plus years being a born and bred Abingdonian, I have to say the amount of little treasures that I come across never cease to amaze me. But you have to look up, as well as down.

There are at least three properties still displaying their Insurance plates. These would inform the fire brigade (in a time when their attendance was chargeable) that your property was insured and you would be able to cover their charges.

The forthcoming Heritage theme will focus on “Made in Abingdon.”

Here are  two companies that have long since gone, both foundries making various iron & steel products.


How many of you know the location of this? A clue is the Box tree growing through some railings.

Also to add that Martin has designed a trail during Heritage Weekend looking for such treasures.

At the recent open day at the Abbey Buildings some visitors bought along this postcard. I am not sure it can tell us a lot about Abingdon but they very much wanted to return the postcard to the place where it originated, to help tell a story.

It was posted in Abingdon on November 4th 1908 at 9. PM. The postcard was to Miss A Thorpe living at 253 Banbury Road in Oxford. The writer Gert, and her sister Emily, signed the postcard. Gert said they had just arrived safely in Abingdon at 8:25 and would write a letter later.

So can anybody add any more to the story?