At 14:30 on Sunday 31 July there is a guided tour of Abingdon’s Mediaeval Abbey by the Friends of Abingdon. To book a place email: pb@paulineburren.co.uk or phone 01235 521873. It will include a walk round various grounds and buildings including the outline of the Abbey Church …

… charted using underground scanning techniques by the Lost Abbey Project.

Today there were a group of people learning Nordic walking round the outline.

And there was me, with my more erratic walking, filming the outline of the Abbey Church, and the Abbey Gateway…

Over Heritage Weekend there will be the launch of the Lost Abbey information trail. More of that soon.

I was listening in to a conversation. The subject got onto old houses, and one chap said to the other…

‘The one with the timbers and removed brick infill on Stert Street says 1470. Do you think it can be?‘

The other one considered the matter, ‘Its possible’ he said, ‘But I think there is one older in East St Helen’s Street.

The one with the plaque..’

There are certainly some very old houses in Abingdon.  Many of them are down East St Helen’s Street.

But the Long Alley Almshouses, originally built in 1446, would be hard to beat.

Or do you know better?

At 12:05 sharp the unveiling ceremony of Abingdon’s third blue plaque began as the town crier rang his bell and read out the citation to Daniel Turner.

Revd Michael Hambleton , the predecessor of the current minister, Revd David – just to the right of the picture, has done a lot to keep the memory of Daniel Turner alive through his book “A sweet and Hopefull people – the story of Abingdon Baptist Church” which is to be reprinted round about Heritage Open Weekend.

After a short speech, Revd Michael unveiled the blue plaque, the fifth on this building, 35 Ock Street (the other four are there to keep the wall together). I jest… There are now 62 real historic blue plaques in Oxfordshire and this is the first to celebrate a non-conformist Minister. Abingdon has a great history as a hot bed of non conformity which Abingdon Baptist Church still carries on to this day.

In his own day Daniel Turner was well known as a preacher,  pamphleteer, hymn writer and poet, although few of his hymns are sung today. His most lasting legacy today was that he preached tolerance and understanding in an era which was marked by sectarianism and division.

In many ways Daniel Turner was a century or more ahead of his time. But locally he was also loved as a saintly man and a fine pastor, and was known throughout the town as “Good Mr Turner.”

Our current Mayor, Mike Badcock, was also the Mayor of Abingdon 21 years ago when Revd Michael Hambleton was first ordinated at Ock Street Baptist Church. Mike did one of the readings at that service 21 years ago.