The large house formerly used as a Nursery in Faringdon Road has new signs to make it more obvious that it is Wantage House.
Abingdon, Wantage and Faringdon are the three Market Towns in the Vale of White Horse District. Having all three town names in one address is something special. But I don’t know who will be operating from Wantage House and has put up those signs.
Wantage House used to be the sixth form boarding house for St Helen’s. The school merged early in the 20th century with St Katharine’s school in Wantage–hence the name–and the school still maintains links with the Sisters at St Katharine’s House there. A splendid Victorian building–I was there in the 1980s. The bars on the windows were just wide enough for the boys from Abingdon School to pass foil tubs of Chinese takeaway through to us!
Wantage House, Faringdon Rd , Abingdon as long as Mr Didcot does not live there!
I heard that Sir Richard B’ause-Hill wanted to buy it.
That story came from Mr & Mrs Enton and their son, Steve.
ISIHAC !
Spike you must be from wit’ney!
Here’s one to test the knowledge of all you Abingdonians, I’m reading an old copy of the “Abingdon Parish Magazine” it has no date but judging by the adverts etc I put it around 1950? It has a half page advert thus.
CHURCH HALL FETE & OLD ENGLISH FAIR to be held in the garden of the SQUARE HOUSE. where on earth is/was the Square House?
“there will be competitions and glee singing”
Steve
My uneducated guess would say Pulpit House maybe?
I was leafing through ‘Abingdon Past and Present’ by Elizabeth Drury and Judy Thomas when I spotted a photo of the Square House in 1920.
Underneath it said ‘ The beautiful gardens of The Square House in 1920. For many years this was the home off the Estridge family, prominent Conservatives, whose annual garden party was a highlight of the town’s social scene.’
It looks as if it was in the Square/Bath Street area and was a fine looking house.
Hi, current St Helen and St Katharine’s sixth former here, the building itself used to be the boarding house but hasn’t been in use for a few years, but the area in front of it is the Sixth form car park as we’re not allowed to park on school grounds (despite the fact that the school recently got more parking space for the teachers and has thus freed up much more normal parking space). Anyway, I hope I was able to give more insight into its current usage.