Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0061.jpg

d ir e c t o r y

T he W o rkin g M en’s C lu b occupies th e old in fan ts’
school, and has a good billiard table.
Am ong the ancient fam ilies connected w ith th is place
was one called B leobury or de B lebury, some of whom
were b uried at S h illin g fo r d ; there w ere also the de
N otyngham s, K idw ellys, E dgars, M arshalls, afterw ards
of Old W in d so r; H um freys, P lotts and th e Hansons, of
whom was Sir R obert Hanson, a native of this place,
knighted is t Feb. 1665, when sheriff of London, lord
m ayor in 1673, and died is t Dec. 1680. F rom old Ladyday to old M ichaelm as-day a bell is r e g u la rly ru n g here
at 8 in the eveliing and t ill lately also at 4 in the m orn­
ing, in continuance of an ancient custom in stitu ted for
the guidance of an y who m ig h t g et lost upon the
Downs. There are two alm shouses for deserving poor
m en in the parish, erected 1738 by the g ift of one
Jam es Bacon, who died in 1734, w ith an allowance to
th e in m ate of 6s. 6d. w e e k ly ; another, erected 1838,
for the use of Bacon’s ch arity, on a site g iv en by the
late John Shaw P hillips esq. of C ulh am , w ith an allow­
ance of 5s. 6d. w eekly; Hanson’s ch arity of £6,
Jones’ of £ 3 , Justice’s of £ 3 and T y rre ll’s are now
am algam ated and adm inistered by trustees under a
scheme of the C h arity Com m issioners for th e general
relief of th e poor of B lew bury, Aston, Upthorpe and
Upton. The C hurch A cre and Play C lose produce
about £ 3 yea rly for church purposes.
The ancient houses in the place include one b u ilt in
1651, and som etim e used as an independent ch ap el;
another. G reat T ree farm house, has a m antel-piece
dated 1660, and there is a m alt house w ith th e date
1752: th e farm house of B lew bu ry farm , form erly the
manor house of the Prebend, is probably of th e 17th
century, and was anciently defended by a m oat and
earthworks, m uch of which remains.
The Downs rise im m ediately south of the village, in
part by a steep undu latin g grassy slope known as
“ Lydds,” descending on the other side into th e great
hollow known as “ C h u r n ; ” th is plain, the site of the
S outh M idland V olunteer Brigade C am ps of 1890 and
1894, and of the C am ps for the cavalry manoeuvres of
the sam e years, averages a m ile in w idth , w ith an e x ­
trem e length of about 2,500 yards, and is alm ost com ­
p letely surrounded b y sw elling h ills ; the surface is
generally level, and m ostly covered w ith fine t u r f : th ere
are now some perm anent buildings on th e site, and a
series of b u tts w ith a range of over 1,000 y a r d s : in
1905 three new sets of b u tts were erected by th e County
Rifle Range C om m ittee, and are in alm ost constant u s e :
the branch line from Didcot to N ew bu ry and W inchester
runs along at th e foot of th e h ills on the south, and has
a sm all tem porary station w ith sidings here called
“ C h urn ,” erected for th e purposes of the cam p, w hich
is w holly within the parish of Blew bury.
A short distance from th e village, eastw ard, is a re ­
m arkable isolated hill called “ B lew burton ” (Bleobyrigdun), scarped on its w estern side into a series of
broad plateaux, risin g one above another, and supposed
by some to be indications of a fortified position, b ut are
more probably rem ains of th e m ethod of cultivation by
means of “ linches ” or terraces pursued under the
“ open field ” s y ste m ; sim ilar featu res are observable
on the hill to th e south of Aston Upthorpe, and on the
high ground on the east of th e linchw ay at U p to n :
m any coins, from the tim e of the Rom ans to th at of the
S tu arts, have been ploughed up in th e lo cality, together
w ith b ullets, weapons and other evidences of form er
wars. D u ring the C ivil W ar th e neighbourhood was
freq uently scoured by the R oyalist and P arliam entary
P R IV A T E

b lew b u r y

B E R K S H IR E .

.]

R E S ID E N T S.

B u tler Thom as, G othic cottage
Caudw ell M rs. E li, The Gables
Clark M iss, Cleave cottage
C urtoys Alfred
CuTtoys W illiam , W aylands
Dunlop J. Renton
G raham e Kenneth, Boham ’s
H arvey Mrs. St. Michael's
H atton Miss
H uggins M rs. N orreys house
Jackson Rev. Alfred M .A . (vicar),
V icarage
Lane Misses, Brook cottage
L e vy A lfred G
Louseley M rs. Newton house
Margetson W illiam H. H om estead
M iddleton H arry, V ine cottage
Saunders W illiam , E astbrook cottage
C O M M E R C IA L .

A ldridge G eorge, watercress grower

45

forces. The parish is in tersected by the B ritish road,
called the Ickleton or Icknield way, and b y a m ere or
defensive earth w ork know n as u G rim s d itc h ; ” the
form er throw s off a collateral branch called “ th e R id g e­
way,” w h ich runs along th e downs and by Cuckham sley
(C w ichelm ’ s hlaewe), com m only known as “ Scutcham ore K nob,” to W antage. A sm all bronze celt in good
preservation was found on W est H agbourne H ill by a
shepherd, in th e sum m er of 1893, and is now in the
possession of M r. L . G. Slade, of A ston U pthorpe. A
valuable paper on th is parish was con tributed to the
volum e of the N ew bu ry F ield C lu b for 1894. Th ere are
three m anors, the G reat M anor, th e Prebendal Manor,
and the m anor or lib e r ty of N o ttin g h am ’s Fee. Lady
W antage is lady of th e G r e a t m anor and the principal
la n d ow n er; th e Prebendal m an or is h eld by th e E c c le ­
siastical Com m issioners, and th a t of N o ttin gh am ’s Fee
by M r. Thom as H u m fre y ; another landowner is M r.
M orris E li C audw ell. Th e soil is ch alk and m a rl;
subsoil, chalk, and th e land chiefly arable, p roducing
wheat, b arley, roots and beans, b u t w ith in as w ell as
im m ediately outside the v illag e i t is p rin cip ally laid
out as apple and ch erry orchards, and la rg e quan tities
of fr u it are an n u ally sent to th e London and other
m arkets. W atercress is also ex ten sively cu ltivated .
Th e entire area is 4,048 acres of land and 2 of w ater ;
rateable value, £3,203 ; the population in 1911 w as 634.
Upton, w ith Aston U pthorpe, w ere form erly chapelries
in th is parish, b ut, b y O rder in C oun cil, 7 June, 1862,
were separated from B lew bu ry and form ed into an
ecclesiastical parish and la te r into a c iv il parish.
Parish C lerk, W illiam G race.
Post, M. 0 . & T . Office.— W a lter Upstone, sub-post­
m aster. L e tters th rou g h Didcot delivered 7.40 a.m .
& 12.10 p .m . ; sundays, 7.40 a . m . ; dispatched at
9.15
a.m . & 1.25 & 6.30 p .m .; sunday, 10 a.m
W all L e tter Box, in London road, collections, 9 a m. &
1.30 & 6.30 p .m .; sunday, 10 a.m
School.
The Endowed School was erected in 1709 b y the trustees
of W illiam M althus esq. citizen of London, who be­
queathed lands a t Noke, in O xfordshire, for the edu­
cation & cloth in g of 30 boys & 30 g ir ls ; th e endow­
m en t also p rovidin g prem ium s of £ 1 0 for the appren­
ticeship of th e boys to vario us trad es at the age of
14, & a certain sum to each g irl on leavin g th e s ch o o l;
th is ch arity a t the retu rn in 1808, produced a total
gross incom e of £725 yearly, of w hich £ 2 7 yearly
was available for apprenticing & th e sam e sum for
distrib utio n in blankets, sheets & coal on N ew Y e a r’s
d a y ; th e prop erty consists of 664 acres, b u t th rou gh
a g ricu ltu ral depression th e endowm ent has failed, &
the only benefit th e school a t p resent derives from it
after paym ent of a first charge & the house occupied
rent free by the m aster, is a sum of about £ 5 0 , which
b y a schem e of the C h arity Com m issioners is applied
to the repairs of the building, g ifts of cloth in g to
children on leavin g & coal to deserving poor widows at
C h ristm a s ; the school has been enlarged, & is capable
of holding 160 children ; it is controlled b y a body of
m a n a g e rs ;
Thom as
S m ith , m a s t e r ;
M iss Eva
G alla g h er, assistant m istress (certificated) ; Miss K ate
A ldridge, assistant in fan ts’ m istress
Carriers.
A lec P epall, to W allin gford, tues. & fri. a t 8 a.m
Edwin J. F ry, to A bingdon, m on. ; to W allingford,
tues. & fri

A ldridge Tom , carpenter & builder
Beesley E zra, gardener
Belcher Thom as, thatcher
Billson John, grocer
Caudw ell Howard, farm er,M anor frm
Caudw ell M orris E li, farm er, Ashbrook farm
Chapm an W illiam , farm bailiff to
L a d y W antage, Churn
Corderoy E ustace,farm er,W h ite Shoot
Corderoy Josiah, carriage builder
Corderov Ju stu s (exors. of), farm ers
& m illers (water)
Dunsden Jesse, overseer & insur. ag t
E bsworth Dennis, p ain ter &c
F aulkner W a’ ter, Red Lion P.H
F ry Edw in J. carrier, i& New' inn
G ardner John, carpenter ¿5 builder
G race W m . J. C atherine W heel P.H
Green G eorge, Load of M ischief P H
Green John, fruiterer

B O A R S H I L L , see Wootton.

.

G reenough E dw in, farm er
Johnson H erbert, blacksm ith
L a y Jam es, farm er, Sheen croft
L each H enry, farm er
M artin E m ily (M iss), fancy dealer
Pepall A lec, carrier
Porter E rn est, farm er
Prior H arry, B arley Mow P.H
Prio r Sarah (M iss), m iller (water)
Randall Charles A lfred, racehorse
trainer, Treb le lodge
Robinson R eginald, farm er, G reat
T ree farm
Robinson W m . frm r. Parsonage frm
Saunders W m . farm er, O rchard Dene
S treet A braham , beer retailer
S treet Frank, grocer & baker
Upstone W alter, grocer & baker, &
post office
W orking M en’s Club (Thomas Sm ith,
sec. & treasurer)

B O T L E Y , see N orth H inksey.