The Bakers and The Carrier's Daughter

Edited By Pamela Keegan

• CROPREDY HISTORY - 1 1991
• Copyright (c) Pamela Keegan 1991.
• First published August 1991.
• Reprinted November 1992.
• WWW August 1999.

Copyright ¢ Anne Pamela Keegan 1999.

Anne Pamela Keegan has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be acknowledged as Editor of this work. Permission has been given for this publication of Book  One by Mrs J.M.Askew, Mrs E.Bassett and Mrs Welford in September 1999.

While she is happy for anyone to use this work for personal research, any commercial use or any use in future publications must first have written permission from the Editor.

INTRODUCTION

This booklet is made up of two parts. In Part 1 are three short transcripts which help to bring alive the atmosphere of Church Lane. Cropredy is a small community in North Oxfordshire which has always been a good village for encouraging trades, although it was often a hard struggle for the tradesmen to make a modest living. No resident landlord meant a certain independence was possible. The Vicar resided in the Lane and had once the care of the whole tip of Oxfordshire, though not of Clattercote which lay directly north of this parish. There in the l6th. century resided the landlord of the largest manor. It was at that period that the village was largely rebuilt in stone. The great rebuilding moved up the limestone belt, and Cropredy was fortunately included. Most had been rebuilt by the early 1600's, except for Vaughan's farm in Church Lane and the wooden row in Church Street now called Red Lion Street.

The first piece was written by Gardner Godson in 1964 and is about Cropredy around the turn of the century. This has not been altered. Some names in brackets have been added to help those who would like to know who he was referring to.

The second piece is by his wife Marie: Although she was not Cropredy born her Mother was a Smith from 3 Church Street. Marie came with her sisters to spend her holidays here. She would stay with her aunts in Church Street or at the Woodyard in Church Lane. Here she met Gardner Godson a friend of her cousin Frank Sumner. Marie did not write down her tales, but she allowed me to pester her with questions. I then gathered some of her answers into the second piece.

The third is a direct transcript from a talk Mrs Edith Bassett nee Tasker, gave to the Cropredy Historical Society on the 20th of April 1983. All I have done is to edit out some interruptions, and wished there had been time for more. She spoke well, warming to her subject conveying the feeling that in spite of the hard work in her childhood it was full of good memories.

Part 11 is again in three sections, first some background information to Church Lane, secondly the history of the Bakehouse. The records for these two sections come from the parish documents, the landlords letter book, and the Brasenose College Library in Oxford. The final section is taken from conversations with Mr. Welford.