7. Some things Colin Shirley wrote about

             Photo 15:

Colin with his telescope outside his hovel.

[1L. 6/01/75]  I know the stone stile you mention on the way to Cropredy Lawn. (1. From the Stone Stile Field into Job’s Oxhay on the footpath from the Mollington Rd Railway bridge up to Cropredy Lawn Farm and Clattercote Reservoir).  I remember once going for a walk up there and just before I got to the stile an owl flew up from it. At the time it was in bad repair.  When I got to the stile I could see a hole in the stonework and looked and saw several young owls.

[20L. 13/09/84]  I remember the goosebery bush in the hedge by the stone stile.  I never heard of the hovel (2. Once two fields on north side of Mollington Road taken from Oxhay Common 1775. 59 Lower Job’s Oxey 12.440 acres with stone hovel & yard. 60 Far Job’s Oxey 14.688 acres freehold sold first to Job Andrews. Cows milked here between the wars. Now part of Cropredy Lawn Farm) being used for milking.  [1L.6/01/75]  And I didn’t know before that used to be common land.

[10L 19/01/81]  I heard about Mr Pinniger’s Cropredy Lawn Farm (3. Wilkinson Pinniger a bachelor from Hungerford. With uncle Richard A.Chesterman (d.26/03/1908) then took over tenancy in 1908. Pinniger was a gentleman, yes, but he worked with the men. R. Cherry. By 1919 Copes Estate sold Lawn to Banbury Co-op Ind. Soc. Mr R.Hewitson was manager of Lawn & Mollington Manor farms & Harry Dunn bailiff at Lawn) before, how the men were sent into the fields to dig out the squitch and when they couldn’t find any in the fields they would get some out of the hedges to have something to show for their work.  I have heard too, whether it was true or not, that at one time the farmer at Cropredy Lawn had the Sunday dinner baked in the Bakehouse at Cropredy and two of the men had to fetch it.  One Sunday when they were going up the fields with it they went into a hovel on the way up and eat the lot.  After that they had an oven built at the Lawn. 

[13L. 13/12/83]  I am like you I don’t like seeing trees cut down. It must have been very interesting going round all the hedges.  There used to be an Acacia tree on the right hand side of the gate going out of Cropredy Lawn Farm rickyard towards Clattercote Pool.  It may not be there now as it looked old when I saw it years ago.  It was the only acacia I remember seeing.  Clattercote Pool was almost empty once in the 1940’s.  There used to be a bush of guelder rose in the hedge by the little stream running from the watering to the corner by Mr Prestidges field (4. Mr Prestidges Field: Possibly south end of Binn Furlong below Lambert’s Barn at west end of Watering? Map in Pt.3 of Town of Cropredy Keegan A.P.).  I don’t remember ever seeing a spindle tree. 

32

[5L 15/12/76]  The crab tree is, or was at the gate beside the main road at the turn into Smalley’s. (5. Cropredy Hill Farm).  It used to be said that it was just a mile from the Brasenose Inn to the crab tree.

[1L. 15/12/76]  Have you noticed at the top of Oxhay Hill on the left hand side how the hedge is nearer to the road than the hedges of the fields above and below it?----------___________------------. Also down the Claydon Road on the right.  I have been told that had been pinched from the side of the road at some time.

I can remember when there was a row of big elms where Prescote Gardens and Mr Corradi’s house are.(6. Westward).  They were several yards back from the present hedge.  I always understood that was the original line of the hedge and that had been taken off the roadside too.

[2L. 24/01/75]  There used to be allotments on the left hand side of Oxhay Hill, in the third field from the railway (7. Once 1) Anker’s ground, 2) Town Leys (disappeared when ditch culverted), 3) Glebe Fields (turned into allotments) & 4) Poor Allotment from 1775) and at one time the fourth, marked on the map as Poors Land (8. Poor’s land in lieu of gathering fuel off Common for cottages with rights to graze a cow).  I always understood that was the real allotment land although the third field was let out as allotments. (9. The vicar let all his Glebe farm except for 3.278acres next to Poor Land for Oxhay Poor Plots getting £14-4s rent in 1852 later rent fell to £12-8s. Still higher than farm land!. Msdd Par Cropredy c29. Glebe sold 1922 to BNC). The fourth field went out of use as allotments years before the third field.

The second field on the left past Bourton (10. Railway bridge by the school) bridge used to be allotments too, but it is in Bourton parish.  I think the farm Mr Eriksen (11. Mr Eriksen at School Farm once Bourton Glebe land) has up Mill Lane (before you get to Major Donner’s) (12. Bourton House, Mill Lane. Built by Hadland’s  who rebuilt Lower Cropredy Mill) was the Glebe farm at one time.

[3L. 28/01/76]  My father used to speak of what we called Claydon Road as Moorstone Road, but I never heard it called that of later years.  I wonder if there was a standing stone called Moorstone at one time.  I don’t remember ever hearing of Moorstone ground. (13. Moorstone or The Moor: the allotment freehold and College leasehold behind Old Yard Farm & stack yard) There is no name on the field map you sent me. 

I always understood that Warkworth Hill was from Appletree turn to the top.(14. The top of the hill going towards Claydon). I wonder why Warkworth?  There is a village of Warkworth on the road from Banbury to Overthorpe.  I never knew whether it was Warkworth or Walkworth.  I have never heard of Kite’s Nest before.(15. Kite’s Nest an old Cropredy site but became attached to a small allotment opposite former Poplar Farm entrance in the corner of Town Hill field).  I wonder if that goes back to the days when kites were more common birds than nowadays.

[19L. 9/08/84]  When I first remember there was a gate at the village end of the drive to Prescote.  I think the plank walk went along the side of the stone parapet of the bridge.  I have often been over the stile from the towpath you mentioned.  The plank across the bridge was raised up a bit higher than the road.

[18L. 24/6/84 ]  I used to go fishing up there and I remember it [plank walk] was getting bad in those days.  There used to be raised planks up the left hand side to walk on when it was flooded up there.  There used to be another wooden bridge over the Cherwell just past where the stream (16. High Furlong Brook) comes down from Appletree and joins the main stream.  It was washed away in a flood.(17. Bridge over mill stream which led to the original mill race island in Prescote.  The river was filled in leaving the mill race only for the Cherwell river).