Heritage – Abingdon on Thames Town Council

A new donation to Abingdon Museum: The Abingdon Silver Group’s Silver Plaque

This month the Abingdon Silver Group presented Abingdon Museum with a sterling silver plaque bearing their own mark, made with two punches in different sizes.

The Abingdon Silver Group was formed in 1989 as a follow-on from silversmithing evening classes. They are currently based at John Mason School and offer a work environment, specialist tools, advice and tuition to members. In 2021, the Group decided it should have its own mark for members to stamp their work with. The design incorporates the cross and shield from the Abingdon Town Crest, the letters “a s g” for Abingdon Silver Group, and a crescent moon, an alchemical symbol for silver.

The silver plaque is currently on display in the foyer of the Museum, in celebration of the continuing tradition of quality craftsmanship in Abingdon and the strong link between the Group and the Town, expressed in the design of the mark.

Tour of Ancient Abingdon

SUNDAY 1st MAY 2022

Join local archaeologist Jeff Wallis for a walk and discover the traces of ancient settlements, such as an early Bronze Age barrow cemetery at Barrow Hills in North Abingdon. Jeff is a silversmith with an archaeological and palaeontology background. He focuses on ancient Abingdon and points out key markers in the landscape that give clues to its history.
You might be surprised at the hidden archaeology nearby!

Booking Information: Tickets are available at the Museum Reception. Booking is essential as there are only 10 places available.

Figure 1 Caldecott House, west elevation

Caldecott House (demolished 1972, was on Caldecott Road)

Caldecott House was on the north side of Caldecott Road and at the time of its demolition in 1972 was one of the largest houses in Abingdon (Fig. 1). But very little is known about its builders, and no formal record of it was made before or during its demolition. Yet is has been possible to put together a plausible history, from maps and documentary evidence. In particular a map commissioned by its owner in 1762 (Fig. 2) has been particularly useful in understanding not only what the house looked like at that time, but also the nature of the landscaped garden in which it stood.

Figure 2.
1762 estate map – north to right.
(© Abingdon County Hall Museum, accession number ti 1633.67.15)

It seems that the earliest part – to the left in Figure1 and a red square on the map – was built in 1738 as a datestone was recorded there and so the likely builder was John Saxton who was leasing the property from Christ’s Hospital at that time. It lay behind an earlier farmhouse, which was demolished by William Birch in the 1760s when he extended the house to the north. The palatial pile to the right of Figure 1, dwarfing Saxton’s house beside, was probably built by the Lintells, who bought Caldecott in 1829. The final gentrification to create a symmetrical east front carried out by Major-General Bailie in the 1890s.

Too big for a family home in the 1930s, it had a short period as an hotel but was requisitioned in 1940 by the Air Ministry for Bomber Command Accounts staff. From 1945 Caldecott House was a Dr Barnardo’s home until it closed on 31 August 1971. It was demolished the following year and there is now a housing estate on the former grounds. The only structures to survive are the lodge of 1870 on Caldecott Road and a stone archway from the Bailies’ garden.

A significant feature of the earlier garden was a double-moated feature called the Wilderness, which survives in part, though it is not easily datable – it could have medieval origins, though more likely was created as an orchard in the seventeenth century.

© AAAHS and contributors 2021

Historic Ironwork

This article is concerned with ironwork in the public domain that can reliably be assigned to a date before 1900; it is also confined to the central area of Abingdon, but deals with items from manhole covers to weathervanes, and from domestic door knockers to the remnants of industries long gone. It is a broadly chronological survey of what survives, and discusses some aspects of what this tells us about the use of iron in Abingdon – for functional and decorative purposes. It ends with some remarks on conservation issues.

The oldest external ironwork in Abingdon is probably its remarkable collection of early weathervanes.

Figure 1. Long Alley Almshouses (© David Clark, 2020)

A candidate for the earliest surviving example is the weathervane at the Long Alley Almshouses (Fig. 1), which was erected when the cupola was added to the medieval building in 1605. Unusually for this date it has the compass points – a feature not usually found until the eighteenth century – so these may be a later addition.[1] Because they are exposed to the elements weathervanes often need repair or replacement, but it is likely that parts of those on the County Hall (1681), Twitty’s almshouses (1707, but added to in 1735), the Council Chamber (1733) and the Clock House extension (1750s) probably survive from these dates. It is sad that the 1733 weathervane of Tomkins almshouses that bore the date and Benjamin Tomkins initials has been replaced in recent times by one with the initials of Christ’s Hospital, its owner since 1987.[2] The town was rightly proud of these weathervanes and featured four of them in a 1960s town guide.

But coming down to earth as it were, the most obvious ironwork consists of railings, lamps, balconies and other items associated with houses. There are two surviving sets of railings from the eighteenth century – both at houses built for members of the rich Tomkins family of maltsters – one set at the Clock House (c.1728) in Ock Street (Fig. 2) and another, with an overthrow supporting a lamp, at Twickenham House (1756) in East St Helen Street (Fig. 3). The earlier ones have standards – as the verticals are usually called – of wrought iron almost an inch thick, but with cast iron features such as urn-shaped finials and posts with bulbous vase-like sections. This mixture of materials was common in the early eighteenth century.

Figure 2. Railings at Clock House(© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 3. Twickenham House(© David Clark, 2020)

By the 1750s and with London architect Sir Robert Taylor involved at Twickenham House, the standards became thinner, with simple spike heads.[3] The posts are slightly thicker, but have cast iron finials of a Baroque design (Fig. 4). Similar railings and finials (Fig. 5) can be seen at St John’s Hospital in the Vineyard (1801).

Figure 4. Twickenham House railings(© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 5. St John’s Hospital railings detail(© David Clark, 2020)

Also from the eighteenth century are some surviving examples of rainwater goods – almost identical hoppers at Stratton House (1722, Fig. 6) and at the contemporary 7 Ock Street, while one of the Clock House downpipes (c.1728, Fig. 7) is decorated with cherubic heads.

Figure 6. Stratton House(© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 7. Clock House(© David Clark, 2020)

Iron also features strongly in the history of street lighting, but Abingdon seems to have lost almost all its historic examples, save perhaps the huge wrought iron hanging lamp above the market area of the County Hall (Fig. 8), a bracket lamp on the Council Chamber, and the lamps on the overthrows at the southern entry to St Helen’s churchyard (Fig. 9) and at Twickenham House (Fig. 3).

Figure 8. County Hall lamp(© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 9. South entry to St Helen’s churchyard(© David Clark, 2020)

From the early nineteenth century we have the dated survival of the iron bridge over the Ock (Fig. 10), built by Acraman of Bristol in 1824, though the railings at either side are later. Some cast iron fanlight designs resemble those produced by Joseph Bottomley’s Cheapside factory in the early years of the century (Fig. 11).

Figure 10. Bridge over the Ock(© David Clark, 2008)

Figure 11. Cast iron fanlight(© David Clark, 2020)

L N Cottingham’s influential ‘Smith and Founder’s Director’ of 1824 supplied designs for balconies that seem also to have been adapted and used in Abingdon (Figs. 12 and 13).

Figure 12. Balcony of 31 East St Helen Street(© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 13. Design from Cottingham

As we might expect, Victorian ironwork is more prolific, especially later in the nineteenth century when manufacturers of cast iron objects advertised their products through illustrated catalogues to feed the demand of a mass market. Cast iron was a favourite way of decorating otherwise plain railings so the standards sported various designs including spearheads sprouting from tulips (Conduit Road, Fig. 14), leafy sprays (Old Abbey House, Fig.15), fleur-de-lys (Bedwell Place, 1865, Fig.16) and ornate twisted stems (4 St Helen’s Wharf, Fig.17). We can be fairly sure that the examples quoted are in situ and were not removed in the wanton and misconceived removal of railings for the war effort in the 1940s as they fulfil practical functions such as supporting street signs, guarding deep ‘areas’ and so on.

Figure 14. Survivals in Conduit Road (© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 15. Old Abbey House (© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 16.Bedwell Place(© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 17. Finial details, 4 St Helen’s Wharf(© David Clark, 2020)

These later Victorian designs also illustrate a move away from the earlier defensive format of the spike or spearhead towards softer, more organic designs such as flowers and leaves – reflecting domesticity and the growth of gardening as a pastime of the suburban householder.

Finding out who made the various pieces of Victorian ironwork in Abingdon is not a straightforward task. The earliest wrought iron work was made by blacksmiths, and it is only through local knowledge such as that recorded in the article on the Ackling family on this site that we know what they made. As for the cast iron work, none of the railings in Abingdon have makers’ names – unlike many in North Oxford where the local Lucy and Dean foundries advertised themselves on the ironwork, and around Wallingford where Wilder’s did the same. Perhaps the only set that can be linked to a manufacturer is that at 19-23 Winsmore Lane, near the Windsmore (sic) Iron Works which lay back from the lane just a short distance to the north (Fig. 18). William Dean is shown there in 1854, while Simeon Crook, an ironfounder from Blewbury moved to Winsmore Lane between 1871 and 1881 from Abbey Close and perhaps lived in one of these houses.[5]

Figure 18. Winsmore Lane railings(© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 19. Ballard bollard in Market Place(© David Clark, 2014)

Other ironfounders can be picked up in the local directories – a list is in the appendix: see below or at end of short description. Nathaniel Dean had a foundry near St Nicolas’ church at 1 Stert Street and his name appears on the base plate of the railings to the former St Thomas’s girls’ school in Oxford. Benjamin Ballard appears as an ironfounder in the directory for 1884 at the Phoenix Works in Bury Street (he later moved to what is now the Sydenham’s site in Ock Street). Perhaps the bollard in the Market place (Fig. 19) bearing the name of Mayor William Ballard in 1879 was made by a relative. In 1994 it was painted white and stood incongruously on the pavement in St Edmund’s Lane.

In Abingdon a favourite place for an ironfounder to advertise was on his drain covers and other road and pavement furniture. Ballard’s can be seen in a number of central street covers, and although Gabriel Davis was probably better known for building engines for boats, there is a drain cover with his name on it near his father’s house in East St Helen Street (Fig. 20). In 1898 he advertised the fact that he had lately erected a ‘complete foundry’ at his St Helen’s Works and was ‘able to undertake all kinds of iron and brass castings’.[6] What is left of the ironworks is the block of flats that was the Hygienic Laundry until 1970 (Fig. 21) and the street name, ‘The Old Foundry’.

Figure 20. Davis drain cover(© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 21. Part of former St Helen’s iron foundry(© David Clark, 2014)

What does seem clear, however, is that Abingdon residents were aware of the opportunities to acquire the latest fashions in decorative ironwork. We have already seen examples of the use of pattern books in the early years of the century. Later, manufacturers’ catalogues became available and examples of door knockers, letterboxes and boot scrapers from some of the major national suppliers – Izon, Kenrick and Bullock – can still be seen in some of the central streets.

Illustrated below (Fig. 22) is an ornate boot scraper from East St Helen Street (maker unidentified), a ‘Wellington’ door knocker in the same street (probably by Bullock of West Bromwich) and the combined knocker and letterbox with Kenrick’s ‘bat’ design.[7]

Figure 22.Three cast iron domestic artefacts in East St Helen Street
(© David Clark, 2020)

Charles Coxeter described his business in 1854 as a ‘Birmingham and Sheffield Warehouse’ – suggesting that metal goods from these places were his stock-in-trade. The sign under the eaves of his shop in Ock Street remained there after it was acquired by Brind, Gillingham & Co. Ltd, wholesale and retail ironmongers, who specifically mentioned the supply of iron railings in their advertising.

Also important for central Abingdon where cellars abound, was the invention by Hayward Bros. of London, of a prismatic glass block that provided a waterproof covering for basement lightwells, while directing sunlight down into the cellar. A number of properties in East St Helen Street have these (Fig. 23), some with both plain and prism glass, and all are datable to the period between the company’s move to Union Street in 1857 and 1880, when it became Hayward Bros. and Eckstein.

Figure 24. Iron kerb at Barley Mow(© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 23. 5 East St Helen Street(© David Clark, 2014)

Another very practical use of iron was in kerbs, and surviving sections can be seen in Lombard Street (Fig. 24), Winsmore Lane and East St Helen Street – all places where at one time there was considerable commercial activity and stone was easily damaged by the iron-rimmed cart wheels.

The search for examples of historic ironwork in Abingdon can be addictive. Seek out the two examples of cast iron benches from GWR railway stations with the company’s monogram in the supports (Fig. 25 – the other is in Albert Park) – and enjoy the elegant examples in the Abbey Gardens (Fig. 26).

Figure 25. GWR bench in Stratton Way(© David Clark, 2018)

Figure 26. Bench in Abbey Gardens (© David Clark, 2020)

There are two Victorian cast iron wall-mounted letterboxes in Abingdon, one at the Old Anchor on St Helen’s Wharf, the other in Conduit Road (Fig. 27). The latter bears the name of its maker, W T Allen & Co. of London.

Figure 27. VR letterbox in Conduit Road(© David Clark, 2020)

Look out also for lost signs – for example the remains of the Seven Stars sign at 15 Bridge Street (Fig. 28) and the support of Richard Stone’s tailoring business sign at 18 East St Helen Street (Fig. 29).

Figure 28. Seven Stars sign(© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 29. Sign at 18 East St Helen Street(© David Clark, 2020)

This article we hope gives a flavour of what there is to see in Abingdon – there are lots more examples which we do not have the space to show – but will end with some general observations about some of the conservation issues relating to historic ironwork.

It has to be said that what we see today is a fraction of what there was once – and which can be seen in historic photographs of the town, so it is important that we recognise what we have and ensure its conservation for the future. The major loss was of course deliberate – Abingdon lost many historic railings during the Second World War.[8] It is good to see that some houses in Park Road have replacement railings to a design exactly replicating those that were lost.

Another excellent example of conservation can be seen in the gates of St Ethelwold’s, 30 East St Helen Street (Fig. 30). They were installed in 2014 using mild steel gates bought at auction and refurbished by A C Grace of Clifton Hampden, who added the spikes along the top and refixed the decorative cast iron handles that came off the previous wooden gates that had rotted away.

Figure 30. Gates at St Ethelwold’s (© David Clark, 2020)

Figure 31. Harris(© David Clark, 2020)

Later conservation is hampered by the fact that ironwork – no matter how historic – is often overlooked: it may be a weathervane high on a cupola, it may be on the road or pavement and difficult to see, or it may not be mentioned in a list description or in a church guidebook. Abingdon’s historic ironwork is at risk. Some is gradually rusting away through lack of maintenance – as can be seen in the Old Cemetery off Spring Road where unpainted railings around some of the graves have been broken off or are badly corroded (Fig. 31). While this is understandable, it is difficult to justify losses such as the bollards at St Helen’s wharf, which dated from 1885 and which were replaced with non-ferrous replicas after only some hundred years. Regular maintenance could have preserved these indefinitely.

So it is all vulnerable to loss, usually because no-one has appreciated its significance, some aspects of which this survey has attempted to draw out, but there is much yet to be researched – what is the enigmatic iron relieving arch that can be seen in the south gable wall of the small industrial building at the eastern entrance to Old Station Yard (Fig. 32), for example, and what activity at 3 Ock Street required the iron rails (Fig. 33) that can (just) be seen under the carriageway building next to the former Congregational chapel? If you know the answers please write to us at abp@aaahs.org.uk.

Figure 32. Iron arch at Old Station Yard(© David Clark, 2013)

Figure 33. Iron tracks at 1-3 Ock Street(© David Clark, 2015)

[1] Marian Campbell, Decorative Ironwork (V&A London, 1997) p. 66 and J Starkie Gardner, English Ironwork of the XVIIth and XVIIIth Centuries (London, 1911) pp. 300-320

[2] https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1368299 (accessed 26 November 2020)

[3] https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1048904 (accessed 26 November 2020)

[4] L N Cottingham, The Smith and Founder’s Director (London, 2^nd edition, 1824) Plate 1, no. 4 (The Smith and Founder’s Director– Google Books – accessed 6 December 2020).

[5] Billing’s Directory and Gazetteer (1854); St Helen’s census 1871, 1881.

[6] Hooke’s Abingdon Directory (1898)

[7] D Stephenson, ‘More Decorative Ironwork II’, Archaeologia Cantiana vol. 97 (1981) p. 143. The bat is Kenrick’s design no 422 and is in the firm’s 1887 catalogue.

[8] For the background (and another piece of lost Abingdon ironwork) see The Russian Gun | Abingdon-on-Thames (accessed 26 November 2020)

AAAHS and contributors 2020

The Abingdon Morris Tradition 1918 to 2018

In the previous article the story was told of how the Abingdon traditions of morris dancing and electing a Mayor of Ock Street, despite a certain amount of local disdain and opposition, managed to survive into the early twentieth century. The last known appearance of the morris dancers before the outbreak of the First World War was in 1911. This article picks up the story, showing how these traditions initially disappeared from public view for around a quarter of a century but then re-established themselves as an important and distinctive part of the town’s life.

It might be thought that the 1914-18 war was responsible for the demise of morris dancing in Abingdon, but, as mentioned above, it seems to have already gone into decline a few years before. However, of those men involved in the 1910 revival two are known to have died in the conflict.[1]

The Hemmings family as mentioned in this article

The renowned folklore collector Cecil Sharp followed up his 1910 visit to James and William Hemmings in Abingdon with another on 21 September 1922. Sharp was one of the founders of the English Folk Dance Society in 1911 and was always on the lookout for traditional dances. James and William were the sons of Thomas Hemmings who had been a morris dancer since 1840 and ‘Mayor of Ock Street’ from 1860 to 1885; the title having then passed on to William, also known as ‘Patch’ Hemmings. On this second visit Sharp commented that the dancing was ‘clearly corrupt from forgetfulness’; however the brothers still had sufficient recollection to supply him with the details of three morris dances and four morris dance tunes.[2] Sharp obviously felt that William deserved recognition as he persuaded members of the English Folk Dance Society to pay for a new concertina to be made for him at a cost of £14 (the average labourer’s weekly wage at that time was £1 and 8 shillings). The local newspaper took up this story and pictured the brothers with the new concertina.[3]

OLD MORRIS DANCERS The Hemmings brothers of Ock Street are well-known in the neighbourhood as old Morris Dancers

The publicity generated by this event did not spark off another revival; other than James’ son Tom, there do not seem to have been any younger men interested in performing the dance at this time. However, William Hemmings taught the tunes to Harry Thomas, a melodeon player who lived opposite him in Ock Street.

Nationally there was a revival of interest in morris dancing and in 1924 a group of Cambridge students formed ‘The Travelling Morrice’ undertaking tours of various towns and villages in England, including a visit to Abingdon in 1925.

People came out in quantities; tears stood in their eyes. A sweep, the brother of the original accordian player, driving by, threw his cart away and joined in. The women particularly were entranced: they said – “but they haven’t got the buffalo horns.”[4]

The ‘sweep’ was Henry Hemmings, aged 79, another of Thomas Hemmings’ sons, who was actually a coalman.

In 1929 there was an attempt to re-stimulate interest in Abingdon morris dancing. Mary Neal, who had also collected dances from the brothers before the War, brought a press reporter and a photographer from Fox Photos of London to meet the Hemmings family and friends. They took a set of photographs in the back garden of the Cross Keys pub in Ock Street which appeared in various publications, including the Daily Mirror.[5] By this time, although there were no elections, James had taken over the position of Mayor of Ock Street from William. The latter was likely to have been gravely ill as he died shortly after, in January 1930, at the Abingdon Poor Law Infirmary. His death was reported in the local paper which cited the lack of dancers being responsible for the decline of the tradition over the previous years.[6]

1929 Hemmings family and friends [7]

Although members of the Hemmings family seem to have made a serious attempt to gain wider support for the tradition in 1929, there was no public revival of morris dancing at this time. James Hemmings senior died in January 1935, but on 6 May of that year members of the family took part in the procession through the town carrying the Ock Street Horns and associated regalia. This was as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations for George V.

1936 at the Happy Dick [8]

A photo taken in the backyard of the Happy Dick in Ock Street shows the Hemmings family together with Wiblins (in-laws to the Hemmings) wearing decorated top hats accompanied by Harry Thomas as musician. It was at this pub that the Hemmings got the morris going again by inviting some of the regulars to join in. It seems to have been the previous year’s Jubilee celebrations that provided the impetus, although a dancing team did not appear at this time.

Well when we first set up in 1935… that was at the Happy Dick yard, old Mr. Hemmings, that was the landlord there, used to come out with these two tea-towels and sort of jump about and one thing and another. Mr. Harry Thomas… was our musician at the time… He knew all the old tunes… and he started seated outside in the big yard, playing… one joined in then another, Tom Hemmings and Percy… Tom Hemmings sort of knew the steps… We started off more or less, you could say as a bit of fun really. Something to do when sitting around on a summer’s evening drinking.[9]

The former Happy Dick pub, now a private house(© Michael Harrison)

A national organisation, the Morris Ring, had been set up in 1934 to: ‘encourage the performance of the Morris, to maintain its traditions and to preserve its history.’[10] Francis Fryer, a retired army Major, who lived at Wargrave Manor near Henley, hosted a weekend meeting of Morris Ring teams in 1936 and they danced at Abingdon on Saturday 29 September. In a reprise of the 1925 encounter, Henry Hemmings, who was passing by, couldn’t resist joining in. As a result, Fryer and three other men from the Morris Ring visited the Hemmings in October 1936 to find out more information about their tradition.

In 1937 on 12 May the Hemmings family and friends wearing decorated top hats and carrying the Ock Street Horns took part in a procession through Abingdon to mark the coronation of George VI. Later that day they danced at various places throughout the town. Word of this revival reached Major Fryer and he invited the team to dance at an event at Wargrave Hall on 29 May. This was a success and from this point on Fryer took a particular interest in the Abingdon team, attending their practices, providing financial support and transport to venues beyond Abingdon to perform their dances. On the traditional date of the old Ock Street June Fair the team performed their dances and Henry Hemmings was appointed Mayor of Ock Street, although no election was held. According to the local press this was first performance of its kind for 25 years.[11]

Inspired by their contact with Fryer and his friend Dr. Kenworthy Schofield, the Abingdon men formed themselves into a properly constituted club with Fryer as its President. James Hemmings junior (son of old James} was Treasurer, Percy Hemmings (son of Henry) was Secretary and Tom Hemmings (another of old James’ sons) was lead dancer. Other members at this time were Charlie Brett, Johnny Grimsdale, Charles Hemmings, George Hemmings, Ray Hemmings, Harold Matthews, John ‘Slim’ Mooring, Harry Thomas and Frederick Wiblin. They joined the Morris Ring and continued to perform in Abingdon and beyond until the outbreak of the Second World War and were joined during this period by other local men including James ‘Ducky’ Allen, Ernie Constance, Jack Hyde and George Wake. They were also supported at times by members of the Wargrave Morris Team led by Major Fryer who had learnt the Abingdon dances.

The first election of the twentieth century for the Mayor of Ock Street was held on 20 June 1938. Henry Hemmings was elected standing against Tom Hemmings. Another election was held in 1939 again with Henry being elected against Tom. By this time many of the dwellings crammed into the ‘courts’ off Ock Street had been demolished with residents being rehoused in Saxton Road and at other new council housing developments. Notwithstanding these demographic changes, the level of support shown for the old custom is indicated by the number of votes cast by Ock Street residents: 199 in 1938 and 182 in in 1939.

Just when things were gaining momentum war broke out. Major Fryer returned to military service and many of the dancers were called up. Those men remaining managed a few performances to raise funds for the war effort, but no elections were held. Henry Hemmings died in October 1945 and Harry Thomas, the team’s musician, died in 1947. It seemed as if the Abingdon morris tradition was going into decline again and Percy Hemmings was reported to have lost interest in it. In response the team approached Major Fryer in 1948 to see if he could help out again. Fryer was willing and in 1949 team practices were held twice a month at the Happy Dick with music played by Fryer. No election was held but Tom Hemmings took on the role of Mayor of Ock Street. Some of the Wargrave morris men attended practices to help make up the numbers.

In 1950 the first Ock Street election since the war was held with Tom Hemmings receiving 119 votes to Charlie Brett’s 20. In October of that year the team started practicing at Boxhill School and a team of boys there were taught dances from a range of morris traditions. When they switched their practice venue to Caldecott House they also taught dances to a team of boys from the Dr. Barnardo’s home there. Throughout most of the 1950s the team were quite busy with many appearances including some high-profile events such as Windsor in 1951, the Royal Albert Hall in 1952 and Trafalgar Square in 1956. In 1952 they hosted a Morris Ring meeting in Abingdon, a large event with many teams touring the town and surrounding area. In 1956 they and the Barnardo’s boys’ team danced for the Queen’s visit to Abingdon, an event filmed for Pathé News.[12]

Abingdon Morris Dancers 1956 [13]

By 1957 Major Fryer had health problems which reduced his involvement with Abingdon. Len Bardwell a concertina player and member of Oxford City and East Surrey Morris Men provided much of the music, which he had learnt from Fryer. In 1958 Mayor’s Day was held as usual, but regular practice sessions had ceased and the team had to rely on men from Wargrave and other local morris teams to make up numbers for public performances. Tom Hemmings remained Mayor of Ock Street until his death in 1960, often standing against his nephew Ray Hemmings, landlord of the Happy Dick. Then Major Fryer died in January 1961 and James Hemmings, Tom’s brother, died in February.

… the side dropped in numbers. Outsiders became the mainstay rather than occasional support and even major town events found only four dancers active. Enough men with roots in north Berks came in from Oxford and University sides to keep the dancing going …[14]

In 1962 Ray Hemmings was elected with 80 votes against Charlie Brett with 20 votes and Brian Clark (grandson of Tom Hemmings) with 17 votes. Ray was the last in a long line of Hemmings to be Mayor of Ock Street; he became too ill to stand in 1963 and there was no election that year. In 1964 Charlie Brett was elected Mayor, a post he held until his death in 1979. Charlie often stood against Johnny Grimsdale, another dancer from the 1930s, who died in the same year. Information on subsequent Mayors of Ock Street up to the present day can be found on the Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers website.[15]

For a while, during the 1960s, things were looking uncertain until there was an unexpected upturn.

Abingdon went through a terrible patch in the early sixties when they couldn’t get enough men to practise… and each time they went out over a period of years, they thought it would be the last time they would be seen. And then the local Rover Scouts at Longworth… were taught the morris and they liked it so much that five joined the club just like that. That then made them viable, they could then dance on Saturdays during the rest of the season, and of course the townspeople then got interested as well. And they were able to build up a club which at its peak had some forty-odd people attending practises.[16]

From 1964 to 2019 Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers (ATMD) has maintained the annual ‘Mayor-Making’ ceremony in Ock Street without a break, a considerable achievement considering the way the custom dipped in and out of existence in the past. A significant development happened in 1979 when a separate Abingdon team was formed taking the name “Mr Hemmings’ Morris Dancers” (now known as “Mr Hemmings’ Traditional Abingdon Morris Dancers”). This team, which has no involvement in the Mayor-Making, started up with strong local and family connections:

Old Tom Hemmings was a leading member of the Abingdon Morris Dancers from the turn of the century until his death in 1960. Now three of his grandsons, four of his great-grandsons and two other relatives, are keeping up the family tradition.[17]

At the start both teams performed the same repertoire of Abingdon dances. Although there was undoubtedly a strong sense of rivalry between the teams in the early days, the two teams have subsequently co-existed quite happily. There has been a certain amount of toing-and-froing of members between the teams and now there are some men who are active members of both. On one special occasion the two teams came together:

On Saturday 13th September 2014 to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of World War 1, there was dancing on the Market Place by ‘The Morris Men of Abingdon’ with ATMD and Mr Hemmings dancers in the same set, wearing no baldricks, sashes or ribbons, just white clothes, hats and bells. Two sets of dancers, four musicians, 2 fools and a large crowd to watch.[18]

One thing that has distinguished the Hemmings team is a relaxed attitude towards the involvement of women in morris dancing. At the outset they invited the first women’s team, Windsor Morris, to dance in Abingdon; for many years they had a female musician and, in 2017, admitted women as full dancing members. Both teams have contributed significantly to the ongoing survival of morris dancing in Abingdon and indeed, in recent years, have added to it. In 1922 only four dances out of an original twelve were known well enough to perform, by 1979 that number was back up to twelve and since then the Hemmings team have added one new dance and ATMD four.

In the hundred years or so covered by this article Abingdon has seen many changes and its traditions of morris dancing and electing the Ock Street Mayor have changed with it. At the same time these customs have provided a certain continuity with the past and have maintained a truly local character. Far from being disdained, as in days gone by, the morris teams have become a key part of the civic life of the town, often appearing at important local events, as well as representing the town further afield.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Dave Spiers of Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers who has spent much time and energy transcribing and making available the past records of that team. I would also like to thank Keith Chandler who has so generously shared the results of his researches into the history of morris dancing in the South Midlands.

Jonathan Leach

[1] See the Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers website for more details http://atmd.org.uk/ww1/ (accessed 12/11/20).

[2] Cecil Sharp Field Note Book, 1922, Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.

[3] Photo from the archives of Mr Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris Dancers, text from North Berks Herald, 6 January 1923.

[4] Sharp correspondence. Folder K, Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. Letter from the Kettlewells, West Hall Hill, Burford. 18.7.1931.

[5] The Daily Mirror, 29 September 1929, p. 22.

[6] North Berks Herald, 17 January 1930, p. 5.

[7] Photo from the archives of Mr Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris Dancers.

[8] Photo from the archives of Mr Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris Dancers. On the back row: Tom Hemmings; Myra Hemmings; Hilda Wiblin; Mrs Wiblin; Ray Hemmings. Front row: Fredrick “Derby” Wiblin; Henry Hemmings holding the fool’s bladder: George Hemmings with grandson John on his knee; Harry Thomas with melodeon.

[9] John ‘Slim’ Mooring interviewed by Keith Chandler and Jonathan Leach, 4 February 1985.

[10] The Morris Ring, https://themorrisring.org (accessed 12/11/20).

[11] North Berks Herald 25 June 1937, p. 4.

[12] https://www.britishpathe.com/video/special-the-royal-visit (accessed 12/11/20).

[13] Photo from the archives of Mr Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris Dancers.

[14] Roy Dommett, (1979) Sidmouth Lecture. http://www.chezfred.org.uk/for/pdf/1979RoyDommettDocument.pdf (accessed 12/11/20).

[15] http://atmd.org.uk/mayors-day-election-results/ (accessed 12/11/20).

[16] Roy Dommett (1979) Sidmouth Lecture. http://www.chezfred.org.uk/for/pdf/1979RoyDommettDocument.pdf (accessed 12/11/20).

[17] Oxford Journal, 30 April 1982, p. 9.

[18] Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers website http://atmd.org.uk/brief-history/ (accessed 12/11/20).

Stratton House, 50 Bath Street, Abingdon

50 Bath Street, Stratton House

Stratton House dominates the small square that closes Bath (formerly Boar) Street since it was divided by Stratton Way in 1968/9. It was built in 1722 for Benjamin Tomkins and his wife, Sarah, as can be seen in the brickwork of the façade. Tomkins was a rich maltster. The house is in two parts, the original house to the left, and an extension dating from about 1800 to the right, sometimes referred to as Stratton Lodge. The railed roof platform was installed in 1974.

The main house has seven bays, the central one breaking forward with an elegant classical doorframe and delicate fanlight over the recessed door. It stands on a low stone plinth, but is mainly brick, laid in Flemish Bond, with contrasting colours shaped with frilly ends to the ground floor – a trademark of builder Samuel Westbrook that can also be seen at Brick Alley almshouses. The first floor lintels have simpler gauged bricks with decorated key blocks.

Inside, the staircase with twisted balusters is original.

The garden at Stratton House was extensive, and in 1910 had a fishpond with a stone grotto nearby. The latter survives in the car park of the County Council’s family and children’s centre on the north side of Stratton Way.

The grotto in 2018 © J Smith

Around 1728, Benjamin Tomkins moved out, having built a grander house – the Clock House in Ock Street – and his eldest son, also Benjamin, took up residence in Stratton House. But when Benjamin senior died in 1732 he left Stratton House to another son, Joseph, who continued the malting business. There was a malthouse to the rear, along with an orchard, garden and stables. Joseph’s son William inherited Stratton house on his father’s death in 1753 and continued living there until he died in 1808.

From the census returns it seems that Stratton House was rented out for much of the nineteenth century, but in 1887 it was reported that, “The Mayor (Ald. Tomkins) gave a garden party at Stratton House on Saturday last.” But by 1894 it was again offered for rent. Lady Alice Norman lived there from 1909 until her death in 1939, aged 93. Lady Alice had been active in the church and good works including the hospital and infant welfare. Since then it has been occupied by government offices, and now by Challenor and Son, a firm of solicitors.

© AAAHS and contributors 2020

A new light on the Abingdon Ichthyosaur

The specimen was discovered in a local gravel pit at Oday Hill in 1988 and its current display has been possible thanks to the conservation and curatorial staff of the Oxford University Natural History Museum.

The next time you will be able to see the so called ‘Abingdon Ichthyosaur’ you will notice a change in its display.
This week researchers from the University of Portsmouth visited Abingdon Museum to have a look at the Abingdon Ichthyosaur in the Attic Gallery.
A close look at the specimen with measurements and photographs revealed that some of the bones had been misidentified and wrongly placed. Scrutiny of the jaw bones revealed an interesting pathology with several bite marks, tooth marks and evidence of healing. This preliminary study resulted in a change to the layout of the ichthyosaur skeleton, which now better reflects the shape of the animal.
The study is still ongoing but it illustrates that the Abingdon Ichthyosaur is an important local discovery and we are still learning a lot about this specimen.

We will share more information about this research in the upcoming months.

Sad news regarding the cancellation of the 2020 Michaelmas and Runaway Fairs

The Abingdon Michaelmas and Runaway Fairs will not take place this year. The difficult decision to cancel was taken by Abingdon Town Council after much deliberation at a Council meeting last night (9^th September 2020).

Working closely with the organisers, Bob Wilson Funfairs Ltd, in consultation with the Showmen’s Guild; and taking advice from other regulatory bodies, concerns remain about the impact the fair could have on the town, given the anticipated size of the crowd and the risk that poses to public health.

The disappointing news follows in the wake of the recent cancellation of St Giles’ Fair in Oxford, Witney Feast and the Thame Fair.

Abingdon Town Council would like to thank everyone involved for their efforts in trying to find a way to allow the Fairs to go ahead and looks forward to working together next year for successful outcome for 2021.

The Mayor of Abingdon, Cllr Charlie Birks, said: “It is frustrating that in such an unsettling and unpredictable time, our much loved and historic autumn fairs such have been added to the list of events cancelled this year but protecting large numbers of people in open spaces is challenging and complex, even when there is no pandemic to take into account. We know that the situation regarding the pandemic is ever changing, with the government announcing further restrictions yesterday. We are deeply disappointed to have to cancel the Fairs, it is a blow for the town and for the showmen whose livelihoods have suffered so much. All parties worked hard to see if the Fairs could proceed but we have come to the reluctant conclusion that we had to cancel this year. We hope the Fairs return to their rightful place in our town’s life in 2021.”

Notes for editors:

The Abingdon Michaelmas and Runaway Fairs are hiring (or “mop”) fairs which have their origins in the labour problems which prevailed after the Black Death pandemic of 1348/9.
The right to hold the Fairs is now consolidated in the Oxfordshire Act 1985 where it is stated in section 38 that “subject to the provisions of this section, the Town Council shall continue to hold the fairs customarily held in the town at the commencement of this Act” and this includes the Michaelmas Fair (or Hiring Fair) on the Monday falling first before 11^th October and on the following Tuesday and the Runaway Fair on the Monday next following the Michaelmas Fair.
This year the relevant dates would have been: Michaelmas Fair 5^th and 6^th October and Runaway Fair 12^th October 2020.
The requirement to hold the Fairs is contained in local legislation. However this legislation is itself subject to the overarching requirements of primary (national) legislation , pertinent in this case being public health requirements and the Coronavirus Act 2020.
The last time the Fairs were cancelled was during the Second World War, 1939 to 1945.

Issued by the Town Clerk, 10th September 2020.

The Russian Gun

The Russian Cannon in Albert Park in about 1900 with Trinity Church in the background.

(© From a privately owned Valentine’s postcard. Scan kindly provided by the owner.)

Alma, Balaclava, The Thin Red Line, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Inkerman, Malakoff and Sevastopol. These names from the Crimean War (1853 – 1856) would have been familiar to the people of Abingdon because of the up-to-date reporting in newspapers. News and military information was sent via a telegraph cable. The temporary 500 km cable went from near Balaklava to Varna in Bulgaria. From there a line went to Bucharest and joined the permanent network.[1] This was the first war that brought home to the reader in England the daily triumphs and trials of those fighting through war correspondent’s stories, government statements, photographs, and letters from local soldiers serving there. The ordinary soldier had popular support but as people realised the cost in men and resources, criticism arose towards the government and Commanding Officers. As is usual, the opposition in Parliament joined in. To be fair to the military, they had to work with government bureaucracies that dated from before the Napoleonic war – we won at Waterloo so why change anything!

The fortified port of Sevastopol was eventually captured on 9 September 1855, the beginning of the end of the war with the Treaty of Paris on 30 March 1856.[2]

Many cannon were captured, some had been used during the siege, some were serviceable, but many were obsolete or damaged, stored in arsenals.[3] As spoils of war, these were initially divided between the allied British and French armies. The French started to send these trophies back to France but the British further divided the cannon into those that were serviceable and those not – the serviceable to be used as the war continued.[4] A few cannon that were especially decorative were returned to England as private or regimental trophies.

In February 1856 the British commander-in chief in the Crimea, Sir William Codrington, asked the Secretary of War, Lord Panmure, what he thought should be done with the captured cannon still in the Crimea. Panmure recommended to keep some of the best and “drop the rest in the sea.”[5]

On 19 February 1856 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, with a party of military and other officials, visited a private display of captured arms in the Dial square at the Woolwich Arsenal.[6] On her orders the display was opened to the public and this generated a great deal of interest.[7]

In the Crimea, thoughts about the disposal of the cannon were different from Panmure’s recommendation. To a military mind a cannon is important in that it can represent the Sovereign’s Standard or Colour, the object that is rallied around and defended. To lose a cannon is a disgrace and to capture one an honour. Think of the Royal Horse Artillery Trooping of the Colour at Whitehall. So much effort and sacrifice had been made that the sentiment was to keep these trophies. Eventually 89 bronze and 875 cast iron guns were shipped home. Of these the bronze cannon that had been part of the defences at Sevastopol were designated to be presented to senior officers and regiments who had served in the war and also to some politicians. This decision was strongly influenced by Victoria who thought of these as martial weapons. The rest that had come from stores remained in store at Woolwich, with a newspaper report that they would be scrapped.[8] The long-held tradition that the Victoria Cross medal is made from Crimea bronze is now questioned, with some authorities stating that the metal is from a Chinese cannon.[9]

Panmure was unsure what to do with the cannon as he wanted trade with Russia to resume. He wrote to Codrington “I am averse to follow the French fashion and to parade the fruits of our conquest, and so keep open the sores of war after the healing hand of peace has been applied. On the other hand, no trophies should be destroyed, but carefully preserved as National Mementos.”[10]

However, in January 1857 he did put forward a government suggestion that the remaining cannon be given to towns and cities on application.[11] Queen Victoria liked the idea and nearly 300 cannon were eventually distributed. There was a lot of post-war criticism of the government as to how the war was handled and the distribution of the cannon might now be regarded as a jingoistic political move – though as previously noted, not everyone in government was in favour of this happening.

For many towns and cities, the possession of trophy cannon became a part of their civic pride and a recognition of the recipient’s importance. To others it became a topic of local debate. For some it became an issue of party politics and of not supporting the government. Some areas had pacifist leanings against anything martial and others did not want to have a cannon because they thought them ugly. In some places their views changed over the years and a cannon that once had pride of place was gradually moved to an obscure site to be forgotten.

Abingdon has no apparent special connection with the Crimean War other than Charlotte Cox, a nurse, and the soldiers and sailors from the town who had served in it, but Abingdon was still the County Town of Berkshire and keen to hold on to that prestige. Reading, the upstart rival, had received a cannon in June 1857.[12] We do not know how Abingdon applied for a cannon and gun carriage. Presumably, the usual method of petitioning Lord Panmure at the War Office was followed during the year of office of the mayor, William Ballard.

A congratulatory address of the victory had been sent to Victoria from the Town Council, but she did not have a part in approving who had the municipal cannon.

The cannon were free but the carriages were not. Bronze and gunmetal had been cast at Woolwich Arsenal since 1717.[13] In 1856 a new foundry to cast iron cannon was opened and the non-functional cast-iron gun carriages may have been cast there.[14] The charge for a carriage was £16.[15]

In August 1858 the Abingdon Council received a letter from the Deputy Military Storekeeper, Woolwich, arranging for the delivery of a cannon.[16] The Council minutes state that the expenses for delivery were to come from the Sealing Fee fund.[17] The Sealing Fee fund was money from the sale or transference of borough property. However, there may not have been a charge as some cannon were delivered for free.[18] The Abingdon borough accounts for this period no longer exist so we may never know. It is suggested that the waiving of charges was made by some of the railway companies on the instigation of Sir Samuel Morton Peto who as partner in Peto and Betts had organised, transported and built a railway from Balaklava to the front at Sevastopol.[19] All this was done at cost and rapidly carried out. Peto was very influential, so this may be true.

Many towns and cities had arranged public subscriptions for the cost of making a display place for the cannon and had a ceremony to mark the event. At Elgin, a poem addressing the cannon was written.[20] At Chester there were bands and bunting.[21] Derby Arboretum had a procession, bands, and a parachute descent from a balloon.[22] Salisbury had bands, bunting speeches and a military escort. At Ripon there was a military parade, the cannon was fired, speeches were made, and the Cathedral bells rang. An estimated 3,000 people attended.[23]

The cannon arrived in Abingdon in 1858 with as far as we are aware no ceremony. There is no mention of the event in the local papers other than the station master unofficially trying out the cannon at the railway station. Over the intervening years there have been many reports in newspapers of these cannon being officially and unofficially fired, often causing local disturbance and occasional damage.[24] The Suffragettes fired the Blackburn cannon in 1914 to draw attention to the ‘Cat and Mouse’ Act.[25] Some were disabled on arrival and others have had bungs fitted to stop mischief.

The Russian Cannon near the Abbey Gateway in about 1860.
It stands under the notice saying POLICE STATION.
(© Courtesy of Friends of Abingdon)

At a council meeting on 28 November the new Mayor, Mr Edwin J Trendell, ordered the cannon on its cast iron display carriage placed on a plinth near the police station in the Abbey Gateway.[26] A cast plaque stated ‘Sevastopol 1856’. This was hardly pride-of-place, but it was out of the way there. At the same meeting, an order was made to refund ex-mayor Ballard for the cost of the gun carriage (£16) that he had paid.

About seven or eight years later the canon and plinth were removed to the south-west corner of Albert Park with the cannon facing east towards Trinity Church.[27] This was at the western end of the path that runs parallel to Bostock Road. This was around the time of the naming of the park in 1865. The public park was created by the local charity Christ’s Hospital and is still administered by them. In 1872 it is recorded in the council minutes that Trendell offered to buy the cannon for twenty guineas.[28] We have no explanation and the offer must have been refused as the cannon remained in place. In 1877 there was a suggestion to move the cannon, but it was not until after 1890 that it was moved to the other side of the park (now the Bowls Club car park). This time it was placed facing south.

During the First World War, Margate councils debated the removal of their trophy cannon as the Germans were claiming that their Zeppelin attacks were legitimate as they were against fortified towns.[29]

In December 1939, the Ministry of Supply introduced the National Salvage Scheme.[30] This was a recycling scheme to stop waste and gather materials that would be used in the war effort. The goals were: wastepaper and cardboard, metals, bones, rags, rubber, and kitchen waste.

The Salvage Department of the Ministry of Supply appointed twenty-two honorary district advisers covering the United Kingdom. They advised local authorities about collecting waste material and items that could be scrapped. The individual local authorities organised themselves, usually under the official responsible for waste collection.[31]

The Woman’s Voluntary Services (WVS) became key to domestic collections, distributing publicity and propaganda about the scheme with over 42,000 members involved. In 1940 a “Pots and Pans” appeal was launched for aluminium that would be used in the aircraft industry. The domestic appeals were partly propaganda to encourage patriotic feeling and an all-in-this-together attitude.

At some time, the Abingdon cannon was taken for the war effort. In August 1940 Robert Gibson, MP for Greenock, asked the Minister of Supply how many old cannon had been presented for the scrap-metal scheme. Harold Macmillan, who was the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply, replied that 802 had been offered. This was the result of the regular appeals issued for cannon, other war trophies and unused metal objects. It seems that there might have been some negotiation in what could be taken as the iron gates to the Albert Park area were left in place or perhaps the cannon was still the property of the Town Council and Christ’s Hospital had no say in its removal. The cannon, like many fences and railings that were taken, was made of cast iron. This was not a readily useful material for the war, but in patriotic enthusiasm cast iron was taken, some of it never used. For example the railings for some London parks were dumped as useless or surplus into the Thames Estuary.[32]

In any event the cannon went – or did it? Local legend has it that it remains buried and hidden in the park or Abbey Meadow. The plinth remained as something to climb on until 1984 when it was removed.[33]

Of the nearly 300 cannon distributed only about 60 remain on display. Many are now listed, and a few are replacements for scrapped ones.[34]

REFERENCES

[1] Steven Roberts, A History of the Telegraph Companies in Britain between 1838 and 1868, http://distantwriting.co.uk/telegraphwar.html (accessed 25 July 2020).

[2] https://www.britannica.com/event/Treaty-of-Paris-1856 (accessed 25 July 2020).

[3] The Times, 22 September 1855, p. 9.

[4] Morning Post, 6 January 1857, p. 2; North & South Shields Gazette, 31 January 1856, p. 6.

[5] Sir George Douglas & Sir George Dalhousie (eds.), The Panmure Papers, being a selection from the correspondence of Fox Maule, second Baron Panmure, (London, 1908), vol. 2, p. 94.

[6] Illustrated London News, 23 February 1856, p. 209.

[7] Robert Edgar White, Recollections of Woolwich during the Crimean war and Indian mutiny, and of the ordnance and war departments, (London, 1885), pp. 30-31.

[8] The Times, 19 May 1856, p. 10.

[9] Andrew Marriott, Manufactured Tradition? – the Victoria Cross, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00794236.2020.1750150(accessed 25 July 2020).

[10] Douglas & Dalhousie, Panmure papers, vol. 2, p. 309

[11] Douglas & Dalhousie, Panmure papers, vol. 2, p. 335

[12] Hereford Times, 7 November 1857, p. 10.

[13] Roy Masters, The Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, (Stroud, 1995).

[14] The Times, 29 March 1856, p. 7.

[15] Fife Herald, 18 June 1857, p. 3.

[16] Bromley Challenor (ed.), Selections from the Municipal Records of the Borough of Abingdon A.D. 1555 to A.D. 1897, (Abingdon, 1898), p. 274.

[17] Challenor, Selections, p. 274.

[18] Hereford Times, 11 July 1857, p. 7.

[19] Brian Cooke, The Grand Crimean Central Railway, (Knutsford, 1990).

[20] Elgin Courant and Morayshire Advertiser, 19 November 1858, p. 5.

[21] Cheshire Observer, 6 June 1857, p. 4.

[22] Derby Mercury, 10 June 1857, p. 5.

[23] Leeds Mercury, 8 April 1858, p. 4.

[24] Preston Herald, 14 March 1863, p. 3.

[25] Daily Citizen, 17 February 1914, p. 3.

[26] Challenor, Selections, p. 274.

[27] Albert Park Residents’ Association, Celebrating 150 Years of Albert Park, (Abingdon-on-Thames, 2015), p. 12.

[28] Challenor, Selections, p. 307.

[29] Cheltenham Chronicle, 24 April 1915, p. 3.

[30] Royal Voluntary Service Archive and Heritage Collection. https://www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/Uploads/Documents/About%20us/Salvage_on_the_Home_Front_May2017.pdf (accessed 25 July 2020).

[31] Hansard, HC Debate, vol. 361, col. 417, (28 May 1940), [Electronic version].

[32] London Garden Trust, https://www.londongardenstrust.org/features/railings3.htm (accessed 25 July 2020).

[33] Albert Park Residents’ Association, Celebrating 150 Years, p. 13.

[34] Dr Bruce Osborne, Crimean Cannon International Database, http://osborne.house/profilego.asp?ref=2C3931 (accessed 25 July 2020).

Abingdon Morris Dancing and the Mayor of Ock Street before 1914

Old traditional folk customs tend to die out and, perhaps, be replaced by new ones. But some don’t. Where they continue, it is usually because they have close links to a geographical location or community which provides custodians or ‘bearers’ of the tradition. It helps if there is association with a recurring calendar event, and if there are favourable attitudes towards the custom in the local and wider society. All of these can be seen to have played a part in the survival of morris dancing and the election of a Mayor of Ock Street in Abingdon annually in June. Nevertheless, there were a number of challenges to be faced along the way.

Until the late 1930s the morris side was not referred to as ‘Abingdon Morris’ but rather as the ‘Ock Street Morris Dancers’ and the links with the street were, and remain, very close. An annual June Fair was an occasion for horse and cattle dealing and was also a special feast for Ock Street residents which included morris dancing and electing a mock mayor. The first printed reference to the Mayor of Ock Street accompanied by his morris dancers occurs in 1825.

On Saturday last the curious, laughable, and annual ceremony of choosing a mayor for the Ock Street in this borough took place according to ancient custom… It appears that although the Ock Street is situate within the borough, the inhabitants have always been considered a distinct people, and during the latter part of the 16th century, many and serious were the disputes between the rival parties. These continued till the renewal of the charter of the borough in the year 1700 (according to tradition), when it was agreed that all disputes should terminate in a contest for the horns of an ox, which was to be roasted in the Bury to commemorate the above event. The contest at length did take place… One of the privileges obtained on this memorable day was, that the victors should have the exclusive liberty to parade the town the day succeeding the Ock Street fair, with moris-dancers, accompanied by a mayor chosen by themselves, and preceded by a mace-bearer carrying the aforesaid horns erected on a pole. This ceremony has been continued from the year 1700 to the present year. It was the custom till within these few years for the mayor of the borough to be present at the installation of the Ock Street, mayor, to congratulate him on his promotion, to view the ceremony of chairing, and to invite him to parade the borough (according to ancient custom…)…[1]

There are earlier references to morris dancing associated with Abingdon in 1560, 1722, 1768 and 1783 but these do not provide evidence for continuity with the form of dancing which took place at the Ock Street June Fair.[2]

An account in 1835 makes reference to unsuccessful attempts by the authorities to stop this and similar customs. The article gives us the first known name of an Ock Street Mayor, Thomas Leonard, who was described disparagingly as ‘an individual every way qualified to fill the important situation’.[3] Thomas Leonard is listed in the 1841 Census as a weaver, born around 1806, living in Ock Street.

The next newspaper reference is in 1849 when we learn that:

The election was productive of fine fun, the circumstance of the candidates styling themselves Sir. F. Thesiger (our respected member), and Gen. Caulfield (the late unsuccessful candidate for the Borough), and the election fell on the former by seven votes.[4]

This description points to one of the functions of mock mayor ceremonies, that of poking fun at figures of authority.[5]In Abingdon this would be quite understandable, as in 1590 the Borough Council decreed that:

…noe person caule any of the Principal Burgesses or Secondary Burgesses knave or other name of reproche upon payne to forfayt Vs. [5 shillings] or els be commyted to prisin for five daies without bayle…[6]

This decree remained in force until 1835 and so the mock mayor ceremony could have provided an outlet for the poorer citizens of the town who wished to express their feelings about those in positions of power and privilege. This view is supported by the account of the ceremony given in 1855.

That portion of the Fair devoted to pleasure was as usual held and kept (for it partakes much of hospitality) in that portion of Ock Street known as the Fens. It was preceded by the ancient burlesque upon municipal institutions, the choosing a mayor of the locality for the year ensuing, who was duly installed and chaired with all the accustomed libations and honours, the individual selected for the mock civic dignity being one of the proper vagabond – we beg his worship’s pardon, we do not mean of the mean kind, but of the free and rollicking sort.[7]

Following on from the election of Thomas Leonard in 1835 the next known Mayor of Ock Street was Thomas Hemmings. He started dancing in 1840, was first elected in 1860, and held office on a number of occasions before handing on the position to his son William shortly before his death in 1885.[8] Thomas Hemmings was an agricultural labourer living in Smith’s Yard (Court 13) Ock Street. At least four of his children are known to have been morris dancers and three, William, James and Henry were later to become Mayors of Ock Street.

Thomas Hemmings in 1874 or 1880 [9]

Newspaper reports, covering the period 1870 to 1900, continue to indicate the poor reputation attributed, not just to the Mayor of Ock Street himself, but also to the morris dancers and the ceremonial proceedings as a whole. Nevertheless morris dancing and the election of the Mayor of Ock Street were regular annual events in the nineteenth century up to and including 1888 after which there are references to the absence of the custom or to it being ‘revived’. The account for 1893 speaks of a partial revival.

The old custom of the Ock Street Morris Dancers has been revived this week, and caused some amusement. On Monday [June 19th] residents were invited by bills to vote for Hughes, whilst others were asked to vote for Cox. Whether the voting took place or not is not clear, but Cox appears to have been elected to the honourable position of “Mayor”… The revival of this old custom is, however, far from what it used to be.[10]

William Hemmings, interviewed in 1910, said that he had been ‘mayor of the morris nine times’[11], but on this occasion he was not a contestant. No further accounts of either Cox or Hughes being involved in morris dancing or mayor-making have been found.

In 1900 it was reported that:

Mayor choosing and morris dancing were regular institutions, intermittently revived in late years. This year the “Ock Street horns” were again brought out, but it must have required an effort to get up a team, who towards evening bore traces of having done a hard day’s work.[12]

The absence of the dancers was commented upon in 1902 which suggests that they may have appeared in 1901.[13] There seems to have been a lull in the ceremony until 1910 when visits to James and William Hemmings from London-based folklore collectors Mary Neal, Mabel Tuke and Cecil Sharp rekindled interest in the tradition.

REVIVAL OF MORRIS DANCING. The widespread attention given to the revival of Morris dancing led to the observance of an old Ock Street custom on the day following June Fair. There was no choosing the Mayor of Ock Street as in olden times, but William Hemmings, son of a former “Mayor”, was recognised as still holding office… A fiddler completed the party, and the Ock Street horns, dated 1700, were brought out for the occasion.[15]

James and William Hemmings 1910 [14]

The photograph below was dated on its reverse side ‘June 21st 1912’, but is much more likely to have been taken in 1910 (based on the fact that the fiddler pictured , “Gipsy” Lewis, died in August 1910). It shows the Ock Street men dancing outside the old Congregational Church in the Square in Abingdon and was borrowed from Lily Rant of Steventon (she was part of the family that ran a chain of local shops ‘Rant and Tombs’, including one at 56 Ock Street).[16] Lily is in the picture on the right of the group holding her bicycle. In a letter written in 1938 she says that:

The figure in white at two o’clock in the picture is the famous Billy Hemmings – “King of Ock Street” – a title that has become extinct with the old man’s passing. So far as the dancing is concerned the occasion depicted was a revival. I believe the lapse in this case was somewhere between 1900 and 1902 and I believe I am correct when I say that the actual revival took place in either 1910 or 1911.[17]

The Ock Street Morris Dancers 1910 [18]

This photograph does not give the impression of a well-prepared team of dancers. Only two dancers are wearing the proper costume of white trousers and shirts, ribbons and top hats. The dancers seem to lack a co-ordinated approach with the legs and arms of each person being in a variety of different positions. So the Ock Street dancers do not seem to have been in a very strong position at this time, nevertheless in 1911 it was reported that:

JUNE FAIR.-…For the first time in the memory of the oldest inhabitant there was no pleasure fair, but the old-time Morris Dancers went round on Wednesday.[19]

There are no further newspaper reports of the Ock Street men dancing in the period before the First World War. Accounts from oral histories collected by the author, and the morris dance researchers Keith Chandler and David ‘Doc’ Rowe, indicate that the Hemmings family and their friends kept up aspects of the dancing in the back gardens of Ock Street after World War 1 and there is photographic evidence of this from 1929 onwards. But dancing in public did not resume until 1937.[20]

Although the revival of morris dancing at the June Fair in Abingdon around 1910 may have been short lived it came at an important time, providing a link between the old performers and a new generation of dancers. Important information was collected by the visiting folklorists, and the Hemmings family received the necessary encouragement to keep the tradition going even when regular public performances were not possible.

Acknowledgement

I am grateful to Keith Chandler who has so generously shared the results of his research into historical accounts of morris dancing in the South Midlands in general and Abingdon in particular.

Jonathan Leach

References and notes

[1] Berkshire Chronicle, 25 June 1825, p.3.

[2] J Ward, Archaeologia V.1 (1754) pp.13-25; Daily Post 13 October 1722, pp. 1-2; St James Chronicle 9 January 1768, p. 4; C Sharpe and H MacIlwaine, The Morris Book (1974), p. 113.

[3] Berkshire Chronicle, 27 June 1835, p.3.

[4] Berkshire Chronicle, 23 June 1849, p.2.

[5] For more details on mock mayor elections in England see the entry in J. Simpson and S. Roud, (2000) A Dictionary of English Folklore, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pages 242-243.

[6] Quoted in W. Liversidge, A Guide To Abingdon on Thames, Berkshire (Abingdon, 1979), p.45.

[7] Berkshire Chronicle, 23 June 1855, p.5. The Fens were apparently the part of Ock Street close to the present junction with Tower Close.

[8] Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 20 June 1885, p.6.

[9] Photo provided by Judy White of AAAHS, from a glass photographic plate found at Abingdon dump. ‘Thomas Hemmings after he voted for the last MP for the borough’.

[10] Oxford Chronicle, 24 June 1893.

[11] Neal (1910) op. cit., page 3.

[12] Abingdon Herald, 23 June 1900.

[13] Abingdon Free Press, 27 June 1902, p.4.

[14] The original copy of this photo is held at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library in London.

[15] North Berks Herald, 25 June 1910.

[16] The three dancers nearest to the camera from left to right were identified in 1939 as: James Hemmings, Jack Hemmings, ‘Stodger’ Hudson. The three dancers furthest from the cameral left to right were: Tom Hemmings, Bob Martin, Bertie Hudson. With sword and collecting box William Hemmings. With Horns Willie Belcher. With ‘Mace’ (wooden cup) under his arm, wearing bowler hat near Bertie Hudson was Jack Hemmings (senior). Fiddler – Gipsy Lewis. (Information from Francis Fryer in a letter to the Librarian at Cecil Sharp House on 7 April 1939).

[17] Lily Rant, letter to Francis Fryer, 10 June 1938, Vaughan Williams Memorial Library collection. Author’s note: I have tentatively identified the man wearing a straw boater standing with his hands on his hips in the top right of the picture as being my father, Fred Leach, who would have been 20 at the time and whose place of work was a few yards away around the corner at the family’s stationer’s shop and printing firm in Bath Street.

[18] The original copy of this photo is held at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.

[19] Faringdon Advertiser, 24 June 1911, page 5.

[20] There is sufficient material to justify another article exploring the development of morris dancing in Abingdon in the 20^th Century after the 1914-18 War. In the meantime, thanks to the efforts of Dave Spiers, information about this period can be found on the Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers website at http://atmd.org.uk/diary-for-1919-1949/ and at http://atmd.org.uk/diaries-of-previous-years/.