Following the completion of the successful Lost Abbey of Abingdon Heritage Trail project, members of the Abingdon Area Archaeological Society and Friends of Abingdon have formed a new group of volunteers, with other interested members of the community, to create a new heritage trail centred on St Helen’s church.
Five historical interpretation boards have been designed along a short circular route starting in East St Helen Street, to St Helen’s church, the Almshouses, a board covering the Thames and Ock river frontage via Margaret Brown Gardens to finish the trail in West St Helen Street.
The boards are accompanied by a leaflet with a map and an audio tour. The audio tour has been recorded by volunteers under the direction of Holly King. The voices are Sue Scott, John Shore, Tom Bewley, Hector Macduff. The tour takes around an hour to complete.
The tour is made up of 24 mp3 files which can be played on most mobile phones. Either download the files to your computer or phone by clicking on the files at the bottom of this page or go to the linked dropbox to download the whole folder in one go.
£ 12,200 of the project is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, £1,500 from Abingdon Town Council and £ 500 from Choose Abingdon.
Wheelchair access to the Esplanade (tour 16) on the river frontage is difficult as there are no drop kerbs. Instead of trying to cross the road, either listen to the descriptions from there or miss out that section and turn right to the Old Anchor pub where you can continue the tour (tour 17).
Related documents
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Heart of Abingdon Trail - PDF leaflet
File size: 4 MB
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Audio Tour 1: intro and instructions
"01 introduction" from 01 Introduction by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail. Released: 2013.
File size: 996 KB
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Audio Tour 2: Kings Head and Bell
"02 East St Helen Street, The King's Head and Bell" from 02 East St Helen St, The Kings Head and Bell by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail. Genre: Other.
File size: 891 KB
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Audio Tour 3: 16 & 17 East St Helen Street
"03 East St Helen Street, Nos, 16 & 17" from 03 East St Helen Street, Nos. 16 & 17 by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 1 MB
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Audio Tour 4: Twickenham House
"04 East St Helen Street, Twickenham House" from 04 East St Helen Street, Twickenham House by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 821 KB
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Audio Tour 5: East St Helen Street
"04 East St Helen Street, Twickenham House" from 04 East St Helen Street, Twickenham House by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 821 KB
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Audio Tour 6: Mews and Unicorn House
"06 East St Helen Street, St Helen's Mews & Unicorn House" from 06 East St Helen Street, St Helen's Mews & Unicorn House by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 965 KB
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Audio Tour 8: more East St Helen Street
"07 East St Helen Street, St Ethewold's House & Nos, 51 & 55" from 06 East St Helen Street, St Ethewold's House & Nos, 51 & 55 by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 1 MB
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Audio Tour 9: numbers 40-48 & Fairlawn
"09 East St Helen Street, Nos, 40-48 & Fairlawn" from 09 East St Helen Street, Nos. 40-48 & Fairlawn by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 2 MB
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Audio Tour 10: St Helen's Church
"10 St Helen's church" from 10 St Helen's church by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 899 KB
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Audio Tour 11: The North Porch
"11 St Helens church, north porch" from 11 St Helens church, north porch by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 1 MB
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Audio Tour 12: The West Porch
"12 St Helen's church, west porch" from 12 St Helen's church, west porch by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 1 MB
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Audio Tour 13: The Organ Blowing Chamber
"13 St Helen's church, organ blowing chamber" from 13 St Helen's church, organ blowing chamber by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 635 KB
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Audio Tour 14: Long Alley Almshouses
"14 Long Alley Almshouse" from 14 Long Alley Almshouse by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 1 MB
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Audio Tour 15: Brick Alley Almshouses
"15 Brick Alley" from 15 Brick Alley by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 660 KB
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Audio Tour 16: The Esplanade
"16 Esplanade" from 16 Esplanade by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 2 MB
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Audio Tour 17: The Old Anchor Inn & Iron Bridge
"17 Old Anchor Inn and Iron Bridge" from 17 Old Anchor Inn and Iron Bridge by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 2 MB
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Audio Tour 18: The Wilts & Berks Canal and industry
"18 Canal and Industry" from 18 Canal and Industry by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 2 MB
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Audio Tour 19: The Mill & School
"19 Mill and School" from 19 Mill and School by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 1 MB
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Audio Tour 20: Twitty's Almshouses
"20 Twittys Almshouse" from 20 Twittys Almshouse by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 1 MB
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Audio Tour 21: The Clothing Factory
"21 West St Helen St, Clarkes clothing factory" from 21 West St Helen St, Clarkes clothing factory by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 2 MB
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Audio Tour 22: Paradise Square & Bishopstow Manor
"22 West St Helen St, Paradise Square & Bishopstow Manor" from 22 West St Helen St, Paradise Square & Bishopstow Manor by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 1 MB
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Audio Tour 23: Banbury Court, Civil War & Plasterers' Arms
"23 West St Helen St, Banbury Court, Civil War & Plasterer's Arms" from 23 West St Helen St, Banbury Court, Civil War & Plasterer's Arms by The Heart of Abingdon Heritage Trail.
File size: 1 MB