Victorian County History

MORE than 80 residents and historians came together at Shiplake College to mark the launch of the latest encyclopaedic volume of the Victorian County History of Oxfordshire.

This forms part of a national project to create an encyclopaedia of each of the historic counties of England.

The latest volume covers the South Oxfordshire Chilterns and is number 20 out of 23 encyclopaedia that document the history of the county pre-1974.

Mark McCree, Oxfordshire County Council’s service manager for libraries and heritage, said: “This edition focuses on the 12 ancient parishes of the South Oxfordshire Chilterns, which cover an area of more than 30,000 acres, all straddling the Chiltern Hills and contained within a southward loop of the River Thames. This area has seen tremendous change throughout its history, so this volume is both a valuable resource and an interesting read.”

The economy of the South Oxfordshire Chilterns was predominantly agricultural until the 20th century. Woodland and woodland crafts played a significant role alongside local industry, including small-scale brickmaking and quarrying and the usual rural trades.

Gentrification gained momentum from the mid-19th century, accelerated by the arrival of the railway in 1840, particularly affecting riverside villages, which saw extensive new buildings by wealthy incomers.

The volume covers Caversham, Cane End, Kidmore End, Emmer Green, Checkendon, Little Stoke, Wyfold, Crowmarsh Gifford, Eye and Dunsden, Sonning Common, Goring, Goring Heath and Gatehampton, Ipsden, Stoke Row, Mapledurham, Mongewell, Newnham Murren, North Stoke; Shiplake, Binfield Heath, Whitchurch and Whitchurch Hill.