Henley Probus Club

THE October meeting of Henley Probus Club was held at Badgemore Park.

This was just the second meeting since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and all members were clearly pleased to be getting together again.

Care was taken to ensure that the meeting arrangements were fully compliant with the recently announced covid regulations.

The chairman opened the meeting by welcoming members and visitors and then announced that the arrangements for Christmas lunch for members plus partners had been finalised for Badgemore Park on Tuesday, December 14.

There followed a financial overview by the treasurer covering the last six months.

Stephen Quant was then introduced as the guest speaker.

He was making a return visit and on this occasion was speaking, with the aid of slides, about the Domesday Book with the focus on Oxfordshire and its constituent areas.

The Domesday Book is a manuscript record of the survey conducted in 1086 of much of England and parts of Wales commissioned
by William I (William the Conqueror).

The presentation was incredibly detailed and thoroughly researched with a focus on the period 1086- early 1200s, covering the Danish incursion in 1069, the numerous uprisings and resistance movements 1067-1075 and the gradual replacement of the corrupt aristocracy and bishops and the arrival of the feudal system.

The Domesday Book refers to the structure of Oxfordshire headed by a tenant-in-chief.

Henley came into existence in the 1170s and the bridge is first mentioned in 1204. It became a borough in 1568 and was located in the (medieval) Hundred of Binfield, which also contained Badgemore, Bix, Bolney, Lashbrook, Caversham, Rotherfield Greys and Rotherfield Peppard.

The talk was followed by a number of questions, a vote of thanks and great applause from the audience.

Henley Probus Club meets at Badgemore Park on the second Tuesday of each month. Meetings start with an informal gathering of members (plus visitors) for a discussion and coffee, with the formal meeting commencing at 11.30am followed by lunch.

If anyone is interested in joining the club, please call our membership secretary Roger Griffiths on (01491) 575137 or speak to any club member that you may know.

Roger Roberts