NEWSLETTER 1st AUGUST 2017
Evening visit to Moreton-in-Marsh Friday 21st July
A hardy two dozen Kineton Group members gathered under a spreading tree in the rain as the Friday evening holiday traffic roared and swished past. An unlikely but colourful mascot appeared unimpressed by the weather. Tim Porter, President of Moreton-in-Marsh Local History Society was our guide, supported by Vice-president Margaret Shepard. His introductory remarks explained how the town had several centres, originally focussed on the church, then the market, then in the 19th century the station. He took us on an extremely informative and surprising (to me anyway) tour, to show us the way these changes could still be traced in the fabric of the town.
Tim Porter (on right), introducing the group to the town.
We went backwards in time; after passing a grand ex-Post Office building, we started with the station at the north end of the town, which in 1853 replaced a 1826 horse-drawn tramway connecting Moreton to Stratford and Shipston. We huddled amidst the passengers disembarking from the London train, then sheltered under the attractive canopy while Tim explained its history.
The line of the tramway was still visible in the skewed alignment of the adjacent houses. Tim waxed lyrical about the original features of the station buildings, remodelled in the 1870s, noting especially the polychrome brick and stone detailing around the gents toilets, and the cast iron brackets of the canopy, while regretting the loss of the chimneys. He drew our attention to the finials and decorations on the small but perfectly formed signal box at the end of the platform.
Has it stopped?
We moved on through the back lane and puddles behind the market buildings, noting the Redesdale Hall market hall and the Mann Institute working men’s club, both the result of generous patronage, the former by Lord Redesdale and the latter from Miss Edith Mann in memory of her father.
Tim pointed out that neither was in the Cotswold architectural tradition, and these, with other important buildings, give a distinctive character to the town. The 17th century Curfew Tower was covered in scaffolding.
Nineteenth century dwelling, with the group under umbrellas and the medieval corbel sheltering under the eaves
We then walked back along that very High Street, peering into the windows of the very comfortable-looking Manor House Hotel, tracing the route the Roman armies took on the Fosse Way almost 2,000 years ago. At the W.I. Hall umbrellas were left in the lobby, and while the very welcome W.I. tea and cakes provided by Pam Clarke were consumed, Margaret Shepard enlarged on the situation of Moreton, located at the boundaries of 4 counties and at the national watershed.
Despite the challenging weather conditions during the walk we all agreed that we had had an excellent introduction to a neighbouring town sharing many qualities with Kineton, not least a thriving history group.
Tysoe Archaeological Day on 23rd July. Kevin Wyles organised a display in the Tysoe Old School Rooms of his finds made over many years in Tysoe fields. He displayed copious quantities of mainly Roman pottery, tiles and other fieldwalking material and his many metal detector finds, recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. The finds were backed up with geophysical surveys carried out by local professional archaeologists David Sabin and Richard Grove.
Forthcoming K&DLHG events.
Thursday August 17th evening visit to Shipston-on-Stour guided by Mike Ashley. Meet 6.30 at the Telegraph Street car park, Shipston, followed by tea/coffee and cakes provided by Shipston U3A. Note the evening is on a Thursday.
Friday September 15th sees our first evening talk after the summer outings: “ Rebuilding Kineton Railway Station” by Mark Reader
Other Local Events:
Friday 13th October: Warmington Heritage Group is hosting a Dinner at Primrose Hill Barn in Arlescote to raise funds for the post-excavation work planned for the Herb Centre Excavations. The speaker will be Professor Carenza Lewis, late of Time Team, but more recently the leader of a community scheme in East Anglia to unravel the early histories of village communities. Her topic at the dinner is “Archaeology and the Black Death: finding global history in your back garden” – a suitable theme for Friday the thirteenth! Tickets at £40.00 can be ordered from Sue Baxter on 01295 691011 or email baxtersue@btconnect.com
Chedham’s Yard has a series of summer events the last of which has a historical focus:
Sat September 9th Heritage Open Day
All open 10.00am to 4.00pm
Hornton History Group
Sat 26th – Mon 28th August (Bank Holiday Weekend) 12.00 – 500pm: “Step back in Time: The Way We Were.” The Hornton History Group are presenting an exhibition, a guided village trail, live demonstrations of country crafts, an “oldie worldie cinema”, and a wealth of objects and documents from Hornton’s past.
Committee Members: a reminder that the next committee meeting is Monday 4th September
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