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The Local History Group 

The Local History Group provides a forum and meeting point for members with a particular interest in the local history of Abingdon and its region. 

There are three meetings during the year, starting in February, with subsequent meetings in May, and October. At each meeting, one or two members give short presentations on their current research, which are discussed. Tea and coffee are provided, and there is usually ample opportunity for socialising and informal talk on historical subjects. 

There are also sub-groups which form from time to time for specific purposes. One that is currently active is the Abingdon Buildings and People group, which manages the Abingdon historical website, http://www.abingdon.gov.uk/partners/history. 

Meetings are on Tuesday evenings, 7.45 pm, in the Pendarvis room at 35 Ock Street OX14 5AG. 

We welcome anyone with a question about Abingdon local history as we usually have a knowledgeable audience who can answer them. There is also the opportunity to share anything you have done about Abingdon or the surrounding area with those present.

Please let me know so that I can make sure we allocate you some time.

 All AAAHS Members and guests are welcome. 

Picture © M Brod 2013 

Outings Reports

The 1940 'Red-Stop Line'. By John Rawling

The County Museum store. By Bob Woodings

 Abingdon School ( 4 July 2017). By Paul Smith

The Archaeology of North Abingdon. By Andrew Steele

Northcourt. By Genefer Clark

Victorian Abingdon. By Stuart Hughes

Appleton. By Michael Bloom

The Dorchester Dig. By Andrew Steele

The Dorchester excavations. By John Rawling

Egrove and Kennington. By Jill Lewis

The Thames, Kennington to Sandford. By Jenny Devanney

Longworth. By Mary Storrs

The excavations at Marcham/Frilford. By Jenny Devanney

The excavation at Marcham/Frilford. By Miriam James

Marlow. By Bryan Cozens

Ashmolean tour. By Michael Bloom

The Bate Collection. By Anne Smithson

Walking tour of Oxford. By Bob Woodings

Oxford's Jewish Quarter. By Carol Hughes

A visit to Brasenose College. By Penny de Bernhardt Cookson

Christ Church, Oxford. By Roger Gelder

Oriel College. By Andrew Steele

 Somerville College, Oxford (21 June 2017). By Wendy Robbins

Unseen Oxford. By John Rawling

Radley College. By Stuart Hughes

Exploring Lower Radley. By John Foreman

The Bayeux Tapestry copy at Reading. By Suzette Woodhead

Steventon. By John Rawling

 Sunningwell Village (22 May 2017). By Andrew Steele

Wilts and Berks canal. By Sybille Rushbridge

  Outings 

Please join us for our Spring/Summer 2019 outings.

Monday 29th April 7.00pm                                     Abingdon Beneath Your Feet 

A large number of excavations have been carried out in the centre of Abingdon over the years, leading to our 'oldest town' claim, but there is nothing left to see of them today. Roger Thomas will take us round the town centre, pointing out some of the main sites and describing what was found in them.

Meet under the County Hall

Tuesday 7th May 7.00pm                                            HR Wallingford

Led by Andrew Steele, this is an opportunity to see some of the world's leading experimental facilities in the field of hydrological research including large 'wave basins' in which scale models of proposed projects such as harbours and sea defences are constructed and tested.

Meet at the car park outside the Froude Modelling Hall at Howbery Park, Benson Lane, Wallingford OX10 8BA

Tuesday 18th June 7.00pm                                            Wolfson College, Oxford

Wolfson College was founded in 1966 and the present buildings designed by internationally renowned architects Powell & Moya, date from 1974 with an award winning new auditorium and accommodation added recently.

Meet at Reception: Wolfson College, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UD.

There is a good bus service from Oxford to the Banbury Road or there is usually parking in nearby roads.

 If you would like to join us please fill in the form to arrive by 22nd April 2019. Numbers may be limited on some outings. Please make cheques payable to AAAHS.

For Bookings or Queries contact the Outings Organiser.

Abingdon Archaeology @ 50 

HERITAGE LOTTERY FUND GRANT FOR ABINGDON ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT

Abingdon claims to be England’s oldest continuously inhabited town. This claim is based on archaeology, but very little information about this is available to the public. Many Abingdon people live on housing estates where nationally important excavations have taken place, but are completely unaware of this.

Since 1968, the Abingdon Area Archaeological & Historical Society (AAAHS) has carried out over a hundred different archaeological projects in and around Abingdon. Some have produced very important results. However, much has not been published, and the records and finds are of this work are scattered (and, in some cases, at risk of loss). Information about Abingdon’s rich and important archaeology is not easily accessible to residents or visitors.

The Society has been very fortunate, therefore, in its 50^thanniversary year, to be awarded a grant of £24,200 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to put the archives of our past archaeological projects in order and to make information about the archaeology of Abingdon more accessible.

The project is being carried out in partnership with Oxford Archaeology and Oxfordshire County Council’s Archaeology Service. The aims of the project are:

(1)        to create a comprehensive list and archive for all the archaeological projects which the Society has carried out. This will include adding an entry for each project to the Oxfordshire County Historic Environment Record (HER), so that all the results of the Society’s work are public accessible (and also available to influence future planning decisions).

(2)        to create an interactive online map of the archaeology of Abingdon, to enable people to discover what has been found (including on their own housing estates).

(3)        to publish a short and accessible book on to the archaeology of Abingdon.

(4)        to promote the archaeology of Abingdon to the public through a variety of events. We have already mounted an exhibition in Abingdon Museum (July-September 2018), a day of talks (30 June 2018) and a weekend of archaeological activities for children at the Museum (July 2018). Further events will take place over the life of the project.

The project will be done mainly by volunteers (with some professional advice, support and training from staff in Oxford Archaeology). If you would like to volunteer on the project, and get some hands-on experience of dealing with archaeological finds and archives from a wide range of sites, please contact Roger Thomas.

If you have any queries about the project, please contact us via 50@aaahs.org.uk. We will post periodic updates about the project here as work progresses.

Digging Abingdon's Past

 Abingdon claims to be the oldest continuously-inhabited town in England, with defences that date back to the Iron Age. The AAAHS has carried out numerous excavations in and around Abingdon, and members participate in digs elsewhere.

The main focus of current interest is a small cemetery with at least twenty burials found in the garden of a house in North Abingdon, far from any church or chapel or from the approach roads to the town. Radio-carbon dating suggests that the bones are of the 16th or 17th centuries, a time when burials outside a churchyard are uncommon. They may be the results of an epidemic, or of an otherwise unrecorded Civil War skirmish. Archive research is ongoing.

For further information, or if you want to become involved, please contact diggers@aaahs.org.uk.