Alvescot Village 1971

WEST OF WITNEY and Burford are a group of unspoilt Cotswold villages which lie on the borders of West Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, and one of the prettiest is Alvescot.

The little village, with its winding main street, is unique in that practically every house has a view over meadows and trees - pastoral and serene.

Most of the dwellings lie to the east of the road with clusters of grey stone cottags beside the two side roads leading off from the main street. There are also a number of small farmsteads within its area of 2.081 acres.

Alvescot abounds with trees and is a truly picturesque " autumn place " with glorious russet and gold colouring in the fall of the year.

To many an overseas bound serviceman, peeping from a portside window o1 at. airliner climbing away from RAF Brize Norton. the meandering village far below is their last sight of England before it disappears beneath the clouds

The nearest neighbouring village is Black Bourton from which Alvescot is divided only by fields and an old railway line.

Two years ago efforts were made to join the two parishes when it was felt .that the growing Carterton, once just a crossroads on the outskirts of Black Bourton, should go it alone. But the attempt failed because of disagreements over th a boundaries.

Like a number of West Oxfordshire villages, Alvescot is Saxon and has a long history.

Residents are indebted to Major D. R. Mason, of Ladywood, a vice- chairman of the parish council, for delving into its past and producing a short history in booklet form.

Originally, Major Mason's booklet was a lecture given to members of Alvescot and Black Bourton WI but such was the interest shown that he decided to have it published.

Alvescot. Major Mason says, was mentioned in the Domesday Book and he quotes the following translation from the original Latin:

" Saric holds Elfegescote from the King. There are two hides there. Land to two ploughs.

"There are in the demesne two ploughs and two bondmen and four bordars with one plough and a half and three acres of pasture. It was worth twenty shillings and now fifty shillings. Goda held it freely."

The explanation behind the terse statement is that Countess Goda, the original owner of all the land beyond Bampton, was dispossessed by the Norman baron Saric.

The original name of the village was Elfegescote. after a Glastonbury monk who settled in the area.

There is a legend that

King John had a hunting lodge somewhere between the church and mill. In 1229 Amaury de Hilcombe is recorded as Chaplain of Alvescot, which suggests that there was, in fact, a royal establishment in the village.

Alvescot had its own share of death and Pestilence like other towns and villages in the area at that time. and little is known through the dark ages

An archdeacon's report dated 1633 shows that Alvescot was caught up in the religious dissensions of the times - the Rector. Dr William Temple, was ejected. being allowed to take only one-fifth of his possessions.

The first recorded Rector of Alvescot, in 1267, was Robert Odman.

St Peter's Church, of ancient stone, is in Early English and Perpendicular styles. It has a chancel, nave, south porch, transepts, north and south chapels and a low embattled western tower of Perpendicular date containing five bells. the oldest dated 17:J. ; ,

The chancel is modern, the north chapel early English and the south chapel Perpendicular, the north wall of the chancel incorporates portions of stone reredos

and there are two hagos--copes.

The font is Early English.

The east window is a memorial to the Rev. Arthur Neate, the Rector of Alvescot with Shilton from 1829 to 1870. There are others to Miss Charlotte Neate. and Mrs Martha Nalder.

In the south transept is a brass, dated 1579, in memory of Alice Malorve.

The church was completelv restored in 1872. The register dates from 1663, but the date of dedication. of the church is uncertain.

An oak cabinet was in stalled in memory of the men of the parish who fell in the First World War, to whom also a Celtic Cross was erected on the village green.

Parish records were opened in 1661 by the Rev. Walter Powell. Charities include a bequest from Goddard Carter who left £5 in 1725 to apprentice children. lane Bray of Great Barrington left, in 1715, £1 -annually to be laid out each Christmas to buy clothes for the poor of the parish.

Mrs Martha Luckett. who is 86 and the oldest Alvescot-born resident. remembers the stocks by the elm-tree stump where the bus shelter now stands, the blacksmith's shop on the green, and the mild where corn was ground by the water wheel - now a well-preserved private house.

"I remember the villagers used to go gleaning on the cornfields and take their own little bit to be ground." she said.

"But there are very few of the old people left now " Mrs Luckett who lives at Overgreen, The Yard, was born in Vine Cottage.

Another elderly resident. Miss Annie Walker, who is 89, lives in South View Cottage which was once the lock-up prison, and the door - to her back yard is still the old studded prison door with its iron grating.

There have been only a few changes in the village during her lifetime, the biggest being the building of the council houses in Gasson's Way 14 years ago, and the closing of the railway station.

Educationally the village is unique. Alvescot C. of E.

School was founded in 1869 by the Rev. Arthur Neate.

It was the last of his many benefactions to the parish, and Major Mason, who is one of the school managers, still has the ancient conveyance.

Two years ago the school celebrated its centenary.

Originally taking children up to the age of 14, it is now one of two one-teacher infant schools left in the county and has been run by its headmistress. Mrs Bronwyn Reseigh, since 1966.

It was also one of the first to include a preschool class for under fives, as recommended by the Plowden Committee. There are 26 pupils at the school at present.

At the other end of the educational scale, Alvescot College combines British sixth-form education with American junior college education. It is one of the first of its kind in the country.(See Below)

The college buildings include two of the oldest houses in the village, Alvescot Lodge, once a renowned old hunting lodge, and the Old Rectory.

Its president is Mr John Milton Tilley, an Alvescot resident. The students come from all parts of the world.

The parish council was formed in 1894 with the Rev. Walter Neate as chairman. The present council, chaired by Col. A. R. Brooke, has five members.

In spite of its links with history it is a forward-looking village. It has a thriving football club with two teams. There is also a competitive youth club which meets on Friday evenings and has two sections, junior and senior. The Youth leader is Mrs E. R. Morris.

The Alvescot Air Scouts have their own clubhouse and there is also a Brownie pack. There is a Young Wives group and weekly whist drives are held in the Village Hall.

Together young and old have raised money for the village's own car park, Playing field and children's playground, and over £200 has now been raised for the playground equipment.

Witney and West Oxfordshire Gazette Feb 4th 1971

A Diamond Day for Alvescot couple

When Mr Sidney Hambidge and his wife Rose _celebrated their diamond wedding last weekend they

hadd over 30 cards, eight pot plants and flowers to decorate their living room at Ivy Cottage, Lower End, Alvescot.

They were married at Witney Register Office on (anuary 28, 1911, but held their anniversary party on Saturday so that their two sons Ronald and Gerald, their two daughters, Nellie and Babs and their families could be with them. The couple have ten grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Mr Hambidge, who is 83, is no stranger to weddings, for he worked for many years as coachman for Mr John Oakey and: regularly drove a hired brougham for other peoples' weddings.

He served during the First World War with the Royal Engineers. One of his first jobs when he returned to his former employer after the war was retraining army horses to civilian work.

Mr and Mrs Hambidge later ran their own coal business and for five years during the nineteen-forties were joint licensees of The Plough Inn. Alvescot.

At 81, Mrs Hambidge is an active member of the Carterton Friends and Neighbours Club and the Filkins Happy, Circle. She spends a lot of her time crocheting, embroidering and dressing dolls. Both she and Mr Hambidge enjoy looking after their large garden_

[i]Click on any image for a larger version

THE DIRECTOR, John Milton Tilley,
took his bachelors degree in
History and English and spent
three years researching in Modern

Persian History at St. Antony's College, Oxford. Mr. Tilley is also a graduate of the Feagin School of

Drama and Radio, in New York.

THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, Virginia Williams Tilley, is the wife of the Director and mother of their three daughters. She has an Associate in Arts degree and manages the domestic affairs.

THE BURSAR, Colonel A. R. Brooke, is a graduate of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, and has held many administrative appointments during his carreer.

VISITING INSTRUCTRESS, Miss Joan Shenton, is a graduate of St. Anne's College, Oxford, in Modern Languages (Spanish and French). Miss Shenton has appeared in a number of television programmes and has written several articles for women's magazines.

FIRS. ELAINE BARRY, a visiting instructress, is a graduate of St. Anne's College, Oxford, in English.

VISITING LECTURER, Jo Durden-Smith, is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford, where he read Greats. Since graduation, he has helped to direct the Imperial Language School in London, and is currently The London Reporter for Granada Television's news programme, The World Tomorrow.

CURRICULUM. The academic programme consists of an elementary and an advanced course in English each lasting ten weeks starting approximately : -

September 26th, January 9th, April 25th, and July 11th.

The subjects offered are English Language and Literature, English Conversation and English History. Those girls who successfully complete the advanced course may elect to take a special ten week course in literature. This involves intensive reading, essay writing, and discussion of a variety of novels, plays and poems. The programme is designed to prepare the student for the Cambridge Proficiency Certificate.

The daily schedule includes two hours of formal instruction in the morning, one hour in the afternoon, and an hour of supervised study in the evening. Students are taught in small groups or individually as their needs indicate. Short essays are assigned daily and rewritten after having been corrected. The study of the idiom (especially the verb idiom) is emphasized. Works of literature are given to each student to read and are later discussed in detail with the instructor. The history is in the nature of a broad survey of Anglo-Saxon civilization. This includes a certain amount of American History as well. Students are required to spend two hours a day preparing for their classes.

At regular intervals there is a seminar lasting one and a half hours and conducted by a visiting academician. The first part of the session is devoted to a lecture which is followed by an informal discussion between the students and lecturer. General intellectual topics are chosen as well as those pertaining to language. Students participating in the special literature course are sometimes asked to conduct these seminars.

Subjects such as Typing, Shorthand, etc., may be elected by those students who are planning a commercial career.

The Directors would like to point out that heavy emphasis is placed upon conversational English and that all students are required to speak English rather than use their native tongue. In this regard the limited numbers, the variety of countries represented and the English home envir onment make it necessary for the students to speak English throughout the day. The staff takes great care to see that they do so.

Text books are chosen to suit individual needs. Most of the relevant grammars and a wide variety of literature are available in the library which consists of approximately 2000 volumes.

S PORT FACILITIES. The Directors feel that sport is a very important adjunct to the academic programme. To this end they have provided Table Tennis and Paddle Tennis (this latter is a form of Tennis played all the year round and is similar to squash). Clay pigeon shooting is available under close supervision and only with special parental consent. There are three horses at Alvescot Lodge and an excellent riding school in the village. Mrs. Tilley has owned and trained horses most of her life. Hard tennis court facilities exist near by, and Alvescot Lodge has its own private heated swimming pool. Mr. Tilley instructs fencing for those who wish it.

RECREATION. Alvescot Lodge provides a library of over a hundred long-playing records (mostly classical) together with several portable record players which students may use at their leisure. There is a piano in the Drawing Room for Students' use. Oxford; is one of the richest musical centres in England and concerts of every type are performed the year round.

Mr. Tilley coaches dramatics, and students who wish to do so, may produce short films. Alvescot Lodge is conveniently located between Stratford- on-Avon and Oxford, two of the most important centres for theatre in the country. Transportation is provided by the Directors to Stratford- onAvon and Oxford so that each student may attend the theatre, concerts, etc., at least once a week.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Tilley play bridge and chess. Special arrangements may be made for students to have driving lessons.

Great care is taken to invite interesting guests who dine with a different selection of students each night. Not only does this provide practice in conversation, but also a stimulating intellectual atmosphere.

RELIGION & HEALTH. Both Roman Catholic and Protestant churches are located in the immediate vicinity and Alvescot Lodge provides transportation to and from their services.

Students' health is covered by the National Health Service and special arrangements with a local Doctor have been made to ensure prompt and personal care.

ALVESCOT LODGE stands in its own grounds and is built in the Tudor tradition, parts of which date from the 16th Century. The Directors have spent three years restoring and modernising the facilities. Great care has been taken in the decoration and furnishing with the assistance of Charles Howard, London. It is comprised of a Hall, Drawing Room, Study, Library, Kitchens, two Student Sitting Rooms, two Student Pantries. Table Tennis Room, thirteen Bedrooms, four Bathrooms and five toilets.

ALVESCOT LODGE was founded with a view to offering language instruction to foreign students within a family atmosphere and in the country where the language originated; thus allowing her to assimilate more quickly the mechanics of the language as well as acquire a firm understanding of the people who speak it. Moreover, it is felt that this can best be achieved by limiting the number to 10 girls (15 years minimum age) selected from a variety of countries. Such conditions demand that each girl use the language she is trying to learn.

ALVESCOT LODGE, the country home of the Directors, is located about 20 miles west of the University of Oxford on the edge of the Cotswold Hills. Here the advantages of country life such as home-grown food, fresh air and exercise are coupled with the cultural offerings of Oxford and Stratford-on-Avon. But by far the most important feature of Alvescot Lodge is the emphasis placed upon personal treatment and every aspect of the programme is dedicated to that end.

ALVESCOT LODGE - OXFORDSHIRE
Director John Milton Tilley, B.A.
Assistant Director Virginia Williams Tilley, A.A.
Bursar Colonel A. R. Brooke
Board of Advisors

Count Lionello Noya de Lannoy, & nbsp; Madam Talia Saleh Peck,

Via Paisiello 12, ; 21 Burlington Avenue,

Rome, Italy ; Kew Gardens, Surrey.

Loutfi el Sayed Marsot, D.Phil. Oxon, Ernest Hofer, B.Litt. Oxon, Phd.,

American University, &nb sp; University of Massachusetts,

Cairo, U.A.R. Amherst, Massachusetts.

Baroness Annette Armstrong von Lewinski Barnard College,

New York City.