The first time I came into Witney, the first thing I noticed was the massive church -serene at one end of a long village green - almost cathedral sized, and a total surprise in such a little town.
There was obviously once a lot of wealth here, and from very early days: the current St Mary's Church building (above) was started in 1243, itself replacing stone and timber buildings that had stood for several hundred years. Witney's history stretches back even further: Oxfordshire's rolling hills were home to Bronze Age and Roman settlements (including the massive Roman villa at North Leigh), and Witney itself, named after ruling council of Saxon lords - the Witan, is named in documents from 969AD.By 1044, land in the town was granted to the Bishops of Winchester by Queen Emma (wife of two kings - Ethelred the Unready and king Cnut, mother of tow others - Harthacnut and Edward the confessor - as well as great aunt to William the Conqueror), the grant confirmed in William's Domesday book in the 11th century.
The town's wealth came from milling: first corn (the town boasted at least 3 mills by 1220 AD) and later wool - especially after the Black Death in 1348 wiped out 60% of the population, leaving too few people to work the fields for crops, and opening the door to the less labour intensive, more profitable industry of sheep farming.
At least two schools in the town date to the 1600s, another sign of local affluence, and the centre boasted 5 blanket mills in the 1800s.
Today, the Early family mill still makes blankets under Royal Charter, but the town is more known for its market trading past: shops cluster around the old Corn Exchange, the Wool Market and the Buttercross (below - itself an ancient shrine that, by 1660 was given a roof and transformed into the marketplace for perishables - such as cream and butter. The dozen or so old-world coaching Inns bear testament to the influx of transient folk on market days gone by, and folk travelling the road between Gloucester and London.
Can you tell? The more I get to know this place, the more I love its charm - and the easier it is to ignore the chavvy drunks that bawl abuse at folk in the centre on a Saturday night.I'm not sure quite which is more impressive: the centuries of stories in the stones that make up our little township, or the realisation that Witney is just one of hundreds, maybe thousands, dotted around rural England, each with an ages long history...
References:
http://witneyblanketstory.org.uk/
http://www.witney.net/history.htm
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/M/monarchy/biogs/emma.html
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