The Charlbury Society
Fostering an understanding of the history of Charlbury and Oxfordshire
Welcome
Market Street, Charlbury in 1946
With thanks to the Charlbury Museum.
Formed in 1949, the Charlbury Society grew out of the first Charlbury Historical Exhibition and offers a programme of talks about local history and the environment, arranges outings and supports the Charlbury Museum.
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Annual Lecture Series 2025-2026
The Society's committee is currently working on the programme for the new season and will release details as soon as possible. The first talk will be held in October. We have a hybrid pattern for our lectures. Those in October, November, March, April and May take place in the Memorial Hall. Talks in December, January and February are held via Zoom. The links will be sent by email to members prior to the evening.
Talks are held at 7.30 pm.
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Last Season's Lectures
3 October 2024
Scandal in Oxfordshire High Society
with Julie Ann Godson.
Tales of the Oxfordshire upper classes, from the Tudor period to the modern age. Hear how they have contrived to behave badly: secret love affairs, blackmail, poisoning, extortion and even murder.
Memorial Hall
9 January 2025
Women of the Anarchy
with Sharon Bennett Connelly who will focus on the women who controlled the politics of 12th century England. She will discuss the relationship between Empress Matilda and her cousin Queen Matilda of Boulogne, who based her campaign in Oxford.
Zoom
3 April 2025
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The Civil War in the Cotswolds
Simon Randall will describe the Civil War in our area, which was of great strategic importance near the King's headquarters in Oxford, as well as being close to Parliamentary strongholds in Gloucester and Bristol.
Memorial Hall
Monday
11 November 2024
Ditchley and Churchill
with Mike Montagu, who will focus on Churchill's use of Ditchley as an alternative retreat to Chequers between late 1940 and autumn 1942. The historical high point of a house with a colourful past and some notable owners and visitors.
Memorial Hall
6 February 2025
Dad's Underground Army
with Bill King. Auxiliary units were part of precautions put in place during WW2, should a German invasion take place. Members of these Resistance Units were bound by the Official Secrets Act and never spoke of it.
Zoom
24 April 2025
Wychwood Forest Trust
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with Neil Clennell, Chief Executive, who will update progress on the Trust's plan for Charlbury, Fawler and Finstock and answer the question, 'How can we support nature recovery locally?'
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With Annual General Meeting
Memorial Hall
5 December 2024
Roman settlements in Oxfordshire
with Paul Booth. There is evidence of several Roman settlements in Oxfordshire and recent findings near Chipping Norton have particularly attracted excitement. It is scheduled as an ancient monument by English Heritage.
Zoom
6 March 2025
Immersed, sprinkled or washed?
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Exploring the history of Charlbury's churches through the prism of baptism with Alison Butler, who will explore how and why very different baptism traditions emerged. In the light of changes, she will ponder the 'fate of the font'.
Memorial Hall
Our Speakers
We were most fortunate to have had an excellent speaker list of historians, writers and researchers, who are all specialists in their fields.
Julie Ann Godson studied modern history at the University of Oxford and has worked in publishing and PR. She is a well-respected and entertaining local historian and gives regular talks on her work. www.julieanngodson.com.
​November's talk about Ditchley and Churchill was given by Mike Montagu. Mike is a retired career soldier, now resident in Charlbury, who was Bursar at Ditchley Park for 9 years before taking on a part-time role there as Host and Historian.
In December, Paul Booth joined us to talk on Roman settlements in Oxfordshire. Paul is a retired senior project manager of Oxford Archaeology and an honorary research associate of the Institute of Archaeology, University of Oxford. His research interests are in a wide range of aspects of Roman Britain, but with particular focus on the Roman archaeology of the local region.
​Sharon Bennett Connolly, is an author and historian. She has published four non-fiction books including, Women of the Anarchy (2024), ‘The story of the Anarchy from the unique perspective of the two women at the centre of the struggle for the crown’, on which her talk was based.
This was followed in February by a talk by Bill King. He is a retired management consultant who has developed a keen interest in Britain's history and has particularly researched the organisation and training of underground resistance WW2 fighters.
The March talk was given by historian, Alison Butler, who is a Methodist Heritage Consultant and Community Coordinator and Council Member of Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust.
Simon Randall joined us in April. He is a former solicitor, and has a particular interest in the English Civil War in the Cotswolds, which arose following a significant find in a Lincoln’s Inn rubbish skip.
The year ended with the Chief Executive of the Wychwood Forest Trust, Neil Clennell, who updated us on the Trust's progress.
Membership
Membership of the Society is open to all at £10 per person and runs from October to May.
Guests to individual talks are also welcome for £3.00 fee.
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Please contact mem.charlsoc@gmail.com
Charlbury Society Outings
August 2024, Bloxham. The National Lottery-funded Heritage Group of the ‘Building our Future’ project at St Mary's Church Bloxham has recently established a team of guides to provide tours, bringing to life its history, art and architecture. ​We enjoyed a fascinating afternoon being guided around the church and churchyard - followed by tea and cake.
It is a church that many of us pass regularly, but could not have imagined the treasures it contains.
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October 2023, Oxford. Last year we organised and subsidised an Oxford guided walk for our members with a specialist who shared the places where J.R.R.Tolkien and C.S. Lewis lived and worked. It was an enthralling and fact-filled tour and we plan to arrange similar walks in the future.
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The 2023-2024 programme met the Society's aim to provide a mixture of
talks on social and local history topics
and presentations on sustainability and environmental issues.
October 2023
Ian Wilkinson: The story of FarmEd
November 2023
Tim Healey: Drovers Roads in Oxfordshire and beyond
December 2023
Liz Woolley: Felicia Skene, Oxford prison reformer
January 2024
Sean Callery: The story of the A40
February 2024
Dr Lidia Arciszewska: Recycling in West Oxfordshire
March 2024
Melanie King: Adventures in chocolate
April 2024
Robin Lane Fox: A history of Oxford gardens
May 2024
Carol Anderson: Gloving in Oxfordshire
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Charlbury Town Trail
The Charlbury Society Committee
The Chair position is currently vacant. The management of the Society is temporarily in the hands of the Committee collectively.
Chair
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Jean Gilmour
Mike Flanagan
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The Charlbury Society values the connection to the Charlbury Museum which it has had for over seventy years. www.charlburymuseum.org.uk
