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Aldridge, Caudwell, Corderoy, Grace, Street; some family names of Blewbury past
which live on in Blewbury today. Justus Corderoy and Zephaniah Grace, were just
two stalwart members of the centuries-old farming community that lived in a
cluster of dwellings dependent on the line of springs at the foot of the
Berkshire Downs.
Agriculture and its ancillary industries supported the inhabitants of Blewbury
well into the 20th century. Not only the farmers, but also the wheelwright,
blacksmith, maltster, miller, harness maker and of course the farmworkers, who
were an integral part of the community. Their tiny cottages roofed with thatch
and built of wattle and daub bear witness to their labours. Scattered throughout
the village were more substantial farmhouses with their huge barns and pretty
orchards. In June, during the Blewbury Festival, some of these houses are open
to the public.
The village is intersected by streams and footpaths with lovely wide open spaces
at its centre. Thatched cob walls still mark the boundaries of the old
farmyards. The cavity of one of these walls is said to be infilled with cattle
horns from the village tannery and probably they hide more than one lost
treasure. A small gate in the cob wall of Boham’s farm, its latch dated 1823,
was said to enable the farmer, William Boham, to slip out to the Red Lion
unobserved.
For more than a century Blewbury has attracted artists and writers, who found
the peace and tranquillity of the downs adequate compensation for cold, damp
cottages. Marguerite Steen and William Nicholson endured rats and Tudor drains.
A. A. Milne declined to rent Boham’s, the home of Kenneth Grahame and his wife
Elspeth; perhaps the complaint of a former tenant that the larder was
mouse-infested deterred him! G. B. Stern lived and wrote in a brick-floored
cottage on the edge of the Millbrook. Susan Beatrice Pearce, much loved for her
‘Ameliaranne’ books, lived to reach her 100th birthday in her tiny ‘teacosy’
cottage. The village still keeps up an enthusiasm for the arts and painting. The
Borlase Gallery has regular exhibitions and every August a group of intrepid
amateurs sets off with brushes and paints for Venice.
The coming of ‘The Atomic’ at Harwell changed Blewbury dramatically. It
provided employment for villagers and brought in newcomers. New thatch now
crowns pristine white cottages and the apple orchards have given way to small
housing developments. Community life still centres round the four village pubs
and here plans are made for the annual Shakespearean productions which are
performed in Blewbury’s open-air amphitheatre at Orchard Dene, or for the
commissioning of the triennial community opera, or for the summer festival.
The changing structure of society brought new needs, in particular homes for the
elderly. One of the very first co-ownership societies providing homes for the
over fifty fives was formed here at Dibleys where an estate of well-designed
bungalows was built. The accommodation is now leasehold under the management of
Dibleys Heritage Ltd.
At one time strings of race horses were a common sight in the village but they
have moved onto the downs nearer the gallops. Riders these days are from the
busy local riding school, whose comings and goings were viewed from next door by
Dick Francis as he wrote his racing thrillers. The former stables of Steve
Donoghue have been converted to house a private printing press, The Rocket
Press. Stables, barns and outhouses of more than one old farm are now leased to
small business enterprises. Where Cavaliers and Roundheads once took shelter and
shire horses stamped their feet the only sound is the whirring of computers.
The village today is different but very much alive. The houses are warm, well
lit, clean, hygienic and comfortable. If one wants the nostalgia of the past it
is here but without the poverty and hardship that once existed. A terraced
prehistoric settlement looks down on the village from Blewburton Hill but from
its summit only the tower of the church can be glimpsed, half hidden by trees.
The charity school and the almshouses beside the church present a view little
changed with time. To see Blewbury you must leave the main road and explore its
maze of footpaths.
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