> Marshalls Home
The first thing that comes to most peoples minds when Littlemore is mentioned
is Littlemore Hospital. There has been a mental hospital at Littlemore for over
a century. It was founded in 1846 as the Pauper Lunatic Asylum, but
it became a well known and highly respected psychiatric hospital.
If the hospital should spring to mind, so also does Cardinal Newman, for he was
vicar of Littlemore for 18 years. In 1828, when he first walked the three miles
from Oxford, Littlemore was a hamlet, with only one Street but plenty of
scattered cottages, mainly occupied by farm workers. There was no church.
Newmans fight for a church at Littlemore took seven years, but in 1835 the
foundation stone was laid by Newmans mother.
Another vicar, Dr Bloxham, got the first school started, but a Baptist chapel
had been built in 1807 and there was a flourishing Sunday school run by the
Baptist movement.
Cardinal Newman was a good and sincere man and people flocked to hear his
sermons. He wrote the beautiful hymns Praise to the Holiest and Lead, Kindly
Light and he made the rather bleak hamlet green by arranging for trees to be
planted. He loved Littlemore and inadvertently made it famous, for he turned
away from the Church of England and joined the Roman faith. In 1848 he became a
Catholic priest and served in Birmingham until he died in 1890. He was made a
Cardinal and Catholics from all over the world come to Newman Hall in Littlemore
to pay their respects.
Littlemore appears to have been based on religion, for there was a priory here
as early as 1120. It was called The Minchery (meaning nuns) and even today
part of Littlemore is called Minchery Farm.
The priory was not large. There appear to have been about six nuns and the
prioress. By the 16th century the building was very dilapidated and the nuns
afraid to sleep there. There was little space and they were sleeping two to a
bed. The priory began to have a bad reputation. The young nuns were becoming
rebellious, particularly one Anne Marcham, who refused to take her final vows
and complained of poverty.
In 1517 the prioress, Elizabeth Welles, was taken for trial. She was accused of
letting the building go to ruin, ill-treating the young nuns and stealing goods
from the priory. She was also accused of having a lover and a baby. The baby
died, but Elizabeth said that she loved the man and was making a home for him.
To join him she walked to Oxford, accompanied by a seven year old boy, the son
of another nun.
The prioress was deposed and the nunnery dissolved in 1523. It fell into ruins
but was later restored and is now Minchery Farm Country Club.
There are reputed to be two ghosts at Littlemore. One is a monk, which is quite
understandable with Littlemores past history. The other is of an old, very
disabled man, who used to live in the village. He rides a tricycle and, because
of his facial deformities is unable to speak clearly, but he is said to have a
deep chuckle as if something in life is amusing him deeply.
In 1873 there was cholera in Oxfordshire and it was felt that something should
be done urgently, so a sewage plant was constructed on the outskirts of
Littlemore. It was open-land treatment and crude sewage was systematically
poured out on to the fields. When the fields were resting normal farmwork was
carried out. The vegetables, it is reported, were terrific, especially the
Brussels sprouts, but the smell was terrible, particularly in the evening when
the valves were opened. The mosquitos and flies, too, were numerous. For some
reason, the smell was stronger on frosty mornings.
However, with this sewage farm, Littlemore became noted for its bird population;
lapwing, snipe, corncrake and wild duck crowded the fields. Even today, there
are many birds at Littlemore, including the reed bunting, and seagulls during
the winter months. A new sewage system was installed in 1920 and the bird
population dropped, as also did the smell, although even today on a warm evening
the pleasure of sitting in the garden is sometimes spoilt by the odour!
Click here
for a quote and to instruct your survey online
> Marshalls Home