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The village, north-west of Oxford, was known as Ulfgarcote in Domesday after
Ulfgar, the Saxon. The name Wolvercote came into being in 1185.
Situated on the edge of the wide expanse of its common and the open stretches of
Port Meadow, the inhabitants have always jealously guarded their rights and
stoutly defended their environment against the repeated efforts of Oxford City
to enclose the land in order to meet the needs of its growing population. Even
to this day the goose is their special emblem and the Womens Institute banner,
permanently displayed in the village hall, shows a goose girl on the common.
Some of todays older residents, when children, herded the geese back and forth
across the common to the rivers edge. Grazing rights continue to this day and
at least once a year the Sheriff of Oxford rounds up the horses and cattle on
Port Meadow and Wolvercote Common and impounds them. Those owners who have no
right to pasture their animals there must pay a heavy fine before they can be
released from the pound.
Wolvercotes location near to the city of Oxford also accounts for its place in
national history. Elizabeth I came through the village on both her visits to the
city, in 1566 and 1592, travelling from the north on her way back to London. On
the second occasion, a September day of heavy rain, the Queen, in her carriage,
accompanied by courtiers in fine clothes, arrived at Godstow bridge, near the
boundary of Wolvercote. Here she was met by the Vice-Chancellor, the heads of
all the colleges and proctors, dressed in their best academic gowns, all on foot
and accompanied by the beadles.
At the time of the Civil War, Charles I established his headquarters and
Parliament in Oxford and during the siege required fodder for his horses. He
made a written agreement (which is still in existence) with the tenants of land
at Wolvercote and 61 freemen to provide hay for the Kings stables. One of
Wolvercotes two mills was used by the Kings armourers to grind sword-blades.
In the spring of 1644, when King Charles made his escape from Oxford by night,
he and his 3,000 men took the unguarded track across Port Meadow and through
lower Wolvercote to Yarnton and Bladon to the north. Wolvercote people showed
their loyalty by keeping this move secret and the King was able to leave in
safety.
The Walter family, whose tomb is in the parish church of St Peter, gave strong
support to the King. Sir John Walter, Chief Baron of the Exchequer and Justice
of England, was one of Wolvercotes foremost citizens and David Walter, his son,
was Lieutenant of the Ordnance. Davids loyalty to King Charles was so
unstinting that he burned down his own house at nearby Godstow in an attempt to
prevent it falling into the hands of Cromwell and his men.
Dominant over the village is the paper mill. There has been one there for three
centuries and until recently it was owned by the University Press, its quality
paper being used for bibles. At church harvest festivals, rolls of paper or
paper sculpture are displayed in addition to fruit and vegetables. The river,
necessary for the mill to function, has also played an important part in the
life of Wolvercote. Its bathing place, near an old toll bridge, is one of the
most beautifully-sited in England; to the south, across the meadow, one sees the
magnificent skyline of Oxford with its ancient towers and spires.
On a summer afternoon in 1862, Charles Dodgson (otherwise known as Lewis
Carroll) together with his friend Duckworth, Alice Liddell and her sisters, came
by in a rowing boat with a picnic basket on board. It was then that Dodgson
began to tell the children a story. That was the start of Alice in Wonderland.
Wolvercote, described in 1817 as a rather extensive village, was never a place
of wealth, most of its inhabitants living in simple hovels or earth-floored
cottages, none of which survive. Nevertheless, a few finer houses of earlier
centuries remain, much restored, and the village is now a conservation area. In
the 19th and 20th centuries came extensive development and all of Wolvercote
became part of Oxford City in 1928. The original, low-lying village, which was
subject to winter flooding, grew up round the mill at the edge of the common. It
is now separated from the church and school (which are situated on higher ground
in Upper Wolvercote) by the canal and main railway line. The built-up higher
area has no visible boundary between it and neighbouring Summertown in the
north of Oxford and its large population has as its main focus the city rather
than the village.
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