Much enjoyed taking part in Chipping Norton's excellent heritage day today, with 2 morning VCH talks (each given twice to a packed and enthusiastic room!): the market place from the town's medieval origins, and the Bliss tweed mill and the infamous 1913-14 strike. More in VCH Oxon XXI !!

This coming weekend is Oxford's big Open Doors weekend 🎉 On Saturday (12th) from 11am-3pm come along to the Museum of Oxford to view some of the thousands of building plans of Oxford dating from the 1880s-1930s. Your house may even be one of them... Be there or be square (like a building plan).

Page proofs!! Our forthcoming Vol.22 on W Oxon places from Chastleton to Enstone, due out next spring - medieval settlement to Team Enstone Formula One, via C18 landscaped parks, Roman Catholic recusancy, and much more. (Now just the minor task of proofreading and indexing 400 pages... 🙄)

See below for news of our *first online drafts* for VCH Oxon XXIII, which will look at the W Oxon mkt town of Burford and half a dozen surrounding rural parishes. First up is Swinbrook, lying N of river Windrush on the fringes of Wychwood Forest. (Meanwhile page proofs of Vol XXII expected v soon!)

Victoria County History@vch-home.bsky.social · last mo.

Hot(ish) on the heels of @vch-oxon.bsky.social's 22nd volume going to press, the first drafts of volume 23, which will complete coverage of the county, Burford and Area have been added to our website. As ever, all corrections, extra information, or comments gratefully received. #Skystorians

This year is the 200th anniversary of the Warneford Hospital, a mental health hospital in Oxford This new online exhibition about it's history, compiled by Oxfordshire Health Archives showcases some of their fascinating records held here at the History Centre sway.cloud.microsoft/EhoSAEX9Jd56...

A celebration of 200 years of mental health provision at the Warneford Hospital in Oxfordshire

The Warneford Hospital has been providing mental health care to the people of Oxfordshire (and beyond) for 200 years 1826 - 2026, and is still in operation today

sway.cloud.microsoft

Are you studying, researching or teaching a history topic and not sure where to start? Try a search using the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) buff.ly/yD11954 @brepols.net

Using BBIH online: a help pack for students and lecturers

For the academic year, we've a help pack offering guides to BBIH in undergraduate and graduate teaching and research. With embeddable content for VLEs.

buff.ly

A big thanks to the wonderful earthtrust.org.uk for so nobly arranging #eclipse parking around Wittenham Clumps - spectacular enough anyway, and seeing it all from next to a spectacular iron-age hillfort and nature reserve seemed oddly appropriate! (Plus it is the only hill for miles around..! 😂)

For international #cat day 2026, here's a shot of our occasional research assistant. The two of us are expecting page proofs of the next VCH Oxon volume (on the Chadlington/Enstone area of West Oxon) within a few weeks, so watch this space for (less frivolous!) updates 🐈‍⬛️

For more on this see VCH Oxon. XX (2021) (not yet online but available in libraries and @oxhistcentre.bsky.social) - at 368 ft deep it took 7-15 mins to wind up a full bucket. Water supply on the Chiltern chalk uplands was a chronic problem, with many early settlements focused on clay-lined ponds.

Oxfordshire History Centre@oxhistcentre.bsky.social · 4mo ago

On this day in 1864, the Maharajah’s Well at Stoke Row was officially opened The well was a gift paid for by an Indian prince, the Maharajah of Benares, after he was moved by a story about a drought in Ipsden The well, with its gilded elephant, took a year to build and was in use for over 70 years

Hear hear! Without @oxhistcentre.bsky.social we couldn't do what we do, and it's been a pleasure to work with Mark Priddey in our various changing roles over those 38 years (having both started in 1987!) Have a long and fantastic retirement Mark, and look in from time to time!

Oxfordshire History Centre@oxhistcentre.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Yesterday we said goodbye to our Service Manager, Mark Priddey who has retired after 38 years at OHC. He joined as an Archivist in 1987 and his contribution to the service has been invaluable. His kindness, knowledge and expertise will be greatly missed Mark, we wish you a long and happy retirement

An intriguing quarter sessions case from our colleagues @oxhistcentre.bsky.social! For wig-making possibly?? Any suggestions out there?

Oxfordshire History Centre@oxhistcentre.bsky.social · 4mo ago

One of the more unusual crimes found in our Quarter Sessions collections... ‘Stealing Hair'... Human hair? Horse Hair? So many questions.

Join us as we host church stonemason Andrew Ziminski, for our VCH Lecture on 14 May at 6pm. 'Church Going - Hidden Missives from within God's Acre' will show how church fabric, particularly from before the Reformation, offers a key to the past that unlocks understandings of our shared history.🗃️

Church Going - Hidden Missives from within God's Acre

Victoria County History Lecture 2026

history.ac.uk

VCH Oxon XIX on the Wychwood Forest area (published 2019) is now available in digital form at www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol19 (thanks to @bho.bsky.social) - covering the forest itself and surrounding settlements. (Print version still available from boydellandbrewer.com + public libraries!)

We all know that a lot goes on in archives behind the scenes - but this is particularly wonderful! 😅

Oxfordshire History Centre@oxhistcentre.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The clocks go forward this Sunday. One of the more unusual tasks for one of our archivists is adjusting the two on our tower. It involves climbing several flights of stairs and a ladder - fortunately, the others in our building require much less effort!

Only 5 more days to have your say on the proposals for local govt reorganization in Oxfordshire. Not for us to push a particular view, tho we do deal with the historic county and use county-wide archive, archaeology, and heritage services... (Just saying! 😜) www.gov.uk/government/c...

Proposals for local government reorganisation in Oxfordshire

gov.uk

A reminder that this vacancy is closing on Monday. Please forward to anyone who might be interested!

Oxfordshire History Centre@oxhistcentre.bsky.social · 7mo ago

We are hiring! 🎉 We are seeking to appoint to our History Service Manager role on a permanent basis following an upcoming retirement. For further details, please see the following link: careers.oxfordshire.gov.uk/jobs/job/His... Closing date: Monday 23rd March Interview date: Friday 1st May

Our 2026 stocktake is already a week in. Wonder what we're up to? So far we’ve had a box delivery, taken over the search room with various projects, completed Incident Plan and Collections Handling refresher training, tidied the strongrooms, re-boxed Estate collections and had many meetings! Phew!

Much enjoyed speaking about VCH Oxon's coverage of small towns and urban buildings at this weekend's Vernacular Architecture Group winter conference - part of a stimulating and wide-ranging programme, amidst some august company!

Many thanks to the 70-plus VCH supporters who came along to our annual VCH Oxon Xmas lecture and reception this week - and not _solely_ for the mulled wine and mince pies afterwards, we trust! (Though I'm sure that helped).

Happy birthday @oxhistcentre.bsky.social 🎂 - where would we all be without you?! @vch-oxon.bsky.social hasn't been around _quite_as long as you (not counting one single vol in 1907) - but we've been constant users since well before your 1985 Golden Jubilee, and continue to be so! 😊

Oxfordshire History Centre@oxhistcentre.bsky.social · 10mo ago

This year it’s our 90th birthday 🎂 and to celebrate we have recreated the exhibition put together for our Golden Jubilee in 1985, but this time it's online! Filled with collection highlights plus additions that reflect our last 40 years #EYAAnniversaries www.oxfordshirehistory.org.uk/public/exhib...

The first theme in this year’s Explore Your Archive campaign is #EYAConservation. Conservators are vital in helping to look after collections, including preserving and repairing material so that it remains accessible. And we’re delighted to have welcomed a new Conservator to our staff this week!

Art historian and gallery owner Philip Mould giving a superb lecture in support of VCH Oxon at Ditchley Park Fri 10 Oct, exploring the paintings of Winston Churchill and the difficulties of attribution. Warm thanks to Philip, all at Ditchley, and the 80-odd people who attended - a memorable event.

An important milestone - the complete draft of this volume is the latest of the VCH production line. The last - for the historic county, but not *the last* - will be on the area around Burford, but come back in a year or so for that. Why not *the last*? Well, watch this space... #Skystorians

Victoria County History@vch-home.bsky.social · 12mo ago

New *draft* text from @vch-oxon.bsky.social, which completes the draft for their 22nd (and penultimate, for the historic county) volume which covers the area around #Chadlington. The new drafts are for #Chilson, with Shorthampton and Walcot. All comments, corrections, etc., gratefully received. 🗃️

Chilson: the final draft for our forthcoming West Oxon Chadlington area vol! - and an interesting one too. A chapelry and township of Charlbury until C19, but with early links to the vast Shipton-under-Wychwood royal estate and with Wychwood Forest. Plus a DMV and gt church wall paintings..!

Tomorrow! - a celebration of the publication of the VCH's 250th Big Red Book volume nationwide! - Westmorland Volume I (from Cumbria County History Trust). Plus a look back at 126 years of VCH and how the modern project is still evolving and developing: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Celebrating Local and Place-Based History: Westmorland and the 250th VCH ‘Big Red Book’

history.ac.uk

A reminder that tickets are on sale for a lecture in support of VCH Oxfordshire by the art historian Philip Mould (of BBC Fake or Fortune fame), exploring rediscovery of a lost painting by Winston Churchill (Ditchley Park: Friday 10 Oct 6 pm): www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philip-mou....

Philip Mould: Discovering Churchill - a lecture at Ditchley Park

A lecture in support of VCH OXFORDSHIRE by art historian and dealer Philip Mould, presenter of BBC 1's award-winning series Fake or Fortune?

eventbrite.co.uk

Sad to hear of the death (at 97!) of the great Barbara Harvey (www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/barbara...), whose early work on Islip introduced her to the Westminster abbey archives, and also spawned a VCH Oxon parish history. Coincidentally, she also examined the current VCH Oxon Editor's doctoral thesis!

Barbara Harvey CBE FBA (1928-2025) - Somerville College Oxford

Barbara Harvey, CBE, FBA, Fellow and Tutor in Medieval History, 1955-1993, has died at the age of 97. She had also been an undergraduate and graduate student at Somerville between 1946 and 1951, befor...

some.ox.ac.uk

Be great if this can stay in Oxfordshire! - www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2532105... (Even if its discovery came a little late for inclusion in our 2011 account of Rotherfield Peppard parish in VCH Oxon XVI - which, incidentally, you can read at www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol...)

Metal detectorist's hoard could be bought for public display

An iron age hoard discovered by a metal detector user in Oxfordshire in 2020 could be bought by a museum. It features a stunning horse brooch.

oxfordmail.co.uk

Interesting piece on a (sanitised) Victorian copy of the Bayeux Tapestry preserved in Reading Museum: www.theguardian.com/artanddesign.... (Images online at www.readingmuseum.org.uk/collections/...)

Never mind the Norman bollocks: Reading’s replica Bayeux tapestry is a prudish triumph!

It may not be completely anatomically accurate, but the Victorian copy of the Bayeux tapestry is as much an emblem of its time as the 11th-century original

theguardian.com

Thanks for your kind words! (We couldn't possibly comment...! 😂)

@accounts-leaving-x.bsky.social · last yr.

Victoria County History of Oxfordshire (an impressive blend of academic excellence and community-focused local history, producing a rich, seemingly complete county history through a major publishing initiative) moves to Bluesky (646 followers on X) Bluesky: @vch-oxon.bsky.social