Recent from talks
Abingdon-on-Thames
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Abingdon-on-Thames
Abingdon-on-Thames (/ˈæbɪŋdən/ AB-ing-dən), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Thames in the Vale of the White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England. The historic county town of Berkshire, the area was occupied from the early to middle Iron Age and the remains of a late Iron Age and Roman defensive enclosure lies below the town centre. Abingdon Abbey was founded around 676, giving its name to the emerging town. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Abingdon was an agricultural centre with an extensive trade in wool, alongside weaving and the manufacture of clothing. Charters for the holding of markets and fairs were granted by various monarchs, from Edward I to George II.
The town survived the dissolution of the abbey in 1538, and by the 18th and 19th centuries, with the building of Abingdon Lock in 1790 and the Wilts & Berks Canal in 1810, Abingdon was on important routes for goods transport. In 1856 the Abingdon Railway opened, linking the town with the Great Western Railway. The canal was abandoned in 1906 but a voluntary trust is now working to restore and re-open it. Abingdon railway station was closed to passengers in September 1963. The line remained open for goods until 1984, its role including serving the MG car factory, which operated from 1929 to 1980.
Abingdon's brewery, Morland, makers of Old Speckled Hen ale, was taken over and closed in 1999; the site of the brewery has been redeveloped into housing. The rock band Radiohead formed in 1985 when its members were studying at Abingdon School, a day and boarding independent secondary school. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 33,130. This was 2,504 more than in the 2001 Census total of 30,626, and represented just over 8% growth in the population.
A Neolithic stone hand axe was found at Abingdon. Petrological analysis in 1940 identified the stone as epidotised tuff from Stake Pass in the Lake District, 250 mi (400 km) to the north. Stone axes from the same source have been found at Sutton Courtenay, Alvescot, Kencot and Minster Lovell. Abingdon has been occupied from the early to middle Iron Age and the remains of a late Iron Age defensive enclosure (or oppidum) lies below the town centre. The oppidum was in use throughout the Roman occupation. A Neolithic causewayed enclosure was found in Abingdon, dating to the 36th or 37th century BC. It was found in 1926 while quarrying for gravel, and was partly excavated in 1926 and 1927 by E.T. Leeds. Subsequent excavations took place in 1954 and 1963. A Roman villa and subsequent Saxon farmstead buildings have been excavated at Barton Court Farm.
Abingdon Abbey was founded in Saxon times, possibly around 676, but its early history is confused by numerous legends, invented to raise its status and explain the place name. The name seems to mean 'Hill of a man named Æbba, or a woman named Æbbe', possibly the saint to whom St Ebbe's Church in Oxford was dedicated (Æbbe of Coldingham or a different Æbbe of Oxford). However, Abingdon stands in a valley and not on a hill. It is thought that the name was first given to a place on Boars Hill above Chilswell, and the name was transferred to its present site when the Abbey was moved. In 1084, William the Conqueror celebrated Easter at the Abbey and it is possible that his son Henry I received some schooling at the abbey.[citation needed]
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Abingdon was a flourishing agricultural centre with an extensive trade in wool and a famous weaving and clothing manufacturing industry. The abbot seems to have held a market from very early times and charters for the holding of markets and fairs were granted by various sovereigns, from Edward I to George II. In 1337 there was a famous riot in protest at the Abbot's control of this market in which several of the monks were killed.[citation needed] After the abbey's dissolution in 1538, the town sank into decay.
In 1556, upon receiving a representation of its pitiable condition, Mary I granted a charter incorporating the town as a borough, governed by a mayor, two bailiffs, twelve chief burgesses and sixteen secondary burgesses, the mayor to be clerk of the market, coroner and a JP. The present Christ's Hospital originally belonged to the Guild of the Holy Cross, on the dissolution of which Edward VI founded the almshouses instead, under its present name.
The borough elected one member of parliament; this right would continue until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. The 1556 charter also catered for the appointment of a town clerk and other officers, and the borough boundaries were described in detail. Later charters, from Elizabeth I, James I, James II, George II and George III, made no considerable change. James II changed the style of the corporation to that of a mayor, twelve aldermen and twelve burgesses.
Hub AI
Abingdon-on-Thames AI simulator
(@Abingdon-on-Thames_simulator)
Abingdon-on-Thames
Abingdon-on-Thames (/ˈæbɪŋdən/ AB-ing-dən), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Thames in the Vale of the White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England. The historic county town of Berkshire, the area was occupied from the early to middle Iron Age and the remains of a late Iron Age and Roman defensive enclosure lies below the town centre. Abingdon Abbey was founded around 676, giving its name to the emerging town. In the 13th and 14th centuries, Abingdon was an agricultural centre with an extensive trade in wool, alongside weaving and the manufacture of clothing. Charters for the holding of markets and fairs were granted by various monarchs, from Edward I to George II.
The town survived the dissolution of the abbey in 1538, and by the 18th and 19th centuries, with the building of Abingdon Lock in 1790 and the Wilts & Berks Canal in 1810, Abingdon was on important routes for goods transport. In 1856 the Abingdon Railway opened, linking the town with the Great Western Railway. The canal was abandoned in 1906 but a voluntary trust is now working to restore and re-open it. Abingdon railway station was closed to passengers in September 1963. The line remained open for goods until 1984, its role including serving the MG car factory, which operated from 1929 to 1980.
Abingdon's brewery, Morland, makers of Old Speckled Hen ale, was taken over and closed in 1999; the site of the brewery has been redeveloped into housing. The rock band Radiohead formed in 1985 when its members were studying at Abingdon School, a day and boarding independent secondary school. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 33,130. This was 2,504 more than in the 2001 Census total of 30,626, and represented just over 8% growth in the population.
A Neolithic stone hand axe was found at Abingdon. Petrological analysis in 1940 identified the stone as epidotised tuff from Stake Pass in the Lake District, 250 mi (400 km) to the north. Stone axes from the same source have been found at Sutton Courtenay, Alvescot, Kencot and Minster Lovell. Abingdon has been occupied from the early to middle Iron Age and the remains of a late Iron Age defensive enclosure (or oppidum) lies below the town centre. The oppidum was in use throughout the Roman occupation. A Neolithic causewayed enclosure was found in Abingdon, dating to the 36th or 37th century BC. It was found in 1926 while quarrying for gravel, and was partly excavated in 1926 and 1927 by E.T. Leeds. Subsequent excavations took place in 1954 and 1963. A Roman villa and subsequent Saxon farmstead buildings have been excavated at Barton Court Farm.
Abingdon Abbey was founded in Saxon times, possibly around 676, but its early history is confused by numerous legends, invented to raise its status and explain the place name. The name seems to mean 'Hill of a man named Æbba, or a woman named Æbbe', possibly the saint to whom St Ebbe's Church in Oxford was dedicated (Æbbe of Coldingham or a different Æbbe of Oxford). However, Abingdon stands in a valley and not on a hill. It is thought that the name was first given to a place on Boars Hill above Chilswell, and the name was transferred to its present site when the Abbey was moved. In 1084, William the Conqueror celebrated Easter at the Abbey and it is possible that his son Henry I received some schooling at the abbey.[citation needed]
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Abingdon was a flourishing agricultural centre with an extensive trade in wool and a famous weaving and clothing manufacturing industry. The abbot seems to have held a market from very early times and charters for the holding of markets and fairs were granted by various sovereigns, from Edward I to George II. In 1337 there was a famous riot in protest at the Abbot's control of this market in which several of the monks were killed.[citation needed] After the abbey's dissolution in 1538, the town sank into decay.
In 1556, upon receiving a representation of its pitiable condition, Mary I granted a charter incorporating the town as a borough, governed by a mayor, two bailiffs, twelve chief burgesses and sixteen secondary burgesses, the mayor to be clerk of the market, coroner and a JP. The present Christ's Hospital originally belonged to the Guild of the Holy Cross, on the dissolution of which Edward VI founded the almshouses instead, under its present name.
The borough elected one member of parliament; this right would continue until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. The 1556 charter also catered for the appointment of a town clerk and other officers, and the borough boundaries were described in detail. Later charters, from Elizabeth I, James I, James II, George II and George III, made no considerable change. James II changed the style of the corporation to that of a mayor, twelve aldermen and twelve burgesses.
Recent media