Ewelme Travel Guide

 easyoar Says:  This is a Gargoyle on Ewelme Church. The word Gargoyle itself is related to the word Gargle (the thing you do when you take a liquid into your throat and slowly blow air through it before spitting the liquid out). This in turn comes from 'gargouille', which is an old French... 

 easyoar Says:  This is the tomb of Thomas Chaucer (who was the son of the notable poet - Geoffrey Chaucer) and his wife Mathilda Burghersh. Thomas died in 1434 and his wife in 1436. Thomas must have been quite an important person, as not only did he have an important father, but his... 

 easyoar Says:  As with a lot of the buildings in Ewelme, this is pretty old! It is thought it was built just after the Almshouses and church were finished around 1450. It is supposed to be one of the oldest schools in the country that is in the state system. It has probably taught children... 

 easyoar Says:  Seeing the Almshouses from the outside gives a better idea of just how old they are (over 550 years old!).If you enlarge the picture and look at the door way that is inbetween the two bushes, you can see the two horseshoes that I talk about in my Local customs tip. This... 

 easyoar Says:  Almshouses are traditionally houses that are built by a rich person for the poor or old to live in. I think the idea was that the rich person is seen to be helping out the poor and needy.These Almshouses were built by Duchess Alice and her husband William de la Pole (Duke of... 

 easyoar Says:  I would have completely missed this waterfall (well perhaps that is rather a grand word for it) if it had not been for a local resident seeing me brandishing a camera and insisting he show me Ewelme's Waterfall.Well here it is, it's not the biggest I have ever seen, but... 

 easyoar Says:  Even in Ewelme, this is very much the sign of a byegone age.This is a cattle and stray horse pound into which wild animals were placed whilst there rightful owners were located. This was last used in 1936, and so it has not been used for around 70 years.These days it would... 

 easyoar Says:  The Iris plant comes in many different guises. I belieeve that this one that is commonly seen in Britain is the Blue Flag Iris that is the national flower of Quebec (Canada).The flag Irises are supposed to be amongst the easiest to grow and to cultivate of all of the Irises.... 

 easyoar Says:  As far as I am aware, Daffodils to be a native British plant, but these days you wouldn't know that to be the case. In and around March every year, Daffodils can be seen growing everywhere in Britain. I think they may well come from Scandinavia, certainly Holland... 

 easyoar Says:  Primroses are a very traditional British plant that flowers in spring time and has 'primrose yellow' flowers. It is quite a small plant, and could be easily trampled underfoot, so please take care! To my knowledge it is directly related to the Primula which you often see in... 

 easyoar Says:  These Snowdrops were in the garden just outside the Almshouses in Ewelme. You can easily imagine how large snowdrops are if you consider that the leaves are very similar in size, shape and colour to blades of grass.If you want to find out more about Snowdrops, see my Welford... 

 easyoar Says:  In nautical terms, a Crows Nest is the bit up on the mast where a lookout was posted looking for land or pirates.This however is a proper Crow's Nest. They are high in the trees all around Ewelme. The down side of this is that they are quite noisy and they seem to caw away...