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easyoar Says: The Font itself was built at the same time as the church, so it is over 550 years old. It is octagonal in shape and it fairly unusual. (Note:- A font is a Christian device that is basically a big sink. A person joining the Christian faith - typically a baby is immersed into...
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...
The Almshouses, Cloister and the Church
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...
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Well I guess you don't go to Ewelme for the thriving nightlife! If you did, you would struggle to find any at all! As far as I could see the only place you could go was this pub called the Shepherd's Hut.
It seemed to be quite busy with locals when we were there. It served the standard pub drinks and also served food.
Dress Code: Pretty much any clothing at all.
Written May 12, 2005
Address: Ewelme, Oxfordshire
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The whole of Ewelme is off the beaten path, so the only real way to go there is by car as I suspect trying to go by public transport may be very difficult!
The village itself is a little way off the A4074 between Reading and Oxford. For more details, see the attached link to multimap.com.
Once there, parking is an absolute doddle - I don't think there are any carparks in Ewelme, you just park up pretty much where you want.
Written May 12, 2005
Website: http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=475000.682375398&Y=200000.506724898&width=500&height=300&gride=464825.682375398&gridn=191210.50
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This is not a tip on any shop in Ewelme (there are hardly any to talk of!). Rather it is something you should buy before you go there.
Cynthia Harnett is an award winning children's writer, and this book (The Writing on the Hearth) is based in and around Ewelme about the time of Duchess Alice in 1415. It is obviously a historical novel, but I remember it being quite good for adults too (it's been a long time since I read it!)
If you have read my tip on the school, you will see the front cover appears to have a picture of the school on it.
What to buy: I'm not sure if it is still in print, it was first published in 1971, but you can still find copies on ebay...
What to pay: A few pounds
Updated May 12, 2005
Address: www.ebay.co.uk
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In England, hanging a horse show up above your door is supposed to bring you good luck. I'm not sure what hanging two up is supposed to do!
Curiously these were not hanging up above a door, they were hanging up at the entrance to the almshouses, and were about knee height on the door post. I have even less idea what this is supposed to mean. Unless they were hung up by a very short person?
These days you only tend to see horse shoes hanging up in villages and on countryside cottages. Another dying tradition.
Written May 12, 2005
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This is not so much a Warning as a Polite Request!
The Almshouses are peoples homes, and whilst it is freely possible to walk around the cloister, please remember that peoples front doors open onto this cloister and that they would like some peace and privacy.
This sign can be seen as you walk out of the church and down the steps into the cloister area.
Written May 13, 2005
easyoar Says: This one caught me by surprise as I had no idea it was here. If you walk around the back of the church (as in the opposite side from the gate by the road), you will find this gravestone. I only saw it by accident and figured it must be that of Jerome K. Jerome the author of...
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....
Daffodils in Ewelme Churchyard
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...
Primroses in Ewelme Churchyard
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...
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Favorite thing: Just outside the Almshouses is a little garden with quite a few flowering shrubs and plants. Whilst I was wondering through I noticed that there were several butterflies pollenating the blossom.
This particular butterfly is fairly common in England and is called a Peacock butterfly. They don't tend to stop too long on any one flower so you need to be quick to photograph one! If I rmember correctly, this butterfly was on some ornamental chery blossom.
Written May 11, 2005
Ewelme a quaint old town in Oxfordshire
Ewelme is a very small old village in Oxfordshire that lies roughly half way between Reading and Oxford. A large amount of what exists there today was built in the 1400's, and notable examples are......
Build your own Ewelme page
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