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The medieval manor of North Moreton is recorded in the
Domesday Book of 1086. The manor house, where the Stapleton family lived was
situated East of the church but can now only be identified by the remains of a
moat. North Moreton retains many houses from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries,
despite the devastating fire in 1807 which destroyed one quarter of the village
including one whole side of the main village street.
North Moreton has always been a village existing
solely within Berkshire boundaries until 1974 a year which saw comprehensive
reorganisation of local government in England and Wales. An indication as to how
deeply North Moreton was embedded within Berkshire is indicated by the fact that
Abingdon was the county town of Berkshire until 1867. Reading only became the
new county town in that year taking over from Abingdon which remained part of
the county until 1974. On this date several of the historic counties
disappeared, new counties were created and all had significant boundary changes.
North Moreton was swallowed up within Oxfordshire and despite losing the title
of being within the 'Royal' county of Berkshire it is probably safer for the
village to be within Oxfordshire.
"The first
record of North Moreton is in the year 944 and it is one of many villages in
historic Berkshire whose name ends with
ton
meaning a
` homestead'. The mor
signifies,
simply, a fen. With the arrival of the Normans in 1066 there came in due course
Norman rule and a Norman church. North Moreton seldom had a resident lord of the
manor though influential families such as the Stapletons played an important
role over three centuries. The Stapletons largely rebuilt the church in the
thirteenth century, endowing Stapleton’s Chantry with some unique glass from the
period." The subsequent centuries have not been without their high and low
points. "At the very end of the sixteenth century there was a
‘
cause
celebre’
in
the famous witch-craft case bringing North Moreton to the national stage and
leading to the allegedly-bewitched Anne Gunter going before the Court of Star
Chamber and before King James I himself. An unusual feature of the
Cromwellian period was the high number of marriages performed in All Saints
church probably attributable to the lords of the manor being relations of Oliver
Cromwell. North Moreton became acceptable for church weddings even when
nationally they were forbidden.
Village life for centuries produced its even tenor of the rotation of crops and
the struggle for existence - North Moreton was never a rich village as
the lack of any monuments in the church testifies. But change in many directions
came in the last one hundred and fifty years. The Enclosure Award (late- in 1849
) stablilised the economy of the village. The growth of Didcot and the
development of railways gave employment and a new vicar, Albert Barff
brought fresh vigor to the community.
The village paid its debt to the nation in two World Wars and the later
twentieth century has
seen a change
in population with many professional people making their way to London daily as
commuters. But, in the end, the sounds of sheep bleating, combine harvesters at
harvest time and of tractors down the High Street, remain evocative of a North Moreton whose eternal roots are in the soil."
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Maps of North Moreton
To see a map of how the village looked in the 1840s
click below.
To see a map of how the village looked in the 1940s
click below.
To see a portion of the old 1:25000 map of the area click below.
Click on the map a second time for a high resolution image.
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The Church
North Moreton church is 13th Century and has been described
as the most perfect medieval church in Berkshire, although after the local
government county remoulding the chuch is now situated in South Oxfordshire. The
church is notable for the St. Nicholas or Stapleton Chapel whose east window
contains a superb series of late 13th century stained glass showing fifteen
colourful scenes from the lives of Christ, the Virgin Mary, St. Peter, St. Paul
& St. Nicholas. The window is among the earliest in the county and
supposedly among the finest. The chapel itself was remodelled in the decorated
style in 1295 at the foundation of Stapleton's chantry by Sir Miles Stapleton
who acquired his Berkshire lands through marriage. By misfortune Sir Miles was
never laid to rest in the church as he was killed (with his two sons) at the
Battle of Bannockburn whilst serving King Edward I.
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Stapleton's
Chantry
Stapleton's Chantry is now a home but was originally a 15th
century detached chantry chapel with a priest's hole and a secret underground
passage. A chantry was defined as the endowment of one or more priests to say or
sing Mass for the soul of the endower, in this case Sir Miles Stapleton.
Unfortunately Edward VI's reign resulted in the loss of the chantry during the
abolition of Chantries in 1547.
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North
Moreton House
North Moreton House is a 17th century building with a cross
wing dating from the 14-15th centuries. For many years known as the old Rectory,
It was only used by the rector until 1562 when the Archdeacon of Berkshire
leased it out to tenants, one of whom was a local resident known as Brian
Gunter.
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Village
Characters
Some remarkable characters have lived in the village over the years. This
section is reserved for photographs of Moreton residents some of those whom are now sadly long lost.
Mrs. Oglethorpe and her
dalmatians.
The children of South
Moreton school in 1963
Some of the things that happen in the world also
happen in North Moreton, The great North Moreton Post Office robbery foiled by a
dog. Click on the press cutting for the full text.
Pictured below is Bud Finch's sister and her cat in
the back garden of her home Filberts in the High Street. If you have any old
pictures of any other past residents to share please email us here.
An article about North Moreton and referring to the
residents of the village in 1963. Click on the press cutting for the full text.
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The Bear at Home Inn
Locals have been having fun in the pubs in North Moreton, since the 15th
century. There are stories of locals running around the North Moreton graveyard
since 1892 after imbibing too much alcohol. There are tales of Great Western
Railway navvies coming to North Moreton to wile away their evenings and
their newly-earned wages, drinking too much and fighting the locals. North Moreton had four pubs in those days, The Queen Victoria, The Star, The Victoria
and of course the
Bear at Home Inn. The
Bear at Home Inn was the 'posh' pub, being the only pub
in the village with a licence to sell spirits. The village now has only the
Bear at Home Inn, as all the others have closed their doors, the Queen Victoria finally
closing in 1999 after Morrells Brewery shut down its business.
It is thought that the Bear at Home Inn may have originally been in existence from
the 15th century as a local public house
serving the village. In the 17th
Century the 'Bear Inn' may have been an occasional coaching inn, with coaches
travelling from Wallingford to Wantage choosing the turnpike roads that were
springing up at that time, rather than the poor quality tracks that they were
replacing. With its situation on the Wallingford Road it is more likely that the
Star Inn would have benefitted from the passing trade, though coaches travelling
specifically through North Moreton would have probably stopped here for refreshment.
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Norman & Gladys Mawrey
ran the Bear Inn from 1952 until 1977, so far the longest tenure on record. Norman was an ex-Salford
rugby league player. In 2007 Gladys was still with us having just
celebrate
 d her 99th birthday. The Mawreys also ran the village shop in the
adjacent building, the awning has now been removed and the shop is now a
private house.
During this period the pub was a tied house owned by Watney
Mann & Co. The pub served beers made by Ushers brewery of Trowbridge, then part
of the Watneys group but now sadly long gone. These pictures show Norman and
Gladys during their tenure. In 1971 the Bear became a free house, Norman Mawrey having
negotiated the purchase of the freehold of the business for the princely sum of
£7,450. Click on the image below right to view the letter from Watney Mann in full.
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Some long standing residents of
the Bear were the Mawrey's pets. Pictured below is the pet Columbian parrot who seems to have been a regular
drinker of Squires London Dry Gin, another defunct alcoholic drink. If the parrot's liver managed to survive it
is possible that he or she is still with us, parrots being long-lived. At the
moment the parrot's name is unknown though some have suggested it might be Ed.
If you know the real name please drop us a
line by clicking here. |
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Norman and Gladys Mawrey were very much at the centre of village life being involved not only with the running of
the pub and shop but also being involved with the sporting life of the village.
In those days the Bear was host to both a good darts and bar billiards team.
These days we just have a darts team. Click on each image for a larger size
photograph.
Bar
billiards championship.
Norman Mawrey (second left) |
Darts championship photo.
Don Buckle (left)
Brian Vass of the Queen Victoria (middle) |
Bar billiards
championship.
Norman Mawrey (Norman Mawrey
(second left)left) |
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Cricket in
North Moreton
Gerald Howat has kindly
provided the following short history about cricket
in the Moretons.
Moreton Cricket Club - serving both North and
South Moreton - was founded in 1858 by the Reverend Alfred Barff, a redoubtable
vicar of North Moreton who also established the village school. The first match
was against neighbouring Brightwell and there was a notably unusual fixture
against St Edward's School, Oxford which ended in 1874 and was resumed a century
later in 1974. In the primitive conditions of the nineteenth century few would
make runs and many take wickets, the cricket taking place near the current
airfield on the first of six different pitches. Since 1939 the Club has played
on the Croft, the historic name of the present-day Recreation Ground. The
highlights of the twentieth century included an annual tour usually to Kent or
Sussex and indeed, on three occasions, to the Netherlands.
The Club is unusual
in never having played League cricket but has entered the National Village
Competition, reaching the regional finals once and the semi-finals twice.
Socially, various activities have marked the years such as an annual dinner, the
President's match and a race-night occasion. Moreton has won three Cambridge
Cricket ` Blues', one in each century! In 1866 A.H. Winter was the Cambridge
wicket-keeper while in 1977 and 1980 Michael Howat won his Blue as a fast
bowler, a similar award going to Joel Cliff in 2003. Howat, an all-rounder, as
was Harry Marriott of the 1950 and 1960s, both have long and distinguished club
records as had Norman Lay as a bowler. Among others in a very long list of those
who have contributed to the club's fortunes are Darren Clark, Ian Crompton, John
Culley, Richard Dawson, John Harrison, Gerald Howat, Nick Kane, Greg Locke, Kaz
Miles, Michael and Paul Stimpson, William Thomas and Robert Wilson. Robert holds
two uniquely different records: he has taken the most wickets and was returned
as an MP to Parliament at the 2005 Election.
The Club portrays the social and
economic changes which have affected the village over the past century and a
half. Since the 1970s especially, the Moretons have become home to a large
number of professional families, their sons at local public schools have
strengthened the club both in standards and numbers. No account would be
complete without a mention of Bud Finch who was born in 1903 and eventually
became president. He, of all people, symbolises the club's history through the
twentieth century. The arrival of Gerald Howat, in 1960, was another landmark.
He was secretary from 1961 until 1990 thereafter becoming president besides
keeping wicket for the club. He also also achieved some distinction as a cricket
writer and journalist while serving for twenty years as a member and chairman of
several committees of the MCC at Lord's. The passage of the years also indicate
another change. From a club which - as late as the 1970s - played both days of
the week and week-end cricket now attracts far more more players for a Thursday
evening game than for one on a Sunday afternoon. If there is a concern for the
twenty-first century, it is that the week-end tradition does not suffer in
standards. Nevertheless, in a note of optimism rather than pessimism, the Club
looks forward to celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2008. A '150' Committee
has already been established and it is hoped that the MCC will play the Club to
mark the event.
This is an iconic photo, the Bear
Inn Pub Cricket
Team versus a
nearby racing stud. Click on any
picture for a larger version of the photo. Names, dates?
Click here for a larger version of this photo.
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a larger version of this photo. |
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a larger version of this photo. |
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a larger version of this photo. |
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a larger version of this photo. |
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It looks like the cast for an Alan Ayckbourn comedy or an Agatha Christie murder
mystery. In fact its the scorers and onlookers for the North Moreton Cricket
Club.
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The
Football Match
North Moreton was the venue for the
sole supposed death by violence of two players during a football match.
Rather than being played on a football pitch as is done today this match was one
of many informal street games played at this time. During the game, Brian
Gunter's son had apparently stepped in to break up a fight when he was attacked
by two local brothers of the Gregory family. Brian Gunter' intervened in the
fight and hit them both with the butt of his knife, unfortunately he hit them
rather too hard, resulting in their deaths. This led to a long family feud
between the Gunters and the Gregory which was to have serious repercussions
later.The parish register for May 1595 states the following about
the events at the match:
"Gunter’s son and ye Gregorys fell together by ye years at football.
Old Gunter drew his dagger and both broke their heads,
and they died both within a fortnight after."
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Witchcraft
In the 17th Century there was a famous witchcraft case in
North Moreton. In the summer of 1604 a woman named Anne Gunter, a member
of the old Kintbury family and the daughter of Brian Gunter appeared to fall
ill. Her symptoms consisted of having fits, falling into a trance, rolling her
eyes, walking on her ankles, vomitting, producing pins from her nose whilst her
clothes would fall off spontaneously when people visited her. She also claimed
that she saw familiars. At that time it was believed that familars were demons
which would propagate the will and message of their master Satan to spread lies
and deceit in order to thwart the Kingdom of God. The above manifestations
encouraged a large number of people, from peasants to learned men of both University and
Church, to make the journey to see for Anne for themselves. During the
manifestations Anne babbled about Elizabeth Gregory the sister-in-law of the two
dead Gregory boys and also about Agnes Pepwell and her daughter Mary, also
members of the Gregory family.
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Agnes Pepwell had long been reputed to be a witch and so
the story quickly arose that poor Anne Gunter had been bewitched by the three
vengeful Gregory women in retaliation for the death of the two boys. The three
women were then officially charged with bewitching her, although the case at the
Abingdon Assize Courts failed to obtain a conviction. A suit was later filed at
the Court of the Star Chamber in London where both the reigning King and the
Bishop of Salisbury took a great interest in the case. |
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The case resulted in Brian Gunter being locked up for a
short while in Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury when
Anne finally admitted that Brian had bullied her into feigning all her illnesses,
manifestations and attacks having given her potions to make her ill. The
conclusion to the case is now unknown but it seems to have dragged on for
a long time until the case was
finally
dropped.
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Witchery in the Moretons |
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The following article appeared in the Reading
Mercury in 1963. Click on the newspaper image to view the full text of the
article. |
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The Railway
In 1832 Isambard Kingdom Brunel at the age of 26
was appointed Engineer to the newly-formed Great Western Railway. His great
civil engineering works on the line between London and Bristol are used by
today's high-speed trains and bear witness to his genius. He engineered over
1,200 miles of railway, including lines in Ireland, Italy and Bengal. Under his
supervision two brick-built bridges were created in North Moreton, one spans all
the main lines in two spans whilst the other acts a bridge for foot traffic
under the railway. Each bridge has been lengthened and strengthened over the
years to cater for more lines and increased traffic. The bridge top has recently
been strengthened to prevent cars crashing through the parapet onto the tracks
below.
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The Road bridge
patched up over the years |
IKB's
small rail bridge, dark and gloomy |
The
same from the South
uses different brick |
The fine bridge
at nearby Moulsford is characteristic of Brunels' bridge building in that the
long and graceful arches are a testament to Brunels' engineering boldness. Built
in 1839 (widened 1892) it fits beautifully into the countryside in a way that
modern civil engineering works do not.
A photograph here
shortly.
The Bridges
during the war
During the Second
World War a static defensive line known as the GHQ line was created extending
from Somerset to Yorkshire running under the Southward belly of London. This GHQ
line ran along natural obstacles such as the Kennet and Avon canal and the River
Thames being reinforced at crossing points by pillboxes and other
fortifications. The villages of Goring and Streatley were considered a strategic
crossing point and fortifications can still be seen in and around the area to
this day. A 2pdr pill box is still extant on the approach road to Dorchester. As
part to the overall defence of the area North Moreton had several bridges which
had to be manned and defended by local home guard units. All over the country
many cold and lonely nights were spent by the local soldiery defending these
less than vital parts of our communication infrastructure. With hindsight the
fact that the Germans never invaded makes their personal sacrifice seem a little
pointless. We should not forget that at that time the threat of invasion was
real and was expected even up to 1943. The secondary threat of a fifth column
was a genuine threat in the minds of our leaders and the people even though the
numbers of spies and saboteurs was actually negligible.
The chaps who
defended our bridges were home guard personnel and having lots of time on their
hands they spent it carving
shapes and patterns on the stone cappings of the old IKB Sands Road-railway bridge
using the sharp end of their bayonets.
They carved sailing ships, white horses, an anchor, a rifle and hearts(?) as well as their initials.
These cappings were taken off the bridge when the new parapet was installed.
They were saved by the timely interference of the headmaster of South Moreton
school and they now abide within the grounds of the school until a suitable home
can be found for them, hopefully as a parapet on a new wall somewhere within the
boundaries of North and South Moreton.
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ship and houses |
ship |
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horse, anchor and gun |
rifle |
sailing ship |
Click on each
capping for a larger picture.
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White horse |
The initials of
the soldiers can be seen here on the capping below, all the images have been
digitally enhanced to bring out the detail as they are quite worn away from 60
years in the open air suffering from the acid from the train exhausts. The
'ship' stone above has a large crack running across it that has been digitally
repaired see if you can spot where.
The initials are:
EW, EN, EKW, TF, AS, FW, TD, AA, POP, WHS, EL
On other cappings
can be seen JS, LA, JM, HP, DW, MAT, AW, HHB, VD(?)
If anyone
has any information as to who these initials belonged then please send it to
the webmaster
and the information will be recorded here for posterity.
A photograph here
shortly
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Ordnance Datum Newlyn (ODN) is the
national height system for mainland Great Britain and forms the reference frame
for heights above mean sea level. ODN is realised on the ground by a network of
approximately 190 Fundamental Bench marks (FBMs). From these FBMs around 500,000
lower order Bench marks (BMs) were emplaced. The network has had little
maintenance for 30 years and the Global Positioning System (GPS) is now the
preferred method of heighting used by the Ordnance Survey (OS).
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| Old County: |
Berkshire |
| Current local authority:
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Oxfordshire |
| Parish: |
North Moreton |
| Grid Ref: |
SU 5540 9049 |
| Road: |
A417 |
| Side: |
N |
| height above ground:
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82 cm |
| Listed: |
Grade II |
Summerlees, Hadden Hill
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If the exact height of one bench
mark is known then the exact height of the next can be found by measuring the
difference in heights, through a process of spirit levelling. Most commonly,
bench marks are found on buildings and other semi-permanent features. Although
the main network is no longer being updated, the record is still in existence
and the marks will remain until they are eventually destroyed by redevelopment
or erosion. The number of benchmarks is reducing due to property development,
road widening, etc.
What’s all this got to do
with North Moreton? Well, as part of the known universe the Ordnance Survey
carved several benchmarks in the village. The list below gives the Grid
Reference of cut mark bench marks that I know about (some, like the one on
Cherry Court I’ve not seen – if anyone knows what happened to it please let me
know). If you want to see an example, there’s a nice one on our church on the
buttress of the NW angle of the tower. Its mark is bigger than most.
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SU |
5540 |
9048 |
CUT MARK |
Milestone Wallingford 4 miles NW side of A4130 NE face |
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SU |
5566 |
9079 |
CUT MARK |
Hill View W Face porch S side house |
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SU |
5572 |
9059 |
CUT MARK |
Egg Packing Station SW angle S face |
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SU |
5637 |
9012 |
CUT MARK |
Gatepost N side entrance Cherry Court E side Wallingford
Rd |
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SU |
5618 |
8957 |
CUT MARK |
All Saints Church NW face buttress NW angle of tower |
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SU |
5629 |
8982 |
CUT MARK |
The Corner House. SW angle W face. Wallingford Road.
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Over
the border there are cut marks on 12 Dunsomer Hill, and the SM Church. There is
supposed to be one on Gothic Cottage, but I cannot find a post-1952 reference
for it. Maybe some rebuilding of the roadside face has destroyed it?
OS also employed other marks: these included brassheaded pins
(known as rivets) set into outcropping rock or into concrete at ground
level. There are two alleged to exit (or to have existed) in NM:
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SU |
5500 |
9031 |
RIVET |
Kerbstone N side A4130 62.8M SW angle of fence |
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SU |
5655 |
9064 |
RIVET |
Culvert E side Wallingford Road/A4130 junction S end of
drain |
Returning to FBMs: these are OS’s high-accuracy bench marks. They are still
maintained and form the primary height network linking to the Ordnance Datum at
Newlyn. They are also the height link into the Ordnance Survey GPS Network. The
nearest one to NM is in Wallingford.
The
most familiar OS triangulation stations are the ‘trig points’ – concrete pillars
which carry the benchmark on a small brass plate embedded in one side and
normally seen on hills, often painted white. These plates are known as flush
brackets and each has a unique number. The nearest to NM are on Down Hill,
Brightwell Barrow, and Blewburton Hill. Some flush brackets were put on
buildings, the nearest one to NM being on The Anchor in SM.
So you
see there are lots of things to do in anoraks besides hanging over Sands Road
bridge waiting for a steam train. I’d be interested to hear from anyone who
finds a benchmark or can provide information about missing ones.
Article courtesy of : Roger Templeman
- CD2ROM@aol.com
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Newspaper Cuttings
This final section is reserved for old
newspaper cuttings relevant to the village. At the moment we just have two old
cuttings which appeared in the old Reading Mercury in the sixties. Please feel
free to submit your cuttings
here.
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The following article appeared in the Reading Mercury on Saturday 2nd March
1963
Witchery at the Moretons
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TODAY, all is cold and drab; but when I visited the Moretons recently
the weather was incredibly kind after weeks of frozen gloom; clear blue
sky and warm sun, atmosphere crystalline. An exciting, enchanted day,
and I felt enchanted, a prisoner released. Heading in the car for,
firstly, North Moreton, I could not help thinking of the time when, in
1604-6, people everywhere, rich and poor from King James downwards, were
discussing the amazing bewitchment " of 14-years-old Anne Gunter.. |
A fine Elizabethan herringbone-brickworked
barn stands beside All Saints. Most fascinating thing about South
Moreton's church of St. John the Baptist is its blocked Saxon doorway.
When this doorway was in use, all that stood here was a tiny " chapel of
the ford " where travellers prayed on arrival at or before leaving the "
Moortown " set within treacherous bogs and marshlands; that at least is
the theory. The " Castle Mound " nearby is considered to have been a
Belgic outpost to the prominent Sine-dun defences. although
Parliamentary dead of the Civil Wars were buried in it. A track
associated with the. Romans has its line close to this church as it cuts
through the two parishes; but the way may be infinitely older, for
stones set in the churchyard wall and thought to have conic from the
mound are related to the Stonehenge monsters. The former Sanderville
manor house has a 15th/16th-century core - with central hail, retains
its deep moat -Fulscote, of three other manors, moat traces. Sanderville
manor Saxon-held by Tod before the Conquest; Robert de Sanderville,
owner, in 1199, challenged an adversary to single combat before the
king's courtand in 1 ,,in Berkshire 1220 after trial by of sale; FuIk de
Rycote wager of gave up his rights here to William j Neville I was told
that the most ancient Place in South Moreton is the 509-ears-old " Old
Forge," lovely black- hite -white dwelling typical much th so t at is,
exquisite in the oretons; the actual forge, men tinned 1610, used to be
to the rear. This house was once a retreat for clergy. The uncanny in
South Moreton? I The former rectory, pulled -down, is said to have been
" very haunted ": but more to the point is the story of William Field,
father of a local wheelwright, who in 1804 hanged himself in a barn. His
ghost was reported to wander the stockyard. Eleven clergy came to lay it
in a pond in the yard; two labourers, John and James Parkes hid beneath
straw to see what went on; the ghost appeared, asked whether he would be
given the cock on the dunghill or the " two mice under the straw."
Offered the cock, the bird's head flew off, the body was torn to pieces! |
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Anne's father Brian, of North Moreton, was a
gentleman of some wealth. The Gunters of Berkshire and Oxfordshire were
a well-known family. And it was while Brian was lying ill at Exeter
College, Oxford, in the summer of 1,604 that Anne began to indicate
considerable abnormality. The astonishing happenings credited to her
ranged from paralytic convulsions to the exuding of quantities of pins
front her body; and she raved against three local women, Elizabeth
Gregory and Mary and Agnes Pepwell, as evil witches who, tormenting her,
had respectively as personal spirits a pig-faced rat, white toad, and
man-faced mouse!
Such a to-do at North Moreton! The Devil and all his imps must have
seemed to lurk at every corner, creeping up behind every back. The "
witches " actually admitted they were such, and that there were wild
gatherings at " the Fewer Ashes " where their spirits danced together.
Anne was said to have tugged thirty hairs from the chin of the
Brightwell priest, to adorn that of an evil spirit and North Moreton's
vicar, the Reverend Gilbert Bradshawe declared that as the girl
lay in bed her underclothes loosened without human aid, and• her shoes,
stockings and garters came from beneath her clothes, crept along like
worms, then returned again .. .
King's questioning
Abingdon Assizes heard the evidence, and the "
witches " were found not guilty. But inquiries followed at Oxford,
Windsor Castle, and Whitehall, the king himself questioning Anne. Was it
all no more than a scheme by Brian Gunter against the trio?
For the roots of the affair lay apparently in " a mache or play at
footeball "—doubtless one of those inter-village rough and tumble
clashes with the doors of the two churches as "goals"—when, in
1598, Brian, seeing brothers Richard and
John Gregory maltreating his two sons, battered the
Gregorys so fiercely with his dagger that both fed within a fortnight!
And Eliza beth Gregory, naming Gunter a murdering
bloodsucker, vowed she would have blood for blood... |
I met in this charming village none who knew of
the witch-tale or even the Four Ashes, though, one woman
said she had heard 'of a
football match when somebody was killed: Pretty Diana Ayres, who runs a
sweet shop attached to the old timbered Bear Inn and whose sister Marion
does similar duty in South Moreton, declared that life was all too quiet
in the twin villages—there was nothing, she insisted, for young folk to
do; not that there were many youngsters there anyway.
Witches' spirits
dancing? There are no dances now even at the Village Hall (said Diana),
and if one wished to do the Twist, one did it at home or made the long
trip to Oxford. (She lives at picturesque Thimble Cottage, which
certainly has a whiff of witchcraft in. its name; her family
have lived there long).
Gentle rivalry
Mr. Norman'! Mawrey
keeps The Bear, has done so for 11 years. Mrs. Mawrey told me that
visitors to North Moreton
were rare (why when it and it's twin are such a photographer's dream?),
the villages got along fairy well." As for old-time rivalry between
North and South, that lingers faintly, as a joke more than anything; the
Women's Institute combines members from both, so does the cricket club
playing on the recreation ground behind The Bear—and The Bear " does "
the teas. At All Saints' Curch. where (we can imagine) vicar Bradshawe
had pungent things to say to his quaking congregation as to the Devil in
their midst, there is indeed something spell-binding—the late
13th-century south chapel built as a chantry by Sir Miles de Stapleton,
its cast window rich in original glass, 13th-century tomb slabs in the
floor, a low 15th-century timbered roof well-preserved overhead. Sir
Miles married a Bruce heiress, fought in the Scottish campaigns of
Edward I, educated the king's son, was concerned in the execution of
Edward II's favourite, himself died at Bannockburn. There was a Norman
church here, as the present tub font suggests, but a complete rebuilding
took place about 1270. Both North Moreton churches were owed, almost
certainly, to lords of the manor whose mansion within its moat (in part
existing still) was sited east of the church in "The Grounds."
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The following article appeared in the Reading Mercury in 1961
North Moreton - A Beautiful Village
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ONE of the most beautiful villages in
Berkshire, full of charming cottages. Up beyond the church, an exquisite
white house with square-paned windows. This 'was the old North Moreton
school—doubtless much changed and improved; but even when it was a
school, it must have been a gracious building and one which would surely
instil into the children a love of beautiful things. Will our modern
parti-coloured glass and
hardboard boxes do the same ? I greatly doubt it. |
they had done the same at Moreton and "Scotty" as he was called had become a Friend of the
Mawrey's. It also. turned out that he came from Troon, in Ayrshire, next
door to the village from which Wayfarer's family originated, where they
were close friends of the Scottish poet Robbie Burns.
Farmer
Norman Mawrey told me to
call on Mr. Finch, farmer and old resident of North Moreton, who lived
almost opposite. I wandered into Mr. Finch's yard. As I was looking
about, Mr. Mawrey appeared again, doing a good turn in pushing an
elderly car which had broken down, into the yard and off the roadway.
The car belonged to Mrs. Oglethorpe who lives in the village. In it with
her were two handsome Dalmatians which consented a little unwillingly to
come out and be photographed.
The car stood undefsr the
overhang of a most dilapidated barn. Mrs. Bere,
bachelor Mr. Finch's
widowed sister, told me they were waiting until it fell down before
rebuilding.
"My father farmed here
with animals but my brother has only machinery which he uses on his own
land and, as a contractor, on other farms."
Restful
Mrs. Bere was ironing vast sheets but did not mind being interrupted.
In her kitchen was an atmosphere of peace and content which was very
restful. Indeed, it mirrored the atmosphere of North Moreton as a whole.
Mrs. Bere gave me a cup of tea
delicious
home-made ginger cake I have ever tasted. ;he introduced me to her cat
Joe, sitting in the sun—"a bit tempery," she said. No wonder, as he had
a nasty wound on his shoulder inflicted by some enemy.
However, he was condescending to me and
more or less asked if I had inspected the cat carved on a cornice of the
church when the chantry was built. I told him I had observed the animal,
with other less recognisable carved creatures near it. Joe contented
himself with again reclining
Well, if you want to see a lovely village and meet charming and
friendly people, pay a visit to North Moreton. Don't drive through it at
fifty ; get out of the car and walk so that, whatever others do, your
engine will not disturb the peace.
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Now North
Moreton's children go to the primary. school in South Moreton., Very
good it is, but without the eyeful of charm you will get from the old
school in North Moreton. But the children are happy, busy and
disciplined under the able headmistress, Mrs. Ward and her assistant,
Mrs. Squires. I visited them on the first day of term and they formed.
all their pupils. seniors and infants, into a happy group to be photo-
graphed. Afterwards, they went back to work and 1 thought from their
studious backs that Mrs. Ward knew what she was doing.
Vicar
In the road I met Mr. Edmund
Varah, the Vicar of both South and North Moreton. Readers may remember
that I said in writing of South Moreton a few weeks ago, that the church
was largely rebuilt in 1849. "That was hardly right," said Mr. Varah.
"There was indeed a good deal of.' restorative work done then and the
vestry and pulpit were added among other things. A Saxon doorway was
replaced by an arch at that time to connect the two arcades, but there
was no question of rebuilding, which would have been an enormous task.
Lovely view
The west wall of the aisle for
instance is 41/2 feet thick. There is a yew tree at the east end of the
church contemporary with the blocked up Saxon doorway at the west end."
I agreed heartily with Mr. Varah that there are not many churches from
which you have such a lovely view as you leave the building. Perhaps my
description would have been accurate had Mr. Varah not been just getting
over a severe operation when I visited South Moreton which persuaded me
to leave him in peace.
On this occasion Mr. Varah
showed me over North Moreton Here church. perhaps the most notable thing
is the chantry built by the family of Miles de Stapleton who was killed
in 1314 at the Battle of Bannockburn. He was a steward to Edward II. The
original glass remains in the magnificent East Window, full of rich
colour. It is remarkable that this Glass was left intact by the fanatics
of the Reformation and the Commonwealth.
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Glassblowers
The name Varah, the Vicar told
me, was borne by the third-century kings in Moscow—propably Goths.
"There have also been sug- gestions that it came from the glassblowers
of Venice
the Italian, for glass-maker is. Veraio," said Mr. Varaw as I drove Mr.
Varah back to his vicarage in South Moreton On the way back he told me
he had been a bank official for many years and finally decided to be
ordained. He was first a curate in Battersea. He has no car. "I have to
use Shanks's Mare to get about the two parishes," he said.
Uninspiring
When I visited South Moreton, I
thought it came to an end at the railway which seemed the natural
boundary, but of course the parishes were formed long before the railway
was built and a number of council houses which seem to fall naturally
into North Moreton are actually in the parish of South Moreton. They
have one of the finest views in the whole district but are themselves
drab and uninspiring. As you come down a slight slope into North Moreton
itself, you suddenly realise how beautiful a winding I street of English
cottages can be. Presently, on the right hand side you will find
yourself in The Bear and if you want a country hospitable pub I can't
recommend better one in England.
Norman and Doris Mawrey will do you as pretty a pint
and plate of bread and cheese as you would get anywhere.
Old friends
In a moment you are old friends. Mr. Mawrey, who was
originally a traveller, came upon "The Bear" by chance When making a
call upon the lady of the little shop and post-office next door. She
also kept "The Bear" and Mr. Mawrey asked her to let him know if and
when she wanted to give up. So it turned out and Mr. Mawrey is now Mine
Host.
Dare one use a cliche like "It's a small world?" It is, you know. In
the bar was a customer who was a member of a firm laying down a sewage
scheme at Cholsey. Some time pre-previously
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