Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire
Village History Centre project success!
Steeple Aston's village archive project has just succeeded in crossing the threshold of funding needed to go ahead. Despite the difficult financial climate, SAVA's efforts to obtain most of the £90,000 required to proceed have at last paid off. This achievement is topped by the generous decision of Viridor Credits to provide the remaining £40,000 that had been sought. Viridor makes grants available to eligible local groups within the catchment area of their landfill sites, in this case Ardley. So thanks to everyone who has made recycling of their waste a profitable business for landfill operators! Other funders include the Parish Council, the Village Hall Management Committee, Dr. Radcliffe's Foundation and Oxfordshire County Council. Fund-raising continues for the final fitting-out costs.
The project will replace the environmentally-unsuitable and cramped area in a small lean-to structure it has occupied since 2001 with a purpose-built extension to the Village Hall (see artist's impression above), which will complement the existing single-storey committee room extension built some years ago. The new facility, now called the Village History Centre, will greatly enhance SAVA's ability to involve the local community by providing space for project work, as well as improved storage for the contents of the archive. For more details click here. The project is due to start on site at the end of May 2013 and be completed in September.
The project will replace the environmentally-unsuitable and cramped area in a small lean-to structure it has occupied since 2001 with a purpose-built extension to the Village Hall (see artist's impression above), which will complement the existing single-storey committee room extension built some years ago. The new facility, now called the Village History Centre, will greatly enhance SAVA's ability to involve the local community by providing space for project work, as well as improved storage for the contents of the archive. For more details click here. The project is due to start on site at the end of May 2013 and be completed in September.
Village Inclosure Map to star in 2013 theme
The central part of the Steeple Aston Map
Our village is special in many ways. In historical terms possibly the most important survival is that of the village Inclosure Map of 1767. SAVA's chosen theme for 2013 is map-making, and our rare map will be featured on two occasions during the year. The first was at our Spring Talk, which took place on Sunday April 21st where the speaker was John Leighfield, CBE. John spoke about Oxfordshire map-making through the ages, from the C14th Gough map to Google maps of today.
Later in the year, over the weekend of November 16/17th, it will be the focus of our Annual Exhibition, at which we will demonstrate how close analysis of the map has revealed lots of new and surprising information. We also plan this year, for the first time, to produce a publication about the Inclosure Map to go with the exhibition.
Later in the year, over the weekend of November 16/17th, it will be the focus of our Annual Exhibition, at which we will demonstrate how close analysis of the map has revealed lots of new and surprising information. We also plan this year, for the first time, to produce a publication about the Inclosure Map to go with the exhibition.
Website to be restructured
Later in 2013 we plan to relaunch the website with a new structure, as set out on our CONTENTS page. We also plan to launch a new MEMBERS section of the website where detailed reports and other documents will be available to those paying a modest annual subscription.
NEW: Latest publication now out
The book of SAVA's exhibition "Steeple Aston Through the Lens", which was the subject of our 2011 exhibition, is now on sale. The book is our first to be printed at A4 size, twice that of the previous four booklets, chosen because of the subject matter of wonderful old photos of village people and scenes. To purchase your copy please go to the Shop page or CLICK HERE.
House detectives in Steeple Aston
Observant villagers may have noticed over the last few months a few possibly familiar-looking people entering houses in the village and coming out an hour later excitedly talking about loose tenons, parapets and chamfered beams. SAVA has been fortunate in having Paul Clark, a historic buildings expert from the Oxfordshire Buildings Record, join a small group that has been researching house history in Steeple Aston.
So far, we have inspected and produced short reports on about ten houses, kindly made available for an hour or two by owners keen to understand more about their homes.
Things are not always what they seem: some houses show clear evidence that their origins go back perhaps 100 years prior to the date their owners had assumed. For example, it was common in the C18th for houses to be refronted in order to match current fashions for symmetry, larger windows and often additional bedrooms. Concealed behind the Georgian front elevation though can be a C17th dwelling with construction timber jointed and arranged in a way that had died out 100 years later. Several houses we have seen in the village were originally thatched and had steeper pitches than they now have, but close inspection reveals the story. It can sometimes be linked to changes of ownership in the written records associated with the dwelling.
If you would like us to arrange a visit, please contact SAVA (see the "Contact Us" tab)
So far, we have inspected and produced short reports on about ten houses, kindly made available for an hour or two by owners keen to understand more about their homes.
Things are not always what they seem: some houses show clear evidence that their origins go back perhaps 100 years prior to the date their owners had assumed. For example, it was common in the C18th for houses to be refronted in order to match current fashions for symmetry, larger windows and often additional bedrooms. Concealed behind the Georgian front elevation though can be a C17th dwelling with construction timber jointed and arranged in a way that had died out 100 years later. Several houses we have seen in the village were originally thatched and had steeper pitches than they now have, but close inspection reveals the story. It can sometimes be linked to changes of ownership in the written records associated with the dwelling.
If you would like us to arrange a visit, please contact SAVA (see the "Contact Us" tab)
