Oxenhall
1913-2013
A century of change in a Gloucestershire Village
In 1913 most of the farms and cottages in the parish of Oxenhall near Newent were put up for auction when the Onslow Estate was sold. Tenants became owners and masters of their own destiny…
The Oxenhall Parish History Group created an Exhibition in 2013 comparing how the parish, its farms, cottages and inhabitants had changed between 1913 and 2013.
This book uses that research and extends it to look at the parish history leading up to the creation of the Foley/Onslow Estate, examines Oxenhall’s industrial past of mines, ironworks, brickmaking and waterworks, its continuing reliance on agriculture and forestry and how the building of the canal and the railway drove change forward. The complex issues of why the estate had to be sold reflect what would happen to country estates nationally, particularly in the years following the First World War.
Sale particulars, maps, photographs and stories paint a picture of life in 1913 and illustrate the decades up to 2013 showing how farms have shrunk or expanded, new farms been created, and properties - particularly cottages - improved. A variety of livestock has been raised and different crops grown. Farm servants have disappeared, farm workers been reduced in number and new machinery, the use of contractors and improvements to the road and motorway system have revolutionised farming. There are fewer mixed farms, dairy herds and cider orchards in Oxenhall now.
Yet many aspects of this rural community have not changed and the joy of living in such beautiful countryside still delights residents in 2013 - and indeed today - as it did a century earlier, when life must have been much harder.
The book is no longer available to buy which is why we have made it available to read online or download via the button below. All rights reserved.
THANKS & CREDITS
With thanks to the determined and dedicated work of the Oxenhall Parish History Group, and to Andy Johnson of Logaston Press.
Written by Lyn Martin, Kathleen Rees, and Evangeline Goulding
Pictures Edited by Dave Farrants of Fox Video Productions
First published by Logaston Press in 2015
Copyright © Oxenhall Parish History Group
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the copyright holders.