Transcription by Alex Mager
Itinerary:
Horsepath, Foresthill, etc. (cycling) – 14th May 1901
Littlemore, Cowley and Cliffton Hampden (cycling) – 12th May 1901
Kingston-Bagpuize (cycling) – 12th May 1901
Dorchester (walking and railway) – 11th May 1901
Water Eaton and Kidlington (walking) – 10th May 1901
Whitehorse Hill, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire) (cycling) – 4th May 1901
Elsfield, Woodeaton and Islip (walking) – 9th May 1901
Transcript starts here:
May 14th 1901.
Horsepath, Foresthill, Wheatley, Holton, Stanton St John and Beckley. Wheelriding.
St Bartholomew’s church. / Temple-Cowley. / Horsepath. / The church.
Near the old tofallen wreck ynamed St. Bartholomew’s church I offwent the road and soon befound me in a shockend bumplane [margin: “(=bumpy lane!!)”] along which I dragg’d my twaywheel heavily into Temple-Cowley: the lane went through an open cricketfield anear Temple-Cowley; at last the lane became a road where it is o’erthwarted by a road from the Chiselhampton-road offwended. The Barracks are nigh at hand. Forthon I fared unto Horsepath a thorp undernestlend Shotoverhill and somedeal old but alack somedeal new of building; on the whole fairly pretty: the church is altogether a gemchurch, an eyeapple, an unharmed old building mostly perpendicular mid lancet- and decorated-work here & there*: the arches were early transitional and at the end of the towerarchmullions were some odd carvings one of a being with a (?)bagpipe. A wonderly old holywater-stoup is anigh the door. The old (?fifteenth)yearhundredly glass is pretty and odd also.
*Within Horsepath-church under the tower are these good English rimes upyhungen “Who rings this bell let him look well To hand and head and heart, The hand for work, the head for wit The heart for worship’s part.”
Windmillwreck / Wheatley. / Holton. / Foresthill.
I believe that many wheelmen do not known this church. Under the ironwaybridge I offwent towards Wheatley: the climb is nasty yet lovely is the outsight. Over the ridge one netherdroppeth swiftly to Wheatley foreby the old windmillwreck atop the slope Wheatley-overlookend. To Wheatley I have often herebefore ygone. A pretty stragglend thorpe mid a new yet unugly church highysteepled: rather a good new building. Thence I offfore to Holton where is a pretty old thorpchurch though unluckily upyshutten: a lovely old greystonen church perpendicular and decorated: thence againreachend the Londonroad I onwent to Foresthill a ramblend old thorp mid many pretty old cots until I the greatbuttressed bellcoted church toraught: decorated was it mainly so far as I may me thereof beminden, but there is a lovely Normanish chancelarch: and the building upstandeth well.
Stanton-St. John. / Outsightfairnesses. / Beckley. / The church.
At Horspath I saw an old wooden pulpit, at Beckley another hardly so old (to deemen by the carvings at Horsepath) but mid a soundingboard. From Foresthill I onfore to Stanton-St. John which lieth mostly off the road: the great wellbestead perpendicular- and decorated-windowed church was lordly and wellbestead a sheen church. I see that like many Oxfordshirechurches it is given as a tokenchurch in the ABC guide to Gothish architecture. From the road there had been fair glimpses of Shabbindon-Wood stretchend far away o’er lower ground and Chiltern-glimpses eke.
Thence forthon I fared to Beckley from the headroad at New Inn offgoend: the treebordered sideroad is swithë sheen and most lordly outsights sweep away one’s eyeglance o’er the low flatlands of Otmoor and the spurs and footslopes to the Chilterns upleadend. The church were worth a far faring to see it: the prettiest of those which I saw that day by far, it stood on a swift slope by a lychgate yraught and shady bestead.
New Headington.
A great church mid two aisles, windows perpendicular and lancetly mid some decorated, and many frescoleavings and -tracks which have not come to light again like those of South-leigh but are alack only blurry tracks of what has been. In Dorchester one has been brought to light again while others are halfunburied blurs like these of Beckley. The arches are good Early English and the tower is allershapeliest: a fair building is that: the thorpe eke that netherrambleth adown the swift slopings towards Otmoor’s flat neighbourhood is rich in thatcht houseroofwinsomenesses: a lovely old nook this altogether. I raught Oxford through Foresthill and New Headington an evil halftowny manycotted redbricked blueslated cluster of rows of Gorgonugly misbuildings. I wish I could better outmarken in mindhold the many steads whereto I have been afoot or awheelriding.
Cliffton-Hampden. / Littlemore. / Cowley-church.
May 12, 1901.
Littlemore, Cowley, and ClifftonHampden. Wheelriding.
Backcomend from Sutton-Courtney I throughwent Cliffton-Hampden a sheenly bestead bluffonybuilt strawthatchtrich watersidethorp mid a goodly new bricken (“mirabile dictu” [remarkable to relate]) overbridge: and a knollbestead little church mostly perpendicular-buildcraftly mid an odd towerkin bellinholdened. the arches are transitional : unluckily “restoration” is all-too clear-seen: but it is a pretty churchkin through a lychgate yraught. The thorp is wemmlessly handsome and the besteading matchless: The Thames silversheen underglides the churchknoll.
I homewards fore through Sandford and Littlemore: Littlemore is less pretty than most Oxfordshirely thorps and the church is new but neither church nor thorp are ugly on the whole: from the Dorchester road, that is. Foreby Cowley-church whose bells rang sweetly o’erthwart the summerevenslift man alltoo soon indroppeth to the ghastly jerrybuildingmazes of Oxford’s new wens, Iffley and Cowley, Headington, and the Hinckseys are “parlously” near to the ghastly outsuckers of Oxford.
May 12, 1901.
Kington-Bagpuize, Abingdon, u.s.w. [etc.] Wheelfaring.
Besselsleigher shade. / Kington Bagpuize
Brett kindly me his twaywheel lent, and I started at 2.30 thes aftermiddays through the drearinesses of Walton Street, Osney and New Botley towards the Cumnor, which I uprode without unclimbing; low handles (otherwise hateful) and weightlightness maybe holpen thereto: And so towards the everbeloved wellbeshadowed elmbebow’d Besselsleigh whose bellcoted church mid its perpendicular windows snugly the trees innestleth – allersheenest elmlanes foreby the old Greyhound-inn (how gladsome it is to see those old inntokenboards standend yet before the Oxfordshirely inns!) and foreby Tubneyhouse on to Tubney, Fyfield, and Kingston-Bagpuize, whose church is an illbuilt eighteenth-yearhundredly uprearing: but the neighbourgrounds’ huge trees overshadow the pretty little churchyard: on my hitherfaring I met the K-B hounds by two men-whiteoveralled ydriven.
Marcham. / Marcham-church. / Abingdon; Ock-street.
Through even scant-yhedged land man fareth thence until strikend the Besselsleigh-Wantage road he be near Abingdon. At Marcham lordly bestead were clusters and clumps of allercomeliest strawythatcht roofs, and a little to the left thes roads is the lordly proud-outstandend old roomy perpendicular church – big for a villagechurch indeed and seemingly unharmed of Vandals, but not open. In the churchyard was a sundial eke.
The thorpe was a long handsome strawthatcht houserow of the best Oxfordshirely-Berkshirely stamp: soon thereafter Abingdon cometh into sight, and on the righthand side thes roads is an odd heathlike bare flatland which would seemen to be a Sundaywalk for Abingdoners. Through a slight row of new buildings, an hospital and a few villas man inrideth to the winsome long broad eighteenthyearhundredly Ock-street which seems to have stept out of an eighteenthyearhundredly print: there is one ugly blot, the shuts or ‘courts’ offopenend from the street.
The cheapinghall. / Andersey-island. / Rücksicht.* / Culham. / Sutton-Courtney-bridge. / Sutton-Courtney. / the church. *view looking backwards
So into the good old marketsquare with its Victoriastandbild and cheapinghall: adown Bridgestreet and to the Bridge or rather Bridges and over Andersey-island or -eyot: whence the Abingdon-onsight is allersightliest, & the ygilded chippinghall-vane mid the shapely old steeple thes churches are well-outstandend and sunlightbeglimmer’d. Yond the bridge that overspanneth the further stream-arm is an offwendingsroad to Culham: Culham is a “disappointment”. Prettily bestead it is only a group of new redbrick cots slateyroofed: (there is, however, one old gabled Tudorly-seemend house forninst the church) and the church (unhappily uplocked) is wellbestead mid a lordly tower and porch but otherwise “restoration”-yharmed. Forthon thence I overwent the lovely stonebridge and through the tollgate to that neat trim comely strawthatcht thorp hight SuttonCourtney, where a besonders [especially] lovely old church of architecture from Norman to perpendicular times looketh upon an happy thorp: wellbetreed.
Dorchester. / The Thame-bridge. / The minster. / Minsterfairships.
May 11th 1901.
Dorchester. Foot- and ironway-faring.
On Saturday May 11 Lionel Salt and I foren by ironway so far as Culham-haltstead. Thence forebygoend the offwending to Cliffton Hampden and throughfarend Burcott – a villacluster mid a chuch, once Jabez-Balfour-bedwelt, we wound along an elmy road unto Dorchester’s oldhouse-bebordered street: gables and other elddomtokens a many: we walkt onto the high upbuilt Thame-bridge and then tried to ingo the R.C. chapel (a-waitend the opening of the Cathedral at 2 p.m.) and then we went in under the old lychgate & foreby the old stonerood and the cedartree: stainedglass windows are being toeked: one new-glass window seemed to me truly mightful and great, that of the Annunciation; the groining one of the S-chapels has been againupbuilt: that offsundering thes two southside chapels is odd: the frescoscrapings woulden seem to show that the sunderwall was old. The ritualism of this vicar, brother thes vicars of St. Mary’s, Shrewsbury, is wicked: he had much better go over: The dipstone & the Jessewindow mid its unhurt 13th. cent. shapings were markworthy. I had once before hither yridden and stopt to see the Cathedral. ’Tis allerloveliest allerlordliest; I am glad to have again seen it.
May 10, 1901.
Watereaton & Kidlington. Footfaring.
Summertown. / soullessness thereof. / A foreboding.
On Friday May 10th I set off about 2.10 meanend to see Watereaton and Kidlington without ironwayshelp. I took the tram by Norhamgardens and fore thus well into Summertown the unsightly, now beheavied mid diptheria & ritualism. ‘Village’ it cannot now be called, although little scraps of plough- or meadow-land already foredoomed to the clutch of the jerrybuilder yet tell of other days – not many years agone: it is now a measly perky ugly needless cheap nasty little herd of bare streets and jerrybuilt cots and shops, mid two churches; in the churchyard of one of these I found a gravestone inwritten mid ‘not too french’ french words: one old cot mid a strawthatcht barn looks oddly out of keeping mid the blatand soulless meanness and ugliness of the rest, and I sadly forebode its speedy death.
Watereaton. / Gosford. / Kidlington. / The highspired church.
A few yards short of the ironwaythwarting I offwent by a rough fieldroad which soon became hardly seen to Watereaton, there I umwalkt the lordly old Jacobish house (which is now a farmhouse). The chapel is evenold theremid and, I should so say, the barns eke. The chapel has a bellcote. The whole is a deal of the alive 17th. yearhundred, but it must have had a road in those days. The Cherwell swallowbehovered runneth nearby: I made my way to Gosford a lovely greystonen hamlet of Kidlington. And sometime thereafter I raught self Kidlington (which inholdeth Watereaton!) Kidlington is a great townthorp mid a winsome wealth of wellbegardened cots, brightseemend inns, strawthatcht dwellings, tradesmen and appleblossom, low stonewalls and rich greenth; it hath a leechman and other “respectables”. Frimmseemend childer everywhere: a long farreachend ramblend thorp. The church is lordly: the greatest and biggest thorpchurch which I ever saw. Perpendicular it was & eke decorated, mid 2 old oaken inroofs, wellycorven old oaken stalls, 2 good windows, 2 chapels, a lordly tower and spire, Early-english arches, wellkept, and seemingly wellbechoir’d: a great organ fill’d one transept. Unluckily I found pews in the nave. And so Housewards I fore fain mine farings.
May 4, 1901.
Whitehorsehill, Berkshire Wheelriding.
St. Gengulphus-worship. / Rhodesish helldoms.
William Butler Lloyd and I started off a-wheelfaring about 2.45 in the aftermidday. As I was a-going to the stewardsroom on the stroke of 2 to have our names off halllist offtaken for today Mr. Strong’s sonde came to me uprunnend forthholdend a gatingsbehest: had I not gone to the stewardsroom I had never seen it until my homecoming: in his rooms was an old Shrewsbury-schooler, A. Cree of Magdalen, who is the personification of Highchurch- and Jingo-fanaticism without one halfshred of argument, toleration or reason: the Boers are to him filthy vermin, Cecil Rhodes a “good typical Englishman” (so!), none of us “purists”, “commercial interests” are the Empire’s interests, there is no international morality and so forth to sicknesslength. My ideas as to “a typical Englishman” are not so low as this “Imperialist’s”:
Wantage-cheapingstead. / Fair-onsight. / Jingoismspenetration.
But this is digression only: I hired a twiwheel from Collier’s and we raught [replacing “got to”] Wantage a little before 4 o’clock. There was a motley sight: Wantagefair was afoot: and the din of the “merry-go-rounds”’ steammusic and the booths and stalls and happyseemend uplandsfolk: gladseemend childerthrongs and the uplandliness of this little wellwithydrawen uplandstownkin and cheaping altogether gave me a mindbild which I hope will stay in mine mindhold (memoria). One of the Booths inheld most Greekish-comedylike maskfaces all “much of a muchness” all openmouthed, manyteethrowed apeheads belabelled “Cronje” “Kruger” “Joubert” tho’ I think that the spelling was not so good as mine. I am sorry that such childish Jingoism reaches these oldtime nooks. I well beminded me of the marketsquare of Wantage: and the standbild of our one good and great truly kinglike king Alfred the (truly) Great:
Alfred-standbild. / The Bear-inn.
who fought not for bloodlust but for homelandwarding and loved law and lore, Christenness and holiness, health and goodness. Honour unendend to Alfred, to Alfred tho’ to none of the divinerightpratend tyrants of later times. Amongst our kings Alfred never askt for grovelling and alone deserves an hero’s reverence. Wæs hæl! [Hail! (an Old English toast)] I was here once before or twice: I hither mid J. R. C. Mier Wright wheelrode in Oct. 1899 or thereabouts. The marketstead was natürlich [of course] allfull today. We went as before to the Bear-Inn-smokingroom and befresht the inner man mid Oxfordbeer and chocolate and offfared to look at the lordly old perpendicular-buildcraft church: an eld-arworthy greystonen fairshipsbuilding stillness-bestead: thence we fared through manikind uplands unto Blowingstone-cot.
The Blowingstone. / The Ridgeway.
Now we fore adown shady lanes then we fore adown and up wavy hedgeless uplandslopes, offliend spurs of the great downs which “converge” nearer and nearer the Wantage-Shrivenham road: we bemarked Childrey treeinbosomed to our right a-lyend: we bemarked its treeinnestlend cluster of old strawythatched houses and its old church and soon began to rush neathen from the upslopes into treebordered treerich dellcoolnesses mid an huge woodpark on one side: foreby the Sparsholt-road we at last a-spyed the Blowingstonecot and askt the two childer to blow into it: “the reboant hills” etc. etc.:
We left our wheels and upclomb endlong an hillslopehurststrip until we atstruck the Ridgeway a great wide grassy old way little-beneated seldbrookt hillroad, a true “ridgeway”: man might walk a many of miles herealong and meet never a soul.
Sunbright loneliness / Ashdown-fyrdstead. / Fern-aussicht. [distant view] / Whitehorse-hill. / The White Horse.
In sunbright aloneness we onwalkt by great loose stretches of bare leasowslopes and whiteglarend chalktilths until we came unforlookedly upon a ditchbegirdled earthwork-fyrdstead atop the Whitehorsehill: we walkt ymbutan [about] the ringridge thes fyrdsteads and clomb adown that side thereof which lieth forninst the Shrivenham-road: Overagainst us we could see the eldhallowed grey churchtower and thorpe of Uffington: amid the faraway heathaze we tried to outmark Abingdon and Oxford: Swindon we could not outfind, near as it was: treebillows overspread the land up to the heathaze on the sightborders. Hitherto we had not outyfounden the Whitehorse and our maps were misleadend when at last it was “getroffen” [struck, met] and we walkt all over the body of this lately chalkbenewed wondershape somewhat like a longnecked cat “rampant”.
Fairtime.
‘Tis a big outdelving: the shape is all that of the horse on AS [Anglo-Saxon] coins and on ON [Old Norse] runestones alleroddest: “found at last” it was: we had “achieved our journey’s object” and were happy men: We walk’d athwart the downsides towards the cot: paid the old Hausfrau [housewife] 6d: (by the by she seemed to say “Rudge” for “ridge” and “Wahland” for “Wayland” – ist es möglich? [is it possible?]) we had not had time to outseeken Wayland’s Cave: we must do that if life leaveth us so don [if life lets us do so]: We raught Wantage again at a few minutes before 7: there was an happyseemed [sic] throng: not smartclad but frimmseemend: I shall not lightly forgotten that old cheapingstead and the bustle and merry unmusic thes fairs. I wisht to get back early enough to slip in through the Meadowgate which was yshutten at 8.
Eventidefaring.
On the Whitehorsehill I found many queer little snailshells seemingly chalken: tiny little neatshaped shells [sketch of a shell]. Leavend Wantage at 7 we drave ahead through the landscapeloveliness evenbecool’d: on the way we met the old steamtram which taketh ironwayfarers from Wantageroad-ironwayhaltstead to Wantage: I do not think that I shall ever forget Wantage and the thitherway and the Whitehorsehill: We toucht Carfax at about 8.3 havend ridden hard: I was somewhat forwearied and Lloyd was buttonfresh all the time – tho’ not a good walker. Thinkend that I might as well be hang’d for a sheep as for a lamb I went mid Lloyd to Burl’s new rooms in Cornmarketstreet: in the undergroundly grillroom we had a good dinner, roast-beef, fried potatoes, cauliflower, stout and cheese for 7/4 each: and came again to Christchurch at 9.30 or thereabout. I have heard nothing of this gatingsforhocering [?] since. “Terminat hora diem terminat auctor opus.” [The hour finishes the day; the author finishes his work.]
May 1901
Footfaring to Elsfield, Woodeaton and Islip.
Elsfield-hill / Oxford-onsight. / Elsfield-church.
On May 9th I set off afoot towards Islip. The way as far as Marston and self Marston I have bewritten in mine dayleaf. There is a markworthy upslope towards Elsfield elmoveryshaded: whence man hath a lovely Rücksicht [view looking backwards] of Oxford’s towers, and of that snug little thorp Marston. Elsfield is a small treey leafinbosomed hillthorpe and the old church is a good perpendicular-buildcrafts-token, tho’ the hand of the “restorer” is all too seen: in a richly betreed churchyard it overlooketh the road. There is no stoneburg but a bellcote. One or two redbrick houses outtaken, the thorp is a thoroughly pretty old stead of the true Oxfordshirely stamp, greystonen and often strawythatcht: worthy of the shire. I made my way somehow by swainsguiding beside woodslopes adown paths tracks and fields which were little more than
Woodeaton.
lanes to Woodeaton, touchend the hedgeless openfield road which leads into that gemthorpe. The “Way about Oxfordshire” book rightly holdeth it the prettiest spot in Oxfordshire.
I was throughly [sic] ydrencht ere I raught Elsfield and the rain lasted a long while. Woodeaton is an Augenapfel [eye-apple] a gemstead unbeschreiblich hübsch [indescribably handsome]; elmbegirt mid a thorprood (“village-cross”) like that in Headington-churchyard) amid the thorpgreen benorth the church: this church is almost wholly perpendicular-buildcrafty. Unluckily the inside is whitewashed: But there are some good oakbenches: and odd pewlike priestseats, and an oldfarand loft at the western end: an eldhallowed church as markworthy for besteading as for buildingsshapeliness. Thence along the thorpgreen overagainst which were the old grey stoneybuilded cots and farmbuildings I fore by a treebordered way on to the Islip-Wheatley road; which is scantly yhedged.
Islip.
Whithersoever man goeth in Oxfordshire the hedges wont to dwindlen and fordwinen; their stead is then fill’d if at all (for many of the roads are open) by mudtopped stonewalls, not unlike Welsh roadborders tho’ less rugged and shaggy. At the top of the upslope by the Noke-offwending (thither Brett and I foren in 1899 and saw the lovely old church) Islip is seen and the road drops down towards the Cherwellbridge: Islip rambleth up a slope and along the streamsides, which are lovely hereabouts: willowoveryhelmed, and the worths of the “Islip Angling Society” are bestudded mid manykind treestriplings: the bridge is clearly unold:
Islip is ohne Zweifel [without doubt] a comely thorpstead: Mid one or two slight outtakings all the cots and buildings are neat greystonen dwellings many of goodly years.
Islip-bewriting.
I should guessen that many of the farms here are tiny farms: the thorp is rich in wall and garden: it is great for a thorp. The old rectoryhouse is well gardenbegirt; there is an odd old beechtree (the “Way about Oxfordshire” calls it an oaktree) built into a stoneheap to keepen it and steadien it. To the left of this is the old church whose stoneburg is farseen and well outstandend: I met a merry childergroup overrunnend the bridge after a showman of ‘Punch and Judy’: a fairly sight: but the youth of the stead were not winsome lookend: and the filthy wallscrawls at the ironwayhaltstead speaken ill for them: I wanted not to walk back through yet more rain and so spendend my time in throughrambling the whole thorp & thoroughly throughseeing ther church I left but ½hour to waiten in the dreary haltstead.
Middlealdish paintinglaves. / ‘Fox and Grapes inn’.
The church is a truly lordly old building, besonders [especially] the stoneburg which is unbenewed: there has been some “restoration” – less, I should say, than at Elsfield. Many of the windows were decorated many, perpendicular: there are on the southwall some odd old middlealdish paintings-evenlikenings from some upduggen paintings (?or frescoes) by a late rector ymade. The church is wellkept. One of the prettiest things thes thorps was the foreside thes ‘Fox and Grapes’ inn, the roof whereof was greenthbeclad. I made my way adown to the wooden haltstead and from the wooden staithe into the ironwayswain upstept: and was so whirl’d into the little L.N.W.R.’s endings-haltstead at Oxford and at last raught the House throughydrenched and homefain: Brown and Wren of my stairway both incame and were both markedly dull. The latter who had nothing to say whatsoever stay’d till midnight, altho’ I could hardly stay awake and was yearnly bedfain.
And here ends the diary. I hope you have enjoyed it. Please add your thoughts and comments!
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