EHRG Historical Index | EHRG Publications | Eydon Homepage
Reports of Eydon Historical Research Group, Volume 1, September 1998
This is a 48 page, illustrated A5 booklet, with map and Index of people and places mentioned in the text, which looks at Eydon's geography, local events and occupations.
It is perhaps rather surprising that in a village as small as Eydon, the few streets that there are have undergone name changes in the not too distant past. Leila Leeson looks at the story of some of the names.
In an agricultural village, the field names can tell us a lot about the history of the village, their old farming practices, the conditions of the soil and even some national history! Christine Howes looks at the field names and explains where they came from and what they mean.
This gives some of our first results on the repopulation of the village, finding out where people lived in the village in Victoria's time. In this short article Kevin Lodge looks at where some of the people mentioned in Syd Tyrrell's "The Countryman's Tale" lived. These include the 'murderer' Edward Higham; John Humphries the blacksmith; Tyrrell's helper Sally Dancer and her son Billy; the carter, George Hunt; and Joe and Flora Tyrrell, Syd's parents.
Because of the softness of the stone that the village is built from, many houses have graffiti carved into their walls. Kevin Lodge takes a brief look at the sun and scratch dials, the drawings, initials, dates and other markings that can be seen on walls as you walk around the village. Some will remain forever enigmatic, but others have cast a new light on some of the written evidence we have.
The Enclosure Act of 1762 had the most lasting effect on the villageís make-up and probably had the most significant impact on the landscape since the forests were cleared in the Bronze Age. In this article, Christine Howes describes what the village was like before the enclosure, why the villagers wanted to enclose the land and who gained and who lost in the process.
In the heat of a May Sunday in 1905, a fire that started near the Green was pushed by the wind from thatched roof to thatched roof until a third of one side of the High Street was alight. Helen Doe tells the story of that day, with firemen from six fire brigades fighting the fire. By the time the fires were out, 34 people were homeless; eleven houses were destroyed or damaged with most of their contents destroyed.
In this article, Kevin Lodge describes how the Eydon census returns were transcribed and goes on to explain how these records can be used to shed light on all aspects of Eydon life. Not only can we look at family relationships, employment patterns and movement into and out of the village, but also we can use modern information technology methods to find details in the records that the original collectors of the data never dreamed of.
During the war, keeping one or two pigs in sties close to the house was one way of boosting the war effort. They could be fed on household scraps and it was also a good way of boosting your meat ration, which may explain their popularity. David Kench tells the story of this small-scale, self-help club that enabled many villagers to buy, feed and insure their pigs during, and just after, the war.
Lace making was for many years a major part of women's employment in Eydon, as well as for many other villages around this region. Leila Leeson describes the development of the industry, the lace schools that taught new lace-makers and its decline in the village towards the end of the 19th century.
In this article the late Fred Kench, a life-long village resident, reminisces about the changes in the life of the village since his childhood before the Great War. It was found amongst his papers by EHRG member David Kench and reflects his lifelong interest in steam engines.
In this article Tony Elliott tells of the development of the vote in Eydon from the passing of the Franchise Bill of 1884 which, for the first time, enfranchised agricultural workers and other tradesmen in the village. During most of this time the constituency has returned a Conservative member, except for two elections at the turn of the Century when Liberal Members were elected. Several politicians of note have represented the village, including a Speaker of the House, a Lord Chancellor and several Government Ministers. The article concludes with the words of the song "Eydon Holiday", an obsequious poem celebrating the election of "Mr. Cartwright and Sir C. Knightly" in the 1840s.
Helen Doe describes the story of the Ancient Order of Foresters, a branch of which was founded in the village in the middle of the last century. It acted as a Friendly Society, providing sick pay and funeral grants to its members in times of need. Its number grew in the village until the advent of the Welfare State after the Second World War rendered some of its benefits unnecessary and the branch merged with one in Banbury in 1960.
Top of Page | EHRG Historical Index | EHRG Publications | Eydon Homepage