|
Mr & Mrs Wall gave us a very interesting talk on the seven towns of Otmoor well illustrated by slides.
First Mr Wall talked in general about the history of the moor and the communities, which had grown up there possibly before Oxford had developed. Although the present “towns are really only villages during the mediæval period they had ranked as towns.
The area is low lying and parts were very wet before some draining after enclosure in the nineteenth century. Part of the old wetlands is being restored under the auspices of the RSPB and many long lost flora and fauna are returning.
During the enclosures many of poorer people lost their land because they could not prove their rights while the bigger owners were able to force the changes through in their favour. A hiccup occurred, however, when it was shown that a surveyor had made a mistake and many of the disposed and partial losers thought that this meant that the whole enclosure was invalid and began tearing down fences and hedges. The local yeomanry were deployed to quell what became a riot and even a detachment of the Coldstream Guards was sent to Islip. The big owners won, as they usually did, but their attempts at draining were less than successful because of constant flooding.
In more recent times there have been other threats to the unique nature of the moor. At one time it was proposed to create a reservoir while the Ministry of Transports’ suggested route for the M40 extension across the area would also have been an environmental disaster. The reservoir scheme never materialised after strong community opposition and the same pressure plus a protected species forced a rethink on the motorway route.
The second part of the evening was undertaken by Mrs Wall and with the aid of slides we journeyed around the moor visiting the villages and farms. We were able to see, through the illustrations and the accompaniment, the special nature of both the countryside and the community.
|
