Market Place
OX14 3HG Abingdon
Oxfordshire
Every third Saturday of the month come and listen to local experts talk about interesting topics around the museum galleries. Each talk will last 30 minutes and will be about different subjects about Abingdon’s history or chosen objects in the museum collection.
Talks schedule:
11:30 am – ‘The Spinney Dig: Uncovering a Lost Cottage in Sunningwell’ by Robert Evans.
A few years ago we rediscovered the remains of a substantial old cottage in the grounds of Sunningwell School. Since then we have been excavating the site, trying to find out what the place looked like, and how the people who occupied it would have lived. So far that work has yielded lots of evidence for the past 150 years or so; more and older items may still be hidden below the ground. It’s not rare stuff – no precious coins, or ship-burials, or oriental glassware; just bric-a-brac that tells us about the world of ordinary villagers.
I’ll bring along some of our finds to show, and present an illustrated report on the project.
1 pm – ‘Abingdon in the Second World War’ by Bob Frampton.
During the war years 1939 to 1945, the small town of Abingdon, like so many of England’s rural settlements, experienced the conflict in a way quite different from the major cities. While the town escaped the attention of concentrated heavy bombing raids, it still made a major contribution to the war, making tanks, aircraft engines and wing-parts. It sent 1,000 of its people to the war. The local RAF station trained bomber crews.
This short talk will highlight some of the events of those difficult years, the struggles and the sacrifices and some of the personal stories of the town in this harrowing episode in its recent history.
FREE talks, no booking required.
All donations welcome.