Speaker Meeting, 6.15 for 6.30pm

In the words of President Ann, one of our own “lovely” members, George Blackwell, is our speaker.  George’s subject was Bibury and its history and he began by saying there is evidence of human habitation in Bibury since 2,500 BC.  Later, it’s clear that the Romans lived and farmed there and after them, Anglo Saxons and Danes (there are Scandinavian carvings in the Saxon Church).  

In the Domesday Book (1086) the village is called Becheberie.  It’s recorded that the lands and church were held by St. Mary's Priory at Worcester, from which it passed in 1130 to the Abbey of Osney.  The Black Death wrought a particularly heavy death toll.  In 1348 there were 29 tenant farmers in Bibury but 2 years later there were just 7.  Osney Abbey continued to hold the land until its dissolution in 1540.

The parish church of St Mary dates from late Saxon times.  From 1130 until the Reformation it was a peculier of Osney Abbey, Oxford.  It’s an extremely popular church today – for weddings.  A primary school was built in the 1850s and today it has 40 pupils in two classes.

Arlington Row was built in 1380 as a monastic wool store. It was converted into cottages for weavers in the 17th century. The Row is now owned by the National Trust.  A lot of people will know that Arlington Row has been used as a film and television location many times, for example Stardust and Bridget Jones's Diary.  But not a lot of people realise that Arlington Row is depicted inside UK passports. 

Bibury Court is a Grade I listed Jacobean country house dating from the 16th century.  It was originally a Benedictine Monastery, first extended in 1633 since when later additions have been made. The original part now forms the north wing.  It was converted into a hotel in the 1960’s.  In 2008 the hotel was closed and the building sold.  It’s been sold again since, and the new owner, a wealthy Australian, is carrying out extensive and expensive renovations.  It’s reported that repairs to the roof alone have cost some £1.5m.

In 1859 Bibury’s population numbered 291, today it’s around 700, but that number is swelled daily by swarms of tourists, especially Japanese.  They come because Emperor Hirohito once stayed in the village and declared it his most favourite place in England.

William Morris of nearby Kelmscott Manor called Bibury "the most beautiful village in England".  

And finally......in the 19th Century Bibury had a drapers shop run by a Mr & Mrs Frank Brown. When Mrs Brown held a sale she posted the following advert in the shop window: “Browns Trousers Down Again!”