Adderbury

The village of Adderbury lies in Northern Oxfordshire, England, situated on the edge of the Cotswolds. Adderbury is noted for its Church which features an impressive steeple, as well as the many honey coloured Horton stone cottages in the older parts of the village.

Adderbury is located approx. 3 miles South of Banbury, 2 miles from Bloxham, 10 miles from J10 of the M40 and is 20 miles North of Oxford. The village is divided into two by the Sor Brook.

Adderbury has a strong community spirit and there is a regular diary of clubs and events which include the History Association, 1st Adderbury Scout troop, Mother's Union, Twyford Tigers, Over Sixties club, Gardening Club, Amateur Dramatics (Adderbury Theatre Workshop) and more.

There are four watering holes; The Bell Inn, The Red Lion, The Coach & Horses and The Plough.

The village name Adderbury has had several changes of spelling - it was Eadburg in the Domesday Book. The parish church of St Mary the Virgin was started in the early 13th century and largely completed by the 15th century.

The tithe barn stands near the church, probably dating mainly from the 14th century. Some village architecture is somewhat grander than that of Bloxham, for example the sixteenth-century manor house which has diamond-patterned brick chimney-stacks, and the Grange, built by John Bloxham of Banbury for Sir Thomas Cobb in 1682.

Adderbury House housed troops in the Civil war when Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester and Prince Rupert of the Rhine were Royalist cavalry commanders there. In the 19th century, Adderbury House was in the possession of Major Larnach and when his Adderbury-trained horse Jeddah won the Derby at 100-1 and also won at Ascot, the Major gifted the building of the village Institute. This was opened in 1898 and has been the setting of countless village events since then, ranging from early instruction and sewing meetings to the present-day activities.

Morris

The existence of the traditional Adderbury morris dancing side was first documented by Janet Blunt. In 1916 she began interviewing William "Binx" Walton, who was then 80 years old. Walton had been foreman of the Adderbury side for a 20 year interval at the middle of the 19th century. In 1919 Blunt introduced Walton to Cecil Sharp, who watched Walton's performances and published detailed descriptions in his Morris Book.

Subsequent researches have determined that there were once as many as 3 morris sides in Adderbury, and the names of more than 2 dozen of the 19th century dancers have been documented. During Whitsun week they performed their dances in Adderbury and the neighboring villages.

There are several reports of Morris dancing in the Banbury area from years gone by. Puritans in the seventeenth century complained about Morris dancers and their ungodly ways. Towards the end of the eighteenth century local teams were recorded at Ayhno, Bicester, Brackley, Croughton, Kings Sutton, Middleton Cheney. During the nineteenth century sides were known to be active in Adderbury, Badby, Bloxham, Brackley, Bucknell, Deddington, Kings Sutton.

Teams regularly used to dance at Banbury Fair and the well known Banbury eccentric, William 'Old Mettle' Castle was fool for the Adderbury team in the last century. During the nineteenth century the village had two or possibly three teams performing although the practice had died out by the 1880's.

There was a revival team established at Village School during the late Edwardian era and some of these boys developed into a men's morris team, prior to First World War. There are pictures of this side and the identity of the members was established, through talking to older village residents, in 1974. Indeed one of the dancers in the photographs, Charlie Coleman was still alive at that time. It is sad to record that of those in the pictures only two returned from the Great War and so the brief revival of Morris dancing in Adderbury died with them.

Around this time the dances were recorded from two of the last surviving members of the 19th century team, brothers William and John Walton, in such detail by Janet Blunt and others that the dances could still be performed by a newly formed revival team led by Bryan Sheppard and Tim Radford. The side split in 1975 and so there are now two morris dancing sides in Adderbury, The Adderbury Village Morris Men (dressed in white and green with top hats) - who's members come from the village or surrounding parishes and only dance traditional dances from Adderbury - and the Adderbury Morris Men (dressed in white, blue and red) who are more eclectic. The Adderbury tradition became popular with groups of dancers from as far afield as the United States and Australia. Once a year both teams come together, with other guest sides for a "Day of Dance" throughout the village.

Adderbury Theatre Workshop

In 1977, as part of the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations, a talent contest was held. It was such a success that Adderbury Theatre Workshop was formed. Every year since then, the village institute has hosted several dramatic and musical performances including pantomimes, cabarets and plays.

In 1984 members from Adderbury Theatre Workshop appeared at the Cropredy Festival where they performed the Pheasant Pluckers Song.

Banbury Golf Club

Banbury Golf Club is situated five miles south of Banbury on the B4100 at Adderbury and under 15 minutes from Junction 10 on the M40. Opened in 1993 it now has 3 separate 9 holes loops.

The Clubhouse at Banbury Golf Club, formed from the former stone dairy buildings, located in the centre of the three loops of 9 holes, comprises of a combined lounge/bar area, dinning room to seat up to 40 people, and gentleman's and ladies locker rooms.

Banbury Golf Club's green are constructed to USGA specification and are currently considered to be as good as in north Oxfordshire. Par is either 71 or 72 and SSS 70 or 71 depending upon the combinations played. From the white tees the yellow and blue courses extend 6553 yards and from the yellow tees up to 6061 yards.

The Ladies yardage varies between 5633 and 5827 yards with Par 72 or 74 and SSS 72 or 73, again depending on the combination played.

Wiki Page:Banbury golf club
Website:Banbury Golf Club

Categories

Find

Find