Untitled - Council for British Archaeology

'
EARTHWORKS
Slight earthworks in the square paddock beyond the E.end of the
churchyard conceivably represent one' or two abandoned medieval
house sites or part of the 'St. Amand manorial buildings. In addition
to.this the 1801 map shows small'groups of buildings which have
since disappeared on the N.side.of Cumberford Hill and. on the
E.side of the Banbury Road-under the-school's.playing-field. With
thesé'very minor exceptions there'is no evidence that either. part
of Bloxham has suffered significant contraction on any front -
indeed, continued growth has been the most dominant pattern of
the village's history.
INDUSTRIAL FEATURES
Weaver's Cottages : Sycamore Terrace (PRN.9426), converted to
weaver's cottages in the 19th century, are
the chief remaining monument to the plush
and shag industry. Six four-storey weaving-shops with the looms on
the top floor on the site of Burcot House in Queen's Street (PRN. 11,838)
were demolished in the 1950's. Gulliver's wool warehouse on Stone
Hill (PRN. 11,841) was burned down in 1850. The site of a further
group of stone-built thatched weaving sheds is recorded in Church
Passage (PRN. 11,834). The village sheepwash survives in greatly
modified form as an ornamental garden pond (PRN. 11,840).
Brick, tile and drainpipe works : The brickworks (PRN. 125)
immediately N.of the village
is first recorded in 1815, when
its products were ordered -for the Methodist chapel in Banbury. There
were two square kilns in 1881, which were still operating at the
end of the century under William Adkins.
Sawmill and timberyard : Active through the later 19th century. There
was a sawpit (PRN. 11,828) off Old Bridge
Road in 1881. In 1900 Butler's sawmill and
timberyard employed 40 men.
Ironstone quarrying : Ironstone was being mined on the edge of the
village in the 19th century, from evidence of
drifts and tunnels discovered near Queen's
Street in the 195o's (PRN. 5621). Open-cast working began on a much
larger scale after 1917 when the Bloxham & Whiston Iron Co. acquired
nearly 200 acres (80 ha.) at Milton Pits near Oldbarn Farm 1.3 km.
E. of the village (PRN. 2231). Closer to the village alongside the
Tadmarton road the Bloxham Pits were later opened up by the
Northamptonshire Ironstone Co. and worked by the Claycross Coal and
Iron Co. from 1939 (PRN.2232).
Most other trades were small-scale and served purely local needs. The
Bloxham Gas Light and Coke Co. was started in 1870, and some of its
buildings remain at the bottom of Cumberford Hill (PRN. 130), though the
actual gasometer has gone. There were several bakeries, including one
in High Street (PRN. 1219) now occupied by Fashion Fabrics, and Page's
bakery (PRN. 11,765) at the Elephant & Castle. There were malthouses
in Queen's Street (PRN. 131), behind the Hawk & Partridge (PRN.11,833)
and opposite All Saints School (PRN. 132). Three smithies are known
in 1881 : Zachariah Print's Old Smithy (PRN. 11,811) next to Seal
Cottage, another now incorporated into Barclay's Bank (PRN. 11,829) and
one in High Street S. of the school (PRN. 11,830).
119 -