Ewelme
Encyclopedia
Ewelme is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills
in South Oxfordshire
, 2.5 miles (4 km) northeast of the market town
of Wallingford.
To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield
, the north-eastern corner of which is within the parish boundary.
The solid geology is chalk
overlying gault clay
. The drift geology includes some gravel
.
is derived from Ae-whylme, Old English for "waters whelming". It refers to the very fine spring just north of the village, which forms the King's Pool that feeds the rapidly-flowing Ewelme Brook. The brook flows past Fifield Manor and then through nearby Benson
before joining the River Thames
. It formed the basis of Ewelme's watercress
beds, which provided much local employment until well into the 20th Century.
and his wife Alice de la Pole
established the school and cloister
ed almshouse
s from their profits from the East Anglian wool trade in 1437. Alice was the daughter of Thomas Chaucer
, Speaker of the House of Commons
and granddaughter of the poet
Geoffrey Chaucer
. As lords of the manor
, she and her father had both lived at Ewelme Palace which once stood in the village. The school (and the adjoining church) featured prominently in the children's work of fiction The Writing on the Hearth
by Carnegie Medal-winning author Cynthia Harnett
. The action in the book is set around the time the school was built. Ewelme School is said to be the oldest school building in the UK still in use as a local authority school.
The almshouses are officially called "The Two Chaplains and Thirteen Poor Men of Ewelme in the County of Oxford". The thirteen almsmen have now been reduced to eight, but the building is still run as a charity by the Ewelme Trust.
Under James I
the original purpose of the position of Master of Ewelme Hospital was diverted to support the Oxford Regius Professor of Physic
, with the change being made in 1617, confirmed by the 1628 attachment of the stipend to the chair. At the same time the rectorship of Ewelme was made to support the Oxford Regius Professor of Divinity, who then served as Rector of the parish church.
Thomas Chaucer and Alice de la Pole are buried in the Church of England parish church
of Saint Mary
adjoining the almshouses: Thomas with a memorial brass
on a tomb chest and Alice beneath a church monument
, complete with her cadaver
inside. Her effigy
was examined by Queen Victoria's commissioners in order to discover how a lady should wear the Order of the Garter
. Amongst her husbands were the 4th Earl of Salisbury and the 1st Duke of Suffolk
, Lord Chamberlain
of England. Her six-year-old step-great-granddaughter, the 15th Countess of Warwick, also died at Ewelme, but was buried at Reading Abbey
. Jerome K. Jerome
, author of Three Men In A Boat
and his wife Ettie are buried in St. Mary's churchyard.
, the Shepherd's Hut, controlled by Greene King Brewery
. The village store is run by volunteers on a not-for-profit basis.
Ewelme Cricket Club was founded in 1933.
Since 2006 Ewelme has hosted the annual Chiltern Chase, a charity run of two multi-terrain (cross-country) courses: one of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) and the other of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). Both races start and finish on Cow Common. Normally two charities benefit equally from the proceeds of the event.
's historical novel The Writing On The Hearth
(1971). Set in the 1440s and featuring real life characters such as Alice Chaucer, the novel is for readers eleven years and above.
Chiltern Hills
The Chiltern Hills form a chalk escarpment in South East England. They are known locally as "the Chilterns". A large portion of the hills was designated officially as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965.-Location:...
in South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....
, 2.5 miles (4 km) northeast of the market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of Wallingford.
To the east of the village is Cow Common and to the west, Benson Airfield
RAF Benson
RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force station near Benson in South Oxfordshire, England. It is home to the Royal Air Force's support helicopters, the Aérospatiale Puma and the EH-101 Merlin, known as the Puma HC.Mk 1 and the Merlin HC.Mk 3 and Mk 3a....
, the north-eastern corner of which is within the parish boundary.
The solid geology is chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
overlying gault clay
Gault Clay
Gault is a clay formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period...
. The drift geology includes some gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
.
Toponym
The toponymToponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
is derived from Ae-whylme, Old English for "waters whelming". It refers to the very fine spring just north of the village, which forms the King's Pool that feeds the rapidly-flowing Ewelme Brook. The brook flows past Fifield Manor and then through nearby Benson
Benson, Oxfordshire
Benson is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England. It is about north of Wallingford at the foot of the Chiltern Hills at the confluence of a chalk stream and the River Thames, next to Benson Lock...
before joining the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. It formed the basis of Ewelme's watercress
Watercress
Watercresses are fast-growing, aquatic or semi-aquatic, perennial plants native from Europe to central Asia, and one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by human beings...
beds, which provided much local employment until well into the 20th Century.
Almshouses and school
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of SuffolkWilliam de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, KG , nicknamed Jack Napes , was an important English soldier and commander in the Hundred Years' War, and later Lord Chamberlain of England.He also appears prominently in William Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 1 and Henry VI, part 2 and other...
and his wife Alice de la Pole
Alice de la Pole
Alice de la Pole, Duchess of Suffolk was an English Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.Alice was born Alice Chaucer, daughter to Thomas Chaucer and Matilda Burghersh. Her grandfather was the poet Geoffrey Chaucer. When she was 11 she married Sir John Philip. The couple lived briefly at...
established the school and cloister
Cloister
A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...
ed almshouse
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
s from their profits from the East Anglian wool trade in 1437. Alice was the daughter of Thomas Chaucer
Thomas Chaucer
Thomas Chaucer was the Speaker of the English House of Commons and son of Geoffrey Chaucer and Philippa Roet.-Life:...
, Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
and granddaughter of the poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
. As lords of the manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
, she and her father had both lived at Ewelme Palace which once stood in the village. The school (and the adjoining church) featured prominently in the children's work of fiction The Writing on the Hearth
The Writing on the Hearth
The Writing on the Hearth is a children's historical novel by Cynthia Harnett and illustrated by Gareth Floyd. It was first published in 1971 and was reissued in a special edition by Ewelme School in 2002.-Setting:...
by Carnegie Medal-winning author Cynthia Harnett
Cynthia Harnett
Cynthia Harnett was a highly acclaimed English writer of children's historical fiction.Known for her exceptional attention to detail and meticulous background research, combined with ingenious and engrossing plots, Harnett wrote only seven novels. The Wool-Pack won the Carnegie Medal in 1951...
. The action in the book is set around the time the school was built. Ewelme School is said to be the oldest school building in the UK still in use as a local authority school.
The almshouses are officially called "The Two Chaplains and Thirteen Poor Men of Ewelme in the County of Oxford". The thirteen almsmen have now been reduced to eight, but the building is still run as a charity by the Ewelme Trust.
Under James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
the original purpose of the position of Master of Ewelme Hospital was diverted to support the Oxford Regius Professor of Physic
Regius Professor of Medicine (Oxford)
The Regius Professor of Medicine is an appointment held at the University of Oxford. The chair was founded by Henry VIII of England by 1546, and until the 20th century the title was Regius Professor of Physic...
, with the change being made in 1617, confirmed by the 1628 attachment of the stipend to the chair. At the same time the rectorship of Ewelme was made to support the Oxford Regius Professor of Divinity, who then served as Rector of the parish church.
Parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of Saint Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
adjoining the almshouses: Thomas with a memorial brass
Monumental brass
Monumental brass is a species of engraved sepulchral memorial which in the early part of the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood...
on a tomb chest and Alice beneath a church monument
Church monument
A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a dead person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms, from a simple wall tablet to a large and elaborate structure which may include an effigy of the deceased person and other figures of familial or...
, complete with her cadaver
Cadaver tomb
A cadaver tomb or transi is a church monument or tomb featuring an effigy in the macabre form of a decomposing corpse. The topos was particularly characteristic of the later Middle Ages....
inside. Her effigy
Effigy
An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...
was examined by Queen Victoria's commissioners in order to discover how a lady should wear the Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
. Amongst her husbands were the 4th Earl of Salisbury and the 1st Duke of Suffolk
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, KG , nicknamed Jack Napes , was an important English soldier and commander in the Hundred Years' War, and later Lord Chamberlain of England.He also appears prominently in William Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 1 and Henry VI, part 2 and other...
, Lord Chamberlain
Lord Chamberlain
The Lord Chamberlain or Lord Chamberlain of the Household is one of the chief officers of the Royal Household in the United Kingdom and is to be distinguished from the Lord Great Chamberlain, one of the Great Officers of State....
of England. Her six-year-old step-great-granddaughter, the 15th Countess of Warwick, also died at Ewelme, but was buried at Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey
Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors...
. Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome Klapka Jerome was an English writer and humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue Three Men in a Boat.Jerome was born in Caldmore, Walsall, England, and was brought up in poverty in London...
, author of Three Men In A Boat
Three Men in a Boat
Three Men in a Boat ,The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog! published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K...
and his wife Ettie are buried in St. Mary's churchyard.
Amenities
Ewelme has a public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, the Shepherd's Hut, controlled by Greene King Brewery
Greene King Brewery
Greene King is a British brewery established in 1799 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It has grown to become one of the largest British owned breweries in the UK through a series of takeovers which have been the subject of some criticism. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent...
. The village store is run by volunteers on a not-for-profit basis.
Ewelme Cricket Club was founded in 1933.
Since 2006 Ewelme has hosted the annual Chiltern Chase, a charity run of two multi-terrain (cross-country) courses: one of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) and the other of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). Both races start and finish on Cow Common. Normally two charities benefit equally from the proceeds of the event.
Literature
Ewelme is the principal setting for Cynthia HarnettCynthia Harnett
Cynthia Harnett was a highly acclaimed English writer of children's historical fiction.Known for her exceptional attention to detail and meticulous background research, combined with ingenious and engrossing plots, Harnett wrote only seven novels. The Wool-Pack won the Carnegie Medal in 1951...
's historical novel The Writing On The Hearth
The Writing on the Hearth
The Writing on the Hearth is a children's historical novel by Cynthia Harnett and illustrated by Gareth Floyd. It was first published in 1971 and was reissued in a special edition by Ewelme School in 2002.-Setting:...
(1971). Set in the 1440s and featuring real life characters such as Alice Chaucer, the novel is for readers eleven years and above.