I was listening in to a conversation. The subject got onto old houses, and one chap said to the other…
‘The one with the timbers and removed brick infill on Stert Street says 1470. Do you think it can be?‘
The other one considered the matter, ‘Its possible’ he said, ‘But I think there is one older in East St Helen’s Street.
The one with the plaque..’
There are certainly some very old houses in Abingdon. Many of them are down East St Helen’s Street.
But the Long Alley Almshouses, originally built in 1446, would be hard to beat.
Or do you know better?
Oh…I lived in the house in East St Helen Street for ten years…I miss it so much :o(
Hmmm…that was supposed to be a sad face, not a big grin! And somehow Blogger didn’t sign me in as it usually does. Ah well…
There will be a chance to explore one of Abingdon`s oldest houses (origins in 14th C) this Saturday afternoon. St Ethelwold`s in East St Helen St will be open from 2.30pm to 5pm. A good chance to explore the house, hear its history (free). Tea and cake available too.
Was it not St Ethelwolds that was a school for a while in the 1960’s?
Yes, St Ethelwolds was run my Miss Pickering…I was a pupil
Cool, thanks for the tip about Saint Ethelwold’s: I will go and have a look at that Saturday arvo. |
Thanks for posting the page, I have been wondering about the oldest house in #Abingdon for a while. It is hard to tell about the 1470 house above, due to the rendering. The brickwork also looks a bit too neat.
I was a pupil too, from a very young age! I can remember lunch time naps on the floor but always being told off for moving! The school was also on Park Road.
Assuming the picture at the top is 3 Stert Street, there is a fascinating history of the house at http://www.mjfh1.demon.co.uk/hist.htm which confirms its 15th century origins.
I was also a pupil at Miss Pickering’s school in East St Helen’s and also at Park Road, along with my cousin Christopher Vernon.
hello i live on oxford road road abingdon i just wanted you to please highlight the fact that tesco has started work at the ox pub my local it was a nice one too. tesco workers with tesco safety vests on were seen putting up boards around the pub and a digger digging the front.
What do the numbers and letters on the tower of the Long Alley Almshouse mean?
I too was a pupil for a few years from 1963 – it was known then as The Vineyard School – and remember after lunch naps on the floor (I still have the blanket), wearing panama hats in summer and felt hats in the winter. I also have a vague memory of a single storey wooden building in a park that the youngest children used?
The wooden building was used as an annexe to the school in Park Road before Miss Pickering moved to East St Helen’s Street. It was across the road and I think it may still be there behind the telephone exchange.
I was also at the Vineyard School in 1963 along with my sister Kathleen, my Mother also taught there in the timber building across the road in the park. I remember a family of American’s that came to Abingdon with the children going to the Vineyard School by the name of Kileen
No 3 Stert Street history is now at
http://www.stertstream.net/hist.htm
also on the town council’s website in the history tab.
MH June 2016
The age of No 3 is confirmed by dendrochronology (tree rings) dating of the main timbers which support the house.. The brickwork and rendering of the front of the house date from the 1960s when the house was literally almost falling down.
MH
Vineyard school- fascinated to hear memories of lunchtime naps. I was there around 1962-64 I think and have a wonderful photo of us in our uniforms along with our teacher. If I can find it then perhaps I can post it here.
Hello to any one that knew me shirley and my family. We lived aboved Allsorts the sweet shop in Stert st. We moved in 1972 and moved out 1982. We visited Abingdon in the 1990’s and was horrified to find the shop and living quarters totaly gutted on the inside and turned into an Estate Agents. I’m in my 60’s now and I still miss it.