History Occasional Paper Series (HOPS)

These are either new publications specifically commissioned by the Longworth and District History Society or are facsimile editions of previously published valued local historical literature which had gone out-of-print. We published five books in this series in 2007 at bargain prices.

Prince’s Roses, a hundred years of Longworth Roses by Jan Kelly (2009). Published by Thematic Trails for Longworth and District History Society. ISBN 978-0-948444-53-1. 96 pages (A5), 90 illustrations, many in colour, including a unique photo of a ‘Longworth Rose’.

Jan Kelly has been meticulously researching the remarkable growth, and eventual decline, of the rose industry in Longworth. Within a hundred years, principally the result of the entrepreneurial drive of two families - the Princes and the Drews, the Longworth rose industry grew rapidly in the late 19th and early 20th century, gaining an international reputation and winning numerous awards at shows throughout the United Kingdom. Jan Kelly’s research has been enhanced by her close contact with present members of the Prince and Drew families.

Ostensibly a history of the Prince family and its associations with Longworth, this book is also an emotive commentary on village life of the period. Jan Kelly spices her writing with well-selected quotes and an impressive range of pertinent illustrations.

This book should appeal to both the present inhabitants of the village of Longworth and those with an interest in the history of the English Rose.

Published in October 2007

Hinton Waldrist through the Centuries
by Jasmine S. Howse (1968 and 1969) £11.00

The book has been out-of-print for many years. The new 2007 facsimile edition is published by Thematic Trails in association with Longworth and District History Society.

ISBN 978-0-948444-52-4 211 pages (A5) 23 illustrations including the 1762 enclosure map.

The facsimile edition combines the original two parts of the book which were written in 1968 and 1969 respectively.

Part One contains four chapters detailing the history of the village from pre-Domesday to the seventeenth century.

Part Two covers the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The book is the result of meticulous research using, wherever possible, surviving historical documents and maps. Statistics and quotes are frequently used to support the account. It is a compelling read.

Longworth Through the Centuries
by Jasmine S Howse (1980-82).

163 pages, plus appendix, 33 illustrations.

ISBN 978-0-948444-51-7 £9.00

This 2007 facsimile edition is published by Thematic Trails in association with Longworth and District History Society.

It is a comprehensively researched book and chapter headings include: Early period, Medieval period, sixteenth century, seventeenth century, eighteenth century, nineteenth century.

The Life and Times of Southmoor Methodist Chapel
by Jan Kelly (2007) £6.00

ISBN 978-0-948444-48-7 Published by Thematic Trails for Longworth and District History Society. 76 pages (A4 size). 75 illustrations including 9 maps of local historic interest.

The story of the chapel at the crossroads in Southmoor, Oxfordshire, becomes a social history of a village, which has grown in population five-fold since the chapel was built in 1842.

The chapel has played a significant role in the development of the village but social changes, as have happened elsewhere, has seen this role in gradual decline.

Jan Kelly has chosen an appropriate time to gather together from dispersed documentary evidence and the memories of older members of the congregation, an intriguing record of the way the chapel has contributed to the evolution of this village community.

Village Millennium, a short history of Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor
by W R Carmichael (1971).

ISBN 978-0-948444-50-0. 36 pages (A5) 9 illustrations. £3.00

The 2007 facsimile edition is published by Thematic Trails for Longworth and District History Society.

This little booklet makes easy reading. In one evening session you can acquire a sound introduction to the long and interesting history of this settlement of Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor and make an important step to feeling part of the village community.

The Cultivators
by Murray Maclean (1970). The 2007 revised and extended 2nd edition is published by Thematic Trails for Longworth and District History Society.

ISBN 978-0948444-49-4 20 pages (A5). 13 illustrations. £1.50

A brief but succinct history of the development of agriculture in Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor in the county of Berkshire, now Oxfordshire. The history spans 1000 years and the booklet was originally written as a supplement to the book Village Millennium by W R Carmichael (see above). This 2nd edition has a 4-page ‘postscript’ to record events which have taken the village into the 21st century.