On 13 March 2023, Richard Dudding spoke about The Making of Radley Lakes to a packed church of members and guests.
Richard’s talk covered the history of the Radley Lakes area up to the year 2000. He began by explaining its topology and geography: by the river, an area of meadow, to the north of that, pasture, and further north again, arable land overlaying a gravel terrace. This mix proved ideal for human settlement and, by around 2000 BC, organized communities had been established. But around the time of the Roman occupation they disappeared, and it was not until after the 10th century founding of Abingdon Abbey that Thrupp was settled. The area was farmed in a strip system, with common land close to the river. Thrupp thrived for several centuries but after about 1300, and for reasons unknown, its population declined and never recovered.
After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Lakes area became part of the new manor of Radley. The land was enclosed towards the end of the 17th century and large tenant farmers, who employed labourers, replaced the self-sufficient husbandmen and yeoman farmers. In the 19th century the Dockar-Drysdale family acquired Wick Farm and went on to buy Thrupp Farm, which became the farming base with new buildings. After World War II the family began to sell some fields and lease others to companies who extracted gravel from what had been the arable acreages. Gravel extraction ceased in the 1990s. The pits filled with groundwater to form lakes, while trees and shrubs colonised what had once been thriving farmland, and the Radley Lakes area began to take on its current, but certainly not ancient, appearance.
On 3 April 2023, Alistair Lack will give a talk on The History of Oxford University. Please note that this meeting is taking place a week earlier than usual because the second Monday in April is the Easter Bank Holiday.