Oxfordshire towns including Chipping Norton, Burford and Witney in the Victoria County History to be focus of Banbury lecture

The event takes place in the education room at Banbury Museum - and online - on Thursday, January 13. The expert delivering the lecture will be Dr Simon Townley

The Victoria County History (VCH) is probably best known for its detailed histories of rural parishes but it has also studied - and is still studying - urban areas and small towns, many of which began as planned medieval settlements founded by entrepreneurial lords.

The forthcoming lecture will look at the Oxfordshire VCH’s recent treatment of towns such as Burford, Henley and Witney, combining detailed documentary work with the study of buildings, urban layout and underlying archaeology.

The lecture also marks and celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the 1972 publication of the VCH’s history of Banbury - still in print and now freely available online. It was this study which led Professor Alan Everitt, in his review, to label Banbury as ‘one of the primary towns of England’.

Simon Townley has been County Editor of the Victoria County History of Oxfordshire since 1996 and as well as researching rural parishes has worked on the history of several Oxfordshire towns, including Witney, Henley, Burford, and (at present) Chipping Norton.

There will be a small, distanced but audience for the lecture at Banbury Museum but it will also be possible for people to watch at home.

Please sign in with Simon Townsend ([email protected]). The society needs to ensure safe numbers and also to whom links should be sent to those wishing to watch at home. Non-members are very welcome. They may receive one lecture free but will then be invited to pay per screening or to join the society.