The Kirtlington Historical Society, which was founded in 1994, meets on the fourth Thursday of each month from September until April (December excepted) to hear and discuss talks on a wide range of topics, including archaeology and literary and art history as well as themes relating to political and social history. The siege of Malta in the Second World War, satirical cartoons, the Mary Rose, and the authorship of Shakespeare’s works are among the topics covered in previous years. Although the Society is mainly concerned with general history, there have also been several talks on the history of Kirtlington from the time of Victoria onwards. Talks are not aimed at a specialist audience, and interest is more important than prior knowledge: the Society seeks to show that the study of history can be more fascinating than some people remember it to have been at school. The last meeting each session is a members’ evening: this has taken various forms, but on the last occasion we watched a DVD entitled “How We Were at the Seaside” and members were invited to contribute memories from their own childhood.
The Society attracts members from neighbouring villages as well as from Kirtlington, and in light of the current membership it has been renamed The Kirtlington and Bletchington Historical Society.
The programme for 2022-2023 is as follows. We look forward very much to continuing meeting face-to-face in the Village Hall at Kirtlington. All meetings begin at 7.30pm.
September 22nd: Simon Wenham “Living the Lexicon: James Murray and the Creation of the Oxford English Dictionary”
October 27th: John Perkins “Roman Tackley: The Latest Discoveries”
November 24th: Alice Foster “1500 Years of the Christmas Story in Art”
January 26th: Carol Anderson “Over the Hills to Glory: The Story of the Ascott Martyrs”
February 23rd: James Hamilton “John Constable: Reactionary and Radical”
March 23rd: Graham Hutchings “China 1949: Year of Revolutions”
April 27th: AGM and Members’ Evening
All are very welcome.
Members’ annual subscription is £12. Visitors pay £4 per meeting.