Village Club

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The “Working Men's Club”, now known as the Village Hall and Club, was commissioned for the village in 1911 by Robert Fleming, the newly arrived squire, and designed by C. E. Mallows, F.R.I.B.A., a Bedford and London architect. It was built in 1912, using local materials where possible, wood from Scotland and with labour from the Fleming estate. The official opening was in February 1913, at a dinner given by Robert Fleming for everyone in the village. It provided the venue for a wide range of village activities, including quiz shows, musical evenings, plays, dances, gymnastics, rifle shooting, leisure classes, and a cinematograph (“kinema”) which allegedly provided the first example in England of film used as a teaching aid for the school children, c.1914. There was also, of course, a bar where the men could escape their womenfolk, since the word “men” in its original title meant just that, and it is only in the middle of the 20th century...
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History of the White Hart

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By Andrew Landmann There has been an inn on the site since the 15th century which was previously known as “The George”. In 1456-7 John Wattes held the licence for the inn and paid a rent of 8 pence per year. A ten year legal battle arose in 1504 when the new owner of the George, Thomas English tried to evict the previous tenant, John Wise who refused to move out. The name was changed during the Tudor Period to the White Hart, probably to reflect the resurgence in the popularity of the monarchy. Hunting was a favourite sport of King Henry VIII, and a white hart is a famous old English hunting symbol. The White Hart became a posting house at the time of the name change, where wagons would stop and collect post and parcels for carriage to London, Oxford and Henley. Nettlebed had at least three inns at this time, for in 1536-37 the three Innkeepers where fined for overcharging! The...
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Brickmaking in Nettlebed

Brickmaking in Nettlebed

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Nettlebed Common around 1900 from Windmill Hill. The large pond is the Sea Pond which still exists. Nettlebed was the major centre for brick, tile and pottery manufacture in Oxfordshire from medieval times, and possibly even earlier, up until the 20th century. As the same materials are required for both brick and pottery manufacture, namely clay, sand, water and firewood, the history of these products is inevitably closely linked. There is evidence that bricks were used in the region during Roman times although no manufacturing sites have been found. After the Romans left England around 300A.D. the use of bricks declined until the 12th century although there is evidence that medieval potteries operated in Oxfordshire in the 9th century. Nettlebed and nearby Crocker End, situated on the top of the Chilterns escarpment on a rich bed of Reading Clay and with a plentiful supply of firewood and pond water, was a natural site for brick and pottery making. 700 feet above the...
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Pudding Stones and Geology

Pudding Stones and Geology

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                     Thought to be more than fifty million years old, these two pudding stones were found in the courtyard of the 16th century Bull Hotel in the High Street. It was also thought that they might have been used as mounting blocks. After the Bull closed the stones were moved to the present location. ************************************ Pudding Stones and the Geology of Nettlebed by Dr. Jill Eyers Rocks and landscape shaping Nettlebed As you look around Nettlebed today it is difficult to imagine a time when it was anything else but this beautiful green English village with its lush woodland, common and gentle rolling hills. Surprisingly, it is the effects of very different environments that have shaped Nettlebed today. Much of the underlying solid rock is Chalk and this was deposited between 95 and 65 million years ago – the result of warm seas and a massive global warming. After 65 million years plate movements gradually moved us...
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