Newspaper report about refurbishment of the Old Grammar School. Community groups in Bampton had spent years fundraising to upgrade the Building, used as the Cottage Hospital in the hit TV series Downton Abbey. The 17th Century building already housed the village library and archive, plus a small shop, renovation work was to start December 2020. and it was scheduled to open in Spring 2021. West Oxfordshire District Council’s approved a £48,750 grant for Bampton Community Archive (BCA), owned by the Bampton Exhibition Foundation, who themselves made a ‘substantial contribution’ to the project. But the BCA has raised more than £50,000 plus grants, including almost £38,000 in £1 donations through the Bampton Mile appeal. This aim to collect one mile of £1 coins, which laid flat around the Downton Abbey Location Tour would raise £71,527.
Very interesting Obituary for Lord Donoughmore, published in The Times on Friday 9th May 2025 which details his life and achievements. The Earl of Donoughmore, doctor and businessman, was born on August 8, 1927. He died on April 25, 2025, aged 97. When he retired he moved to Bampton with his wife, Sheila, to be near Oxford’s John Radcliffe infirmary, because of her illness He operated a home dialysis machine until she could receive a kidney transplant. He succeeded to his father’s titles in 1981 and sat in the House of Lords under the UK peerage Viscount Hutchinson, contributing to health debates but losing his seat after the House of Lords Act 1999 restricted the number of hereditary peers. He became vice-president of St Luke’s Hospital, Oxford, and chaired Bampton parish council and other local charities. He raised funds to create the three-acre Bampton recreation ground and build its pavilion, saving the local church by finding over £400,000 to replace the roof. Viscount Suirdale, Hely Hutchinson Perdio "personal radio"
44 page PDF with Handwritten text and typed transcribe of the play which has been passed down through generations, and a list of the players for 1972. in the Mummers Play, together with Newspaper cuttings44 pages of original handwritten script and typed copy, together with photographs of members practising at University Farm, Lew in 1972. Father Christmas…………. . Don Rouse* Saint George ……………. . Roy Hewett The Turkish Knight…………. Arnold Woodley The Doctor…………….… Don Rouse Robin Hood………………. Trevor Hewett Little John………………... Ted Hunt Royal Aprussia King …………Roy Hewett Slasher, The Soldier Bold………Arnold Woodley Jack Finney…………………Trevor Hewett Old Tom the Tinker…………...Ted Hunt
Standing in for Martin Hewett who played this part on Christmas Eve.Recorded at a rehearsal in the old chapel at University Farm, Lew. 1972
