This envelope and cutting were lent to the Archive by Freda Bradley. Sundown Cottage was in the grounds of Prospect, the house immediately in front of you as you walk down the lane past the south side of the Grammar School. Mr & Mrs Rose bought it and they bought Prospect. The little cottage was later removed.
We don't know why Freda brought the envelope with the cutting; sadly whoever she lent it to didn't record that

A bird was found to have made its nest inside the letterbox at Bampton and Brize Norton Railway station by Mrs Emmie Papworth who along with Mr F G Cannons was a post lady in Bampton about 1960. It was thought to be a member of the tit family and was disturbed only once while the eggs were being hatched.

This is the original Duttons shop in Bridge Street somewhere about 1880. Note at this time there were just two windows, not four that are there today.

In the second picture you can see George Dutton on the left and the 15 year old boy is William Mathews who a few years later bought the shop from George. George was not brilliant at running a shop but the Midland Bank established a counter within it which George ran and he was very good at figures. When the bank took over the premises next door to the butcher, he moved to be the fulltime teller and that's when he sold the shop to William.

The third picture was taken in 1960. Note the cycle rack stand. Dr Bullen's wife is on the left of the picture.

These are a collection of records compiled by Lloyd Hughes Owens and cover many aspects of local life and people. 1247 local tithes; 1275 extract from Quo Warranto Roll concerning tenures; 1288 Bond of obligation to pay rent for Vicars' house; 1262 Grant of land in Chimney; 1307-8 Confirmation of the rights of the D & C to manorial privilege in Bampton; 1318 Composition concerning common pasture; 1308-19 Records in suit - depositions of witnesses etc - concerning the tithes of Standlake and concerning the burial of the people of Standlake in Bampton parish church; 1360 Judgement in a suit against the chaplain of Standlake; 1406 Memoranda about the burials of the people of Standlake and Herdwyck away from Bampton parish church; 1445 Copy of an earlier grant, exemplified by Edmund Lacy, bishop of Exeter by the Bishop of Lincoln of portions of the parish church of Bampton to the D & C of Exeter; mid 15th century Draft letter recommending Richard Daber as Vicar of Bampton; late 15th century Group of letters about the manor of Bampton, addressed to the bailiff of the manor; 1503-4 Reference to the rebuilding of the chancel of Bampton church; Repairs made in 1496 at a cost of £20 in the accounts spread over 20 years; late 15th century? Reference to a suit between the Earl of Shrewsbury and the D & C concerning common of pasture in Bampton; 1670 Certificate by Bishop of Oxford re William Hodge's resignation of the vicarage; 1691 Receipt by Mr Veysey for the court rolls of Bampton. There is much more information in this collection of papers.

There was a time when our local post men and women cycled round to both deliver and collect letters. There was a letterbox at Bampton and Brize Norton railway station and it was here a blackbird's nest was discovered inside the box. Great care was taken when emptying the box and in the end, the birds hatched and fledged.

These 9 newspaper cuttings are all from 1968. The topics covered include

Deputy county surveyor faces a barrage of complaints including roadworks in the Market Square, Village green areas being used as dumping grounds, badly sighted new road signs, 19 council houses had been built in Bampton.

Michael Pickard, younger son of Mr & Mrs Pickard of Knapps Farm, is off to Russia with his bride Elizabeth Hart after their honeymoon in Malta with his work for ICI with regard to a new fibre plant.

Theft of a Jaguar in Bampton and the collection box in the Jubilee Inn with money for Bampton's OAPs and £65 from Albert Coles of St Mary's Trailer Court.

Bampton Town football club reached the final of the Fred Ford Memorial Cup

Basic reports from St Mary's, the Bingo club, Darby & Joan club, British Legion, Baptist church and the NSPCC

Work has started on building Lavender Place Flats on the site of the farmyard of Home Farm, the farmhouse being on High Street and recently (2018) renamed Leat House which is a great shame as it's history has been lost with the name change.

Bampton Youth Club re-opens with new leader Mr Michael Yeo

Wedding of Daphne Jackson to Allan Pullin.

George Dafter awarded Imperial Service Medal from the Post Office, he retired and he celebrated his 65th birthday.

Tom Smith was the son of a gypsy Queen and for 1969, the number of people and cars who came to his funeral was a very memorable affair. To this day, locals call the bend just outside Bampton on the Bampton to Brize Norton Road 'Hoppy's Corner.' It's on the right leaving Bampton just after passing the allotments.

In the 1970s Fleur de Lys was a hair salon owned by Margaret Roberts. It is in Bushey Row. There were several owners after Margaret and it was later a video rental shop, a shop selling twee things for gardeners and a Physiotherapy Centre. Now it sells pottery (2021)

Brian and Siobhan O'Rourke owned the Cotton Club and started it in these premises in Rosemary Lane. It acquired a wonderful reputation and I know one seamstress in South Wales who came once every two months to buy her cotton fabric here. After a few years, the shop went across the road into the right-hand side of Duttons and from there it went to the Market Square in the premises that had once been the Central Garage, then Barclays Bank and it was when the bank left the Cotton Club moved in.

The Eagle Inn in Church View, Sadly, it closed in January 1992. It was the head quarters of the Bampton Traditional Morris Men when Francis Shergold was squire of the side. It was a happy place with darts, aunt sally, a garden and a one time a piano in the bar.