Seen with a horse and their families, the blacksmiths Townsend and Wheeler are outside their home, Cromwell House in Cheapside. The door to the right of the bay window has since been removed and the wall filled in.
The blacksmith Mr Cripps at Cromwell House with his family worked the forge between 1888 and 1908. A blacksmith worked with metal and at the time this picture was taken most of his work would have been with farm machinery. There is a seed drill in the picture on the left and the handles of a plough can be seen on the right.
The pub in the High Street named The Morris Clown (as at 2018) began life as The George. Steve the present landlord found the ancient wooden name board in the cellar but it fell to dust when he tried to lift it. A long time ago it became the New Inn as seen in the first photograph which is at least pre 1920 because the cottage at the est end of the Market Square is still standing and that was pulled down to make way for the War Memorial. Over the door can be seen a sign which says Clinch's Entire Eagle Brewery, Witney. There is another line underneath which sadly is not readable. The lower board says Commercial Inn, Lila Clack and two more lines of text which I can't read. The opposite side of the road is the department store owned by T. W. Pembrey which ran the length of present day No7 High Street, Lesta House, Strawberry Cottage and across Bushey Row, then called New Inn Street the shop on the corner. On the end wall of the New Inn on the third picture text can be seen which in part says Commercial something and Posting House. A little of this lettering can still be seen in 2018. What was Pembrey's is now Busby's department store. Note the thatched hay rick camera side of Lime Tree House. Thatching hay ricks kept the hay in good condition and shed the rain off; rick thatching was a specialist job and in Bampton Ben Tanner and his brother were particularly skilled and Reg Rouse was also.
Patrick Strainge, butcher, has his shop in Bridge Street opposite the Horse Shoe Inn and next to Cheyne Lane. At the annual Smithfield Show he got a Gold Medal after he got top makes for five products.
n November 2015 eight products, including Patrick Strainge's Bampton Royal sausages were nominated for the Q Guild Smithfield Awards. Only 200 butchers in England can hold a Q guild aware at any one time so it really is a feather in the cap of our local butchers shop. The Bampton Royal sausages were also a firm favourite with many members of the cast of Downton Abbey which was partly filmed in Bampton.
Many people in Bampton has a lovely meal in Bix Gooddy's bistro at Wheelgate House in the Market Square and were sorry when she felt she had to close it and revert to simply offering bed and breakfast.
