There are talks on a wide variety of local history subjects going on all over the county more or less every weekday. Talks which we know are happening are listed below. Note that a small charge may be made for non-members to attend (on-line or in person).
For further information, click on the name of the local society in the list below to get to its website. Contact details for societies are here.
For other events and exhibitions see this page.
November 2023
30th – Aston – Melanie King “Food of the Gods; Adventures in Chocolate”. Fellowship Centre, Cote Road, 7:30pm.
December 2023
1st – Eynsham – Ursula Howard “My Family in the Garden City Movement (1879-1919)”. Church Hall, Swan Street, 7:30pm.
4th – South Stoke – Liz Woolley “The Night-time Haven of the Wandering Tribes: the Common Lodging-house in Victorian England”. Village Hall, 7:30pm.
5th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Ian Binnie “Field Marshall Montgomery”. On-line talk, 7:30pm; e–mail zoom@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
5th – Hook Norton – Sean Callery “Cotswolds Christmas Customs”. Baptist Church Hall, Netting Street, 7:30pm.
5th – Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum (SOFO) – Aldon Ferguson “Military Aerial Reconnaissance and Oxfordshire”. On-line talk 7:00pm, watch live at https://www.sofo.org.uk/whats-on/oxonaerialrecon/.
6th – St Margaret’s Institute, Oxford – Geoffrey Tyack “The Victorian architecture of Oxford”. St Margaret’s Institute, Polstead Road, Oxford. £2 including tea and cake. 1:30-3:30pm (talk 1:45-2:45).
7th – Charlbury – Liz Woolley “Felicia Skene: Oxford writer, prison reformer and friend to the poor”. On-line talk, 8:00pm. Further details from sect.charlburysoc@gmail.com.
7th – Longworth – Virginia Grant “History of Kingston Bagpuize House” . Village Hall, 7:30pm.
8th – Finstock – Tim Healey “Seventeenth-Century Christmas”. Village Hall, 8:00pm.
11th – Chipping Norton – Christopher Norridge “The Mitford Sisters”. Methodist Church Hall, West Street, 2:00pm.
11th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – “Introduction to using autosomal DNA”. On-line talk, 8:00pm (OFHS members only).
12th – Kidlington – Alan Lavender “Chef to four Prime Ministers”. Baptist Church, High Street, 7:30pm.
12th – Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society (OAHS) – Geoffrey Tyack “Oxford Library Buildings”. Rewley House, Oxford, 5:30pm, further information at https://oahs.org.uk/lectures.php.
13th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Bill Pyke “Cuban Missile Crisis”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e–mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
13th – Stanford in the Vale – Tim Healey “A Victorian Christmas”. Large village hall, 7:30pm.
14th – Banbury – Deborah Hayter “How Enclosure shaped Oxfordshire’s landscape”. Banbury Museum, 7:30pm.
18th – Goring Gap – Sarah Somerville “Shaw House, Newbury”. Goring Village Hall, 2:30pm.
18th – Kennington – Liz Woolley “Beer, sausages and marmalade: Oxford food and drink in the 19th century”. Methodist Church, Upper Road, 7:45pm.
19th – Iffley – Julie Summers “Remembered: a history of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission”. Church Hall, Church Way, 7:30pm.
21st – Abingdon – Sean Callery “Christmas and the Cotswolds”. Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road, 7:45pm.
January 2024
2nd – Hook Norton – Tony Cooper “The Great Prize Fight at Whiteoak Green”. Baptist Church Hall, Netting Street, 7:30pm.
4th – Charlbury – Sean Callery “Go West: the story of the A40”. On-line talk, 8:00pm. Further details from sect.charlburysoc@gmail.com.
8th – Chalgrove – Kevin Heritage “Holton Park: from medieval manor to secondary academy – 1,000 years of change and continuity”. John Hampden Hall, 7:45pm.
8th – Radley – Karen Wiles “WW2 Rationing & Cooking for Victory: A Fair Share for All”. St James the Great Church, 7:30pm.
9th – Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society (OAHS) – Kirsty Wright ”Oxford Buildings and the Reconstruction of Royalist Government at Oxford, 1642-1646”. Online talk, 5:30pm, further information at https://oahs.org.uk/lectures.php.
10th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Mike Walsh “Stalingrad”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e–mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
10th – Stanford in the Vale – Mary Vizoso “Stanford in the Vale – The Black and White Archive”. Large village hall, 7:30pm.
10th – Wychwoods – Trevor Jackson “Cemeteries of Oxford: more than a century of history”. Milton-under-Wychwood Village Hall, 7:30pm.
11th – Banbury – Matthew McCormack “The Personal History of shoes”. Banbury Museum, 7:30pm.
11th – Wootton & Dry Sandford – Bill King “A walk along the Thames path from Cirencester to Oxford”. Community Centre, Wootton, 7:30pm.
18th – Abingdon – Dave Townsend “The Development of Music in Rural English Parish Churches between 1720 and 1860: the Music of the West Galleries”. Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road, 7:45pm.
18th – Friends of Vale and Downland Museum – Stephen Barker “Six Warrior Women of the English Civil Wars. 1642—51”. Vale and Downland Museum, Wantage, 7:30pm.
19th – Finstock – Gillian Cane “The Mitford Sisters”. Village Hall, 8:00pm.
22nd – Hanney – Paul Whitton “Mary de Bohun of Hinton Waldrist and her royal family”. War Memorial Hall, East Hanney, 8:00pm.
22nd – Marcham – Richard Oliver “Go West, young man”. Marcham Centre, Barrow Close, 7:45pm.
22nd – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – Phil Isherwood “Free Antiquarian Resources on the Internet”. Exeter Hall, Kidlington (all welcome), and on-line (OFHS members only), 8:00pm.
22nd – Tackley – Sue Ashton “A Tackley House Through Time”. Memorial Hall, 8:00pm.
23rd – Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society (OAHS) – Ben Ford “Recent Discoveries at Frewin Hall, Oxford: A Lost College and Much More”. Online talk, 5:30pm, further information at https://oahs.org.uk/lectures.php.
24th – Bloxham – Karen and Bret Wiles “The Women’s Voluntary Service in World War II”. Jubilee Park Hall, Barley Close, 7:30pm.
25th – Kirtlington & Bletchington – Graham Hutchings “China 1949: Year of Revolution”. Kirtlington Village Hall, 7:30pm.
30th – Kidlington – Marie-Louise Kerr “Oxford’s Penicillin”. Baptist Church, High Street, 7:30pm.
February 2024
1st – Charlbury – Lidia Arciszewska “Recycling in West Oxfordshire”. On-line talk, 8:00pm. Further details from sect.charlburysoc@gmail.com.
5th – Chalgrove – AGM followed by Colin Oakes “Superstitions – do they have a deeper history?” John Hampden Hall, 7:45pm.
5th – South Stoke – Melanie King “Food of the Gods: Adventures in Chocolate”. Village Hall, 7:30pm.
6th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Alina Nowobilska “The Warsaw Uprising”. On-line talk, 7:30pm; e–mail zoom@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
6th – Hook Norton – Howard Robinson “The Monarch’s Way”. Baptist Church Hall, Netting Street, 7:30pm.
6th – Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society (OAHS) – John Stevenson “An Oxford Architectural Dilemma: The Tinbergen Building”. Online talk, 5:30pm, further information at https://oahs.org.uk/lectures.php.
8th – Banbury – Jane Harrison “The Long Wittenham Hall and the Origins of Wessex”. Banbury Museum, 7:30pm.
8th – Wootton & Dry Sandford – Stephen Barker “Soldiers, saints and sinners: Oxfordshire characters from the British Civil War”. Community Centre, Wootton, 7:30pm.
12th – Chipping Norton – Stephen Wass “Garden Digging – Archaeology”. Methodist Church Hall, West Street, 2:00pm.
12th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – Denise Bates “Unusual Forenames”. On-line talk, 8:00pm (OFHS members only).
12th – Radley – James Thornber “Tracing Roots: a beginner’s guide to unearthing your UK family history”. St James the Great Church, 7:30pm.
14th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Gary Sheffield “Mesopotamia 1914-1918”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e–mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
14th – Stanford in the Vale – Stephen Barker “Six Warrior Women of the English Civil War”. Large village hall, 7:30pm.
14th – Wychwoods – Deborah Hayter “Common right – private property: how enclosures shaped the Oxfordshire/Northampton landscape”. Milton-under-Wychwood Village Hall, 7:30pm.
15th – Abingdon – Peter Taylor “Conservation and Rewilding: Recreating Ancient Landscapes”. Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road, 7:45pm.
20th – Iffley – Liz Woolley “Felicia Skene – Oxford prison reformer and friend of the poor”. Church Hall, Church Way, 7:30pm.
20th – Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society (OAHS) – Jane Harrison “The Deserted Manor and Village of Besselsleigh, from Anglo-Saxon Beginnings to the Civil War”. Online talk, 5:30pm, further information at https://oahs.org.uk/lectures.php.
22nd – Bloxham – Ciarán Walsh “The Fight against Fascism in Oxford”. Jubilee Park Hall, Barley Close, 7:30pm.
22nd – Kirtlington & Bletchington – Simon Wenham “Morris’s Motopolis”. Kirtlington Village Hall, 7:30pm.
26th – Hanney – Simon Wenham “More than three men in a boat – trends in Thames travel”. War Memorial Hall, East Hanney, 8:00pm.
26th – Marcham – Merryl Gelling “Water voles: a national approach to saving Ratty”. Marcham Centre, Barrow Close, 7:45pm.
26th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – Trine Wilcock “Harvesting Men – Why & How I wrote about the WWI fallen of my village”. Exeter Hall, Kidlington (all welcome), and on-line (OFHS members only), 8:00pm.
26th – Tackley – Byron Russell “A Visit to Trier – A capital city to rival in splendour and importance Byzantium and Rome itself”. Memorial Hall, 8:00pm.
27th – Kidlington – Liz Woolley “Leisure and entertainment in Victorian & Edwardian Oxford”. Baptist Church, High Street, 7:30pm.
29th – Aston – Simon Townley “Aston Parish History”. Fellowship Centre, Cote Road, 7:30pm.
March 2024
4th – Chalgrove – Tony Gaunt “The history and development of Martin Baker”. John Hampden Hall, 7:45pm.
4th – South Stoke – Heidi Tunney “The Wallingford Union Workhouse”. Village Hall, 7:30pm.
5th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – James Goulty “The British Army during the Korean War”. On-line talk, 7:30pm; e–mail zoom@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
5th – Hook Norton – Gareth Winrow “Elizabeth Wisdom(e), the Chipping Norton Murderess”. Baptist Church Hall, Netting Street, 7:30pm.
5th – Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society (OAHS) – Elizabeth Gemmill “Remember Me: Inscriptions of Medieval Oxfordshire” (The Tom Hassall Lecture). Rewley House, Oxford, 5:30pm, further information at https://oahs.org.uk/lectures.php.
7th – Charlbury – Melanie King “Food of the gods: adventures in chocolate”. Memorial Hall, 8:00pm.
11th – Chipping Norton – AGM followed by Tim Amsden “William Huckvale – An Architect with Over Norton roots”. Methodist Church Hall, West Street, 2:00pm.
11th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – Debbie Bradley “Migration through the UK”. On-line talk, 8:00pm (OFHS members only).
11th – Radley – Liz Woolley “Rose Hill: an Oxford suburb of surprising contrasts and great historical interest”. St James the Great Church, 7:30pm.
13th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Chris Barrington Brown “D-Day Logistics”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e–mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
13th – Stanford in the Vale – Catherine Sampson Berks and South Oxon Churches – Hidden Gems and Stories”. Large village hall, 7:30pm.
13th – Wychwoods – Ingram Murray “’Known unto God’ A Great War detective story”. Milton-under-Wychwood Village Hall, 7:30pm.
14th – Wootton & Dry Sandford – Sean Callery “Cotswold Cornucopia – A whirlwind tour taking in sites and stories, landmarks and surprises”. Community Centre, Wootton, 7:30pm.
15th – Finstock – Bill King “Yesterday’s Childhood”. Village Hall, 8:00pm.
19th – Iffley – Ciaran Walsh “The Otmoor Riots of 1830 in a wider context”. Church Hall, Church Way, 7:30pm.
20th – Bloxham – Gareth Winrow “Elizabeth Wisdom(e): the Chipping Norton Murderess”. Jubilee Park Hall, Barley Close, 7:30pm.
21st – Abingdon – Zbigniew Wojnowski “The History of Ukraine”. Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road, 7:45pm.
25th – Hanney – David & Kath Gahan “Holmes of Hanney & Birth Control: ‘The Most Useful Man in England’”. War Memorial Hall, East Hanney, 8:00pm.
25th – Marcham – Steven Gunn “Everyday life and accidental death in 16th-century Oxfordshire and Berkshire”. Marcham Centre, Barrow Close, 7:45pm.
25th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – Liz Woolley “A History of Brewing in Oxford”. Exeter Hall, Kidlington (all welcome), and on-line (OFHS members only), 8:00pm.
25th – Tackley – Richard O Smith “Oxford Examined: Town and Clown”. Memorial Hall, 8:00pm.
26th – Kidlington – Simon Wenham “Poverty, Pestilence and Public Health in Victorian Britain”. Baptist Church, High Street, 7:30pm.
28th – Aston – Historic Churches speaker (tba) “Stained Glass: The Oxfordshire Legacy”. Fellowship Centre, Cote Road, 7:30pm.
28th – Kirtlington & Bletchington – Philippa Joseph “The Alhambra”. Kirtlington Village Hall, 7:30pm.
April 2024
2nd – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Helen Doe “Stanford Tuck – Hero of the Battle of Britain”. On-line talk, 7:30pm; e–mail zoom@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
2nd – Hook Norton – Alastair Lack “Travels with Auntie: A Life with the BBC”. Baptist Church Hall, Netting Street, 7:30pm.
4th – Charlbury – Robin Lane-Fox “History of Oxfordshire Gardens”. Memorial Hall, 8:00pm.
8th – Chalgrove – Karen and Bret Wiles “World War Two rationing and cooking for victory: a fair share for all”. John Hampden Hall, 7:45pm.
8th – Chipping Norton – Simon Randall “The English Civil War in the Cotswolds”. Methodist Church Hall, West Street, 2:00pm.
8th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – Peter Lawrence “The Great Exhibition 1851 & Albertopolis”. On-line talk, 8:00pm (OFHS members only).
8th – Radley – Melanie King “Tea, Coffee and Chocolate: how the British first fell in love with Caffeine”. St James the Great Church, 7:30pm.
10th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Andrew Lambert “Creating a British Way of War”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e–mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
10th – Stanford in the Vale – Cathy Haslam “Kelmscott Manor”. Large village hall, 7:30pm.
10th – Wychwoods – Liz Woolley “Child labour in 19th-century Oxfordshire”. Milton-under-Wychwood Village Hall, 7:30pm.
16th – Iffley – Marie-Louise Kerr “Oxford Penicillin – a forgotten World War II story”. Church Hall, Church Way, 7:30pm.
17th – Bloxham – Carol Anderson “Over the Hills to Glory: the Story of the Ascott Martyrs”. Jubilee Park Hall, Barley Close, 7:30pm.
18th – Abingdon – Mike Evans “Fitzharry’s: The Story of an Abingdon Manor and Estate”. Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road, 7:45pm.
19th – Finstock – Katherine Bradley “Creative Women”. Village Hall, 8:00pm.
22nd – Hanney – Julie Ann Godson “1066: Oxfordshire and the Norman Conquest: it began and finished here? ”. War Memorial Hall, East Hanney, 8:00pm.
22nd – Tackley – John McNeill: “Tackley Church”. Memorial Hall, 8:00pm.
25th – Aston – AGM and Bill King “The Roman Invasions, Occupation and Colonisation of Britain”. Fellowship Centre, Cote Road, 7:30pm.
30th – Kidlington – Graham Horn “An Heir and a Spare – the monarchs we never had”. Baptist Church, High Street, 7:30pm.
May 2024
2nd – Charlbury – Carol Anderson “History of Gloving in Oxfordshire”. Memorial Hall, time tbc.
7th – Hook Norton – AGM followed by Sue Smith “Conscientious Objectors in WW1”. Baptist Church Hall, Netting Street, 7:30pm.
8th – Stanford in the Vale – Liz Woolley “The Victorian and Edwardian Industrial Buildings of Oxford”. Large village hall, 7:30pm.
8th – Wychwoods – AGM and “From our Archive” . Milton-under-Wychwood Village Hall, 7:30pm.
13th – Chalgrove – Victoria Bentata “Oxford’s Jewish heritage”. John Hampden Hall, 7:45pm.
13th – Chipping Norton – Colin Clay and Phil Taylor “Back Tracks – Detecting the Past”. Methodist Church Hall, West Street, 2:00pm.
13th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – John Vigar “Leave no stone unturned”. On-line talk, 8:00pm (OFHS members only).
13th – Radley – Simon Wenham “Morris’ Motopolis: the motor works and the transformation of Oxford”. St James the Great Church, 7:30pm.
15th – Bloxham – Jeremy Holmes “The Most Heroic Failure of Modern Times: Shackleton’s Antarctic”. Jubilee Park Hall, Barley Close, 7:30pm.
15th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Chris Leworthy “Disaster and Bravery at Dieppe”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e–mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
16th – Abingdon – Paul Booth “From Roman Britain to Early Anglo-Saxon England: Archaeological Evidence from Dorchester-on-Thames”. Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road, 7:45pm.
17th – Finstock – Meet the Detectorists. Village Hall, 8:00pm.
20th – Hanney – Richard O Smith “A Z-A of Oxford – more eccentric aspects of the city’s past”. War Memorial Hall, East Hanney, 8:00pm.
21st – Iffley – Caroline Pond “The lives and achievements of Iffley Residents who are, or will be, celebrated by Oxfordshire Blue Plaques”. Church Hall, Church Way, 7:30pm.
27th – Marcham – Steve Parrinder “Eynsham Abbey”. Marcham Centre, Barrow Close, 7:45pm.
28th – Kidlington – Eve Bacon “Spices and Medieval Society”. Baptist Church, High Street, 7:30pm.
June 2024
3rd – Chalgrove – Mark Davies “Beating the ancient bounds of Oxford: memorable moments from the last 500 years”. John Hampden Hall, 7:45pm.
3rd – South Stoke – Stephen Wass “The Peculiar History of Fishponds and Fishing in Oxfordshire and Around: an Archaeological Perspective”. Village Hall, 7:30pm.
4th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Jon Trigg “D-Day through German Eyes”. On-line talk, 7:30pm; e–mail zoom@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
10th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – Janet Few “Ancestors on the margins”. On-line talk, 8:00pm (OFHS members only).
10th – Radley – Julie Ann Godson “Memories of the Vale: a lost way of life before the railways came to the countryside”. St James the Great Church, 7:30pm.
12th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Helen Fry “Women in Intelligence”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e–mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
12th – Stanford in the Vale – Gareth Winrow “Elizabeth Wisdom, The Chipping Norton Murderess?”. Large village hall, 7:30pm.
20th – Abingdon – Open Evening with presentations by members. Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road, 7:45pm.
24th – Marcham – Hedley Thorne “The Ridgeway and Lowbury Hill from above”. Marcham Centre, Barrow Close, 7:45pm.
25th – Kidlington – AGM and Bill King “WWI, part 2”. Baptist Church, High Street, 7:30pm.
July 2024
8th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – Gill Blanchard “Writing your Family History”. On-line talk, 8:00pm (OFHS members only).
8th – Radley – Robert Evans “The History of our Footpaths”. St James the Great Church, 7:30pm.
10th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Keith Mills “Battle for South Georgia 1982”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e–mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
30th – Kidlington – Gordon Rogers Winston Churchill’s Toyshop”. Baptist Church, High Street, 7:30pm.
August 2024
12th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – Simon Gregor “The Great War – was nothing learned?”. On-line talk, 8:00pm (OFHS members only).
September 2024
9th – Radley – AGM followed by a presentation by the club’s Oral History Group on Radley during Covid. St James the Great Church, 7:30pm.
October 2024
9th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Annabel Venning “To War with the Walkers”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e–mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
14th – Oxfordshire Family History Society (OFHS) – Sue Gibbons “Conserving your Family Archive”. On-line talk, 8:00pm (OFHS members only).
November 2024
13th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Chris Finn “First Gulf War Air Campaign”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e-mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
December 2024
11th – British Modern Military History Society (Woodcote) – Guy Walters “Hunting Evil – Bringing Nazi War Criminals to Justice”. Woodcote Village Hall, 7:30pm; e-mail info@bmmhs.org or check www.bmmhs.org for more details.
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