Buckinghamshire Family History Society

Family History in Buckinghamshire

Names

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	Buckinghamshire Remembers - War Memorial
	Church Stained Glass
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Population

Population

These population figures are based on the Census results. The boundaries are those used in the particular census which may vary over time..

There was no census in 1941.

Records

Records

Surnames

Surnames

These were extracted from our own records and presented as a guide.

Notes

Shabbington is a pretty village situated on a rounded hill above the river Thame, which divides the two counties, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. A hundred years ago it was an outlying part of the Waterperry Estate, when the farms and cottages were sold off at that time. There are about 8 farms that were mainly rich pasture land, but quite a few fields are arable now.

The character of the village has altered a lot in recent times. There used to be many thatched cottages. Some remain, having been renovated, but a lot were demolished and modern houses built on the sites. In the 1950s and 1960s we had several estates erected off different roads, which have proved very beneficial to the village.

Hundreds of years ago, we had an abbey in the field near the church. No trace of it remains but the outlines of the fishponds they used can still be traced close by the river.

At one time there was a watermill close to the river bridge and the river was diverted to send the water to turn the wheel. There still is the waterfall at that point, recently renovated and probably about 8 ft high.

We were fortunate in having a sewerage scheme put into the village in the 1890s, which was very foreseeing on someone's part and it was built so well that it has been very little altered since. For years, drinking water was fetched from the village pump in the centre. It was sparkling spring water and it was carried by a yoke and big buckets. This was an entertainment in itself as lots of people were there and all the news was soon passed round. This was all finished in the 1930s, when the mains water came. The old lamps were also thrown out at that time when electricity was installed.

We have always been fortunate in having a village stores and Post Office, which now is a wonderful meeting place. We have a small village hall, erected in 1929, which is ideal for meetings and children's parties, but for concerts and wedding receptions, we go to the larger halls in neighbouring villages.

Money was scarce in the 1920s. Farmers had probably a dozen men working and others walked miles and miles for employment, did a good days work and then had to walk home again. The cottage ladies found employment in the larger houses and some walked the 3V2 miles to Thame to work in the houses there and in the schools. They would wear long hessian aprons in the mornings and lovely white aprons in the late afternoon and evenings.

The farms are now run mainly by the farmers and their families, and the villagers find employment in commuting long distances in their cars.

A wonderful pageant was held at Long Crendon Manor in 1922. The east window of the church was in danger of falling out and had to be shored up. The pageant was held — everyone dressed up in period costume and crowds of people attended — the money rolled in and was enough to rebuild the east window.

Article written by members of the Buckinghamshire Federation of Women's Institutes for the publication "The Buckinghamshire Village Book" (1987) and reproduced here with their permission

Description

Description of Shabbington from J.J. Sheahan, 1861

The parish of Shabbington or Shobington is divided from Oxfordshire on the south by the river Thame. Its area is 2,138 acres; population, 371; rateable value, £3,086. There are 341 acres of wood-land. The soil is a deep stiff clay, subject from inundations from the Thame. The Village is small and stand about 2.5 miles W. by N. from Thame.

Shabbington Wood was conveyed in 1824 by John Atkins Wright, Esq., to Joseph Henley Esq., of Waterferry, Oxon, and now it belongs to the Right Hon. Joseph Warner Henley, M.P. The orger landowners are Mr. William Crook, Mrs Southam, The Misses Taylor, J. Stone. Esq., P Wroughton, Esq., J. Franklin Esq., J. Rowland, Esq. William Rowland, Esq., and Mr. William Southam.

The ancient Manor House is supposed to have stood in a field on the south side of the church-yard, in which foundations of buildings have been frequently met with, and encaustic tiles dug up. There are here too the remains of three fish ponds. The modern farm-house on the Manor-farm is usually called manor house, though the manor-courts (the last one of which sat about 25 years ago) were held at the Fisherman Inn, a short distance from the site of the old mansion of the lords of Shabbington.

The river Thame is crossed near the village by the road to the town of Thame, which is carried over the river by a narrow bridge of two arches. In the centre of the village is a conspicuous and interesting house with a large stack of chimneys, which appears to have been built in the time of the Commonwealth. It is the property and residence of Mr. William Southam. The house of William Rowland, Esq., in the lower part of the village is a genteel residence.

The living is a Vicarage endowed with a portion of the Rectorial tithes, and valued in the King's Books at £10 9s 7d. The remainder of the Rectorial tithes belong to the landowners. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £380.

The Church (St Mary Magdalen) is a small plain ancient edifice, consisting of a nave, chancel, north porch, and a low square embattled west-tower, in which are five good bells. The chancel is in the Decorated style with the original windows, a niche with an ogee-head by the side of the east window, a cinque-foiled piscina, a square low side opening on the north side, and a good gable cross. The east window is of three lights. The nave has been “churchwardenised;” the tower is late Perpendicular. The fittings of the church are plain, and an ugly gallery hides the tower arch. The chancel is disfigured by a high backed pew. The font is plain and octangular.

The Vicarage House is on the north side of the church-yard, and is a handsome building of stone, of recent erection, and in the Gothic style.

In 1828, William Burnard, formerly of this parish, and afterwards of Thame, bequeathed £100, three per cent. consols, the interest whereof to be expended in the purchase of woollen clothes, to be given to the most necessitous and worthy objects of charity, on the 24th of December in every year.

Education

Shabbington Parish (Pop. 298)

No School in the parish.

ABSTRACT OF EDUCATION RETURNS, 1833.