The Blenheim Archives opens previously unseen records on Wolvercote, Godstow and Cutteslowe
The Blenheim Archives has completed a significant project to catalogue and digitise a collection of material that has never before been seen by the public. The archived material includes documents dating from 1616 to 1836 related to Wolvercote, Godstow and Cutteslowe.
Over five months, more than 200 documents were catalogued; giving an insight into Blenheim’s Estate history and that of the local community as well as revealing long-standing connections between the Dukes of Marlborough and the local community, and personal stories captured in informal letters and papers.
Following funding secured by Wolvercote Local History Society through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), eight boxes of uncatalogued documents have now been organised, scanned and made accessible to the Society. The material includes deeds, correspondence, wills, a land survey and inventories relating to property and land in Wolvercote, Godstow and Cutteslowe.
Collection highlights include:
- 1710 deeds for the Manors of Wolvercote and Godstow, purchased by the 1st Duke of Marlborough from Sir John Walter and the Earl of Abingdon. The manors had earlier belonged to Godstow Abbey and later Henry VIII’s physician George Owen, before passing to the Walter family. Further deeds show how the 1st Duke and his ancestors leased the land.
- Wolvercote Mill records, including deeds and correspondence relating to repairs and alterations. Highlights include an 1808 letter warning that alterations at Kings Weir would lower water levels, a 1773 lease with a Mill plan, and a 1779 notice of distress issued to tenant Robert Wakefield for unpaid rent.
- Notices of distress issued to tenants who defaulted on rent, with detailed inventories of possessions at risk of sale. One records the forced auction of Mr Richard Rowland’s farming stock and furniture in 1831.
- 1731 survey of land in Wolvercote owned by the executors of the will of the 1st Duke of Marlborough listing tenants, field names and plot acreage. Together with a 1765 Thomas Pride map of Wolvercote, also held at Blenheim Archive, it forms a key resource for tracing the area’s land history.
The Wolvercote Local History Society will continue their research, and their findings will be shared with the Society and the wider Wolvercote community.
Claire Scott, Archive Assistant at Blenheim Palace, said: “This project has revealed an extraordinary range of material that sheds light on centuries of life in Wolvercote, Godstow and Cutteslowe. Being able to catalogue and digitise these documents for the first time has opened up stories that were previously hidden in uncatalogued boxes, and we’re delighted that the Wolvercote History Society and the wider community can now explore them in detail.”
Michael Daniell, Volunteer Archivist at Wolvercote Local History Society, said: “We really appreciate the generous co-operation of The Blenheim Archives and the public funding that has enabled the cataloguing. This now makes it possible for anyone to dig deeper into the history of Wolvercote and Cutteslowe.”
For more information and to book tickets to visit Blenheim Palace, visit https://blenheimpalace.com/.
