The

Charlbury Society

LAND -- LIFE -- HISTORY

Welcome to the Charlbury Society's website.

Over the summer, the committee was busy putting together a new programme of talks for the 2026-27 season.

The next talk will take place in the Memorial Hall on

Thursday 5 November at 7.30 pm (refreshments from 7.15 pm). Sean Callery will be sharing the history of Oxford and its literary connections:

Oxford is a city built on words, from its centuries as home to word-loving academics, its role as a publishing centre and as home to famous authors and characters. In this talk, Sean offers stories throughout the history of the city and its people (real and imagined), and celebrates the many forms of wordplay to relish on its streets and walls.

The talk is quirky and offbeat, just like Oxford.

Find the wordplay in coats of arms and college names

Learn why Oxford is famed for printing

Discover the Oxford origin of the term ‘spoonerisms’

Meet some of Oxford’s famous writers and fictional characters

…. and spot the pun lurking in a hairdo.

We would love to have one or two new trustees on our committee to help us agree and arrange our future programme and to consider the direction in which the Society could develop. It would be a chance to contribute ideas, be part of a pleasant team and support something worthwhile, without a heavy time commitment. Let us know if you would like more details or to have an informal chat.

Talks 2026-2027

October 2026

Memorial Hall

7 January 2027

Zoom

3 April 2027

Memorial Hall

5 November 2026

Memorial Hall

4 February 2027

Zoom

13 May 2027

Memorial Hall

3 December 2026

Zoom

4 March 2027

Memorial Hall

Membership

Membership of the Society is open to all at £10 per person and runs from September to June; it includes our annual party and all talks.

Guests to individual talks are also welcome for £3.00 fee.

Please contact memsec.charlsoc@gmail.com

Charlbury Society Outings

We aim to organise an outing at least once a year. Previous visits are featured below.

October 2025, Burford. The principal theme of our tour of Burford was the importance of the town in the wool trade that brought prosperity to the region during the medieval and Tudor periods. Its strategic location along key trade routes and its position by the River Windrush made Burford an ideal market town for the purchase of Cotswold wool, highly prized across Europe for its quality. The wealth generated from the wool trade is still evident today in the buildings such as the Tolsey, the meeting place of wool buyers, where the guided tour began and the parish church of St John the Baptist, funded by wealthy wool merchants, where it finished.

August 2024, Bloxham. The National Lottery-funded Heritage Group of the ‘Building our Future’ project at St Mary's Church Bloxham had recently established a team of guides to provide tours, bringing to life its history, art and architecture. We enjoyed a fascinating afternoon being guided around the church and churchyard - followed by tea and cake.

It is a church that many of us pass regularly, but could not have imagined the treasures it contains.

October 2023, Oxford. We organised and subsidised an Oxford guided walk for our members with a specialist who shared the places where J.R.R.Tolkien and C.S. Lewis lived and worked. It was an enthralling and fact-filled tour and we resolved to arrange similar walks in the future.