The book ‘They Were a Wall – Wheatley in a World at War 1914-19’ is now available as a pdf file for free download – click ‘They Were a Wall’ book. If you’d like a printed copy for £4.99 plus postage please visit or email the Wheatley Village Archive – see
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Recollections of Wheatley – GWR, by Robert Avery
The following is a transcription of an original typed manuscript dated 19/8/74 by Robert Avery, a former schoolmaster at Magdalen College School and resident of Wheatley. It is a set of recollections of the village railway, and includes mention of some of the station personnel and war time workings. Robert
Continue readingFounding of the Wheatley Society
Transcript of the address by founder member Mark Bannister at the AGM of the Wheatley Society on 7 Feb 2014 – the 40th anniversary year: I’ve been asked to recall the founding of the Wheatley Society. Before me, I see many faces that were there at the time. Where there
Continue readingWHEATLEY GREAT WAR CENTENARY PROJECT
Some 36 Wheatley men died and some 146 more fought and survived in the 1914-1918 War. You can find the names of all of them by clicking the link Wheatley Men WW1 The WHEATLEY GREAT WAR CENTENARY PROJECT plans to commemorate the sacrifices they made – in a booklet and
Continue readingWheatley’s Crimea Veteran – Richard Summers
[Richard Summers lost a leg as a 23 year-old soldier in 1854. He married a Wheatley girl, they raised a family, and he ran a sweetshop on the High Street until his death in 1905.] On 13 September 1854, newly trained, Summers disembarked with 2nd Battalion, The Rifle Brigade, onto
Continue readingThe Most Difficult Village
SAMUEL WILBERFORCE, the bishop of Oxford from 1845 to 1869, described Wheatley as “the most difficult village” in his diocese. One hundred and fifty years ago, it was a place beset with social problems which in our day we might more commonly associate with an inner city. The inhabitants of
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