Footpaths and Railway Lines

OFS is seeking to preserve two of the existing footpath crossings across the Oxford Bicester railway. You may have been one of the 30 walkers who joined me on the circular walk using these two crossings and the bridleway near Charlton on Otmoor that are threatened with closure. This was the first walk I led and I called it a 'Use it or Loose it walk'.

In order to preserve these footpaths a Statement of Case has been submitted to the Public Inquiry Inspector stating why these footpaths should remain where they are. It became evident talking to [name removed at their request], during our first summer evening walk, along what Chiltern Rail call the Beebont bridleway that I should look more closely at the local history ignored by the railway proposals.

The history of this bridleway crossing has turned out to be the history of agricultural life in the Otmoor villages. This is the long and sad story of the local agricultural workers who were first driven from their traditional open field system allotment strips, in the pre the parliamentary Enclosures of the 16th to 17th centuries and then in the later parliamentary Enclosures of the late 18th to mid 19th centuries.

Fortunately the County Archives have a map dated 1849 attached to the mid 19th Century Enclosures Award documents that I was able to see and present a photo in my statement. This also shows the medieval open field system allotment strips known as Close Hedges that were to the south of what was Mansmoor Lane. What was once an important historic route is now merely an access road leading to Holts Farm. What is perhaps more surprising is that this took place concurrently with the coming of the Railway.

The map is made more enigmatic by the lightly pencilled line of the Buckinghamshire Railway drawn by a Victorian Engineer, through what was to become the Bridleway crossing. Mansmoor Lane/Road and what is now the bridleway crossing, therefore encapsulates the unhappy story of the long struggle that the local village agricultural workers had, culminating in that final Enclosure Award.

There will be a public inquiry, held at the Conference Centre in Park End Street, Oxford starting November 2. The programming meeting is on September 7. We will be arguing against the lengthy diversion of Oddington FP6 which runs from Charlton-on-Otmoor to Weston-on-the-Green and is being pushed a mile along the railway to Oddington Crossing, and against the proposed diversion of Mansmoor Road.

With thanks to [name removed at their request] for her inspiration & help with my research.

Peter Ewart