{"title":"Simon Townley","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"henley-on-thames-book-simon-townley-9781860775543","title":"Henley-on-Thames","description":"Set amidst the rolling tree-covered slopes of the south-west Chilterns at a picturesque bend in the river, Henley-on-Thames is best known for its attractive timber and brick buildings, its graceful 18th-century bridge, and its annual Regatta, established in 1839. The Regatta reflected Henley's 19th-century emergence as an inland resort and fashionable social centre. But the town's relationship with the river and the surrounding Chilterns landscape is much older and much more varied. This book traces the history of the town and river over time, from Henley's origins as a planned medieval market town and inland port shipping grain to London, through to its 18th-century development as a coaching centre and its present-day role as a small service, tourist and commuting town. Ordinary townspeople and river-workers feature prominently, alongside merchants, landowners, and prosperous incomers. Separate chapters summarise the development of the Thames river trade, and the town's striking buildings are fully discussed and set in context. The book draws on extensive research over several years, some of it carried out with the help of volunteers and local groups. Its broad perspective casts new light on the town and its relationship with the river, allowing visitors, residents and specialists to view it with new eyes.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49514069852433,"sku":"GOR006273756","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1860775543.jpg?v=1750995714"},{"product_id":"a-history-of-the-county-of-oxford-book-simon-townley-9781904356479","title":"A A History of the County of Oxford","description":"Authoritative account of villages on the edge of the Chilterns, including the historic settlement of Ewelme.  Occupying a varied landscape in south-east Oxfordshire, the fourteen rural parishes covered in this volume extend from the river valleys of the Thames and Thame up onto the Chiltern hills. Nucleated villages and open fields dominated the vale, while the uplands feature dispersed settlement, early inclosure, and extensive wood-pasture. The two zones were closely linked by economic interdependence and, in the late Anglo-Saxon and early medieval period, by the influence of an important royal estate focused on Benson, which extended across the hills and formed the nucleus of Ewelme (formerly Benson) Hundred. Benson later became a coaching stop on the Oxford-London road, and is now widely known for its neighbouring RAF station.  The area remained predominantly agricultural until recent times, despite some rural crafts and services and an important pottery and brick-making industry around Nettlebed. London and surrounding towns exerted important influences throughout. Notable buildings include the fifteenth-century brick-built almshouse complex at Ewelme, co-founded by Chaucer's granddaughter Alice de la Pole, and the now largely demolished Tudor mansion at Rycote, while more recent additions include Nuffield Place, remodelled in 1933 for the Oxford car manufacturer William Morris.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51053316440337,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51053319160081,"sku":"NIN9781904356479","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1904356478.jpg?v=1750964368"},{"product_id":"a-history-of-the-county-of-oxford-book-simon-townley-9781904356516","title":"A History of the County of Oxford","description":"Authoritative account of villages on the edge of the Cotswolds.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51053332201745,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51053335085329,"sku":"NIN9781904356516","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52717374243089,"sku":"GOR014594676","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1904356516.jpg?v=1751281512"},{"product_id":"victoria-county-history-of-oxfordshire-xxi-book-simon-townley-9781904356578","title":"Victoria County History of Oxfordshire XXI","description":"This volume focuses on the Cotswold market town of Chipping Norton and on half a dozen surrounding rural parishes, including Hook Norton and the Rollrights. Drawing on intensive archival research, the authors look in detail at the town's origins, growth, and buildings, and at its economic, social, political, and religious history up to the present day, including its association with the medieval wool trade and the later development of the famous Bliss tweed mill. The surrounding parishes were predominantly agricultural and were reliant on traditional Cotswold sheep-corn farming, although Hook Norton developed significant ironstone quarrying in the 1880s-1940s, and is well known for its still-functioning Victorian brewery. The parishes' wider histories are fully explored, notable features including parks and country houses, the remains (at Swerford) of a motte-and-bailey castle, and the prehistoric Rollright Stones.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51855766782225,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51855766814993,"sku":"NGR9781904356578","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53020302344465,"sku":"NIN9781904356578","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781904356578.jpg?v=1753784401"},{"product_id":"the-victoria-history-of-the-county-of-oxford-volume-xx-book-simon-townley-9781904356547","title":"The Victoria History of the County of Oxford: Volume XX","description":"Unique multi-disciplinary study of a key part of the Oxfordshire Chilterns over a thousand years, based on intensive new research and exploring landscape, settlement, farming, and social and religious life.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":53404853797137,"sku":"NGR9781904356547","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781904356547.jpg?v=1776166454"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-simon-townley.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}