News

Giving Tree Initiative - support a local child with Christmas gifts

Cornerstone and the Christmas Tree Festival are running the Giving Tree Initiative and it is now open! Trees are up in Cornerstone, the Community Centre and St Mary's Church. 

To participate, you choose a child you would like to sponsor by taking an angel decoration. Please write the code from the angel e.g. GT01 and your details on the sign up form. Some angels are for items to go in a Christmas hamper rather than presents for children. Once you have purchased your items please bring them to Cornerstone before Wednesday 17th December so we can get them to families. 

If you would prefer to give a financial donation that we can use to buy Christmas items please make a donation in Cornerstone or make a donation online - here are the details of how to do that -  https://www.charlburychurch.co.uk/cornerstone/

Any queries, please pop into Cornerstone and speak to the volunteers or email cornerstone@charlburychurch.uk 

Thank you for helping us to support local families in need. 

The Cornerstone team 

St Marys and All Saints · Mon 1 Dec, 13:44 · Link

Latest planning applications to West Oxfordshire District Council

The following planning applications have recently been lodged. Click on the address to see full details at the WODC website.

• 1 Graces Court The Slade Charlbury
  Field maple group x4 - Remove group and grind out the remaining stumps
  WODC reference: 25/02897/TCA - Wed 26 Nov 2025 - Under consideration
• 1 Thames Gardens Charlbury
  Erection of front porch, addition of dormer window to front first floor bedroom, and associated works
  WODC reference: 25/02851/HHD - Thu 27 Nov 2025 - Under consideration

Mon 1 Dec, 06:15 · Link

Christmas cards for Ukraine

There are Christmas cards for sale in St Mary’s Church!  £10 a pack of 6 to help our friends in Slatyne to buy a wood shredder to run their generators.  Also available to buy on line here or email maureensparling@gmail.com.

Maureen Sparling · Sat 29 Nov, 11:40 · Link

Home Library Service

Would you like to borrow library books but are unable to visit the library any reason? The Home Library Service is run from Oxfordshire County Council and serves 900 customers throughout the county.

How it works:-

Contact us to discuss the kind of Books, Large Print/Regular Print, DVDs, Audio Books on CD, Music CD or DVD’s, that you like to read or enjoy. We can then arrange for a library volunteer to deliver these to you in your home. Our volunteers are DBS checked, wear identification badges and provide a helpful and friendly service. Whenever possible, we try and arrange for the same volunteer to visit you each time. Your library materials will be delivered and collected every 3 weeks. The Home Library Service is free of charge, and there is no charge for requests or late returns.

To register for this service or for further information call your local library or telephone the Home Library Service on 01865 810259 or email homelibraryservice@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

Charlbury Library · Sat 29 Nov, 10:58 · Link

Concert for Ukraine

On Saturday 29th November JARISEL presents a Concert for Ukraine. Our wonderful lead singer, Natalia Kakarkina, is a Ukrainian refugee and has been living in Oxford since war broke out. A fine musician, she has thrown herself into the Oxford music scene, helping, among other things, to promote 'Starlings' which is a group that encourages refugees from all countries to meet together and share their music. Our programme will include songs, carols and music from Ukraine and many other countries. St. Mary's Charlbury is twinned with Our Lady of Kazan, near Kharkiv, and has raised considerable funds to help a community that has suffered repeated bombardment. We hope that this fund raising concert will help the people of Slatyne to celebrate Christmas. We are delighted that the British Deputy Ambassador to Ukraine will attend the concert and make an appeal. 

Isabel Knowland · Wed 26 Nov, 18:12 · Link

Charlbury now has it's own Christmas tree Decoration...

This double sided Christmas tree decoration is now available from No.5 Market St 

It's a lovely gift to send to friends and relatives around the world to remind them of this great town and it is small and light enough it can be slipped into their Christmas card.

Tim Widdows · Tue 25 Nov, 14:07 · Link

Latest planning applications to West Oxfordshire District Council

The following planning applications have recently been lodged. Click on the address to see full details at the WODC website.

• 6 Hill Close Charlbury
  T1 Whitebeam - on frontage Reduce the crown all around by 1.5 to 2m, leaving a rounded naturalistic form.
  WODC reference: 25/02829/TCA - Mon 17 Nov 2025 - Under consideration

Mon 24 Nov, 06:15 · Link

Christmas Trees lighting up Charlbury for Christmas

Many thanks to all the residents who have agreed to participate and support this scheme for another year and who have already returned their order forms. 

And a final reminder for those that have yet to order, the deadline for the order forms and payment  to be handed in to Tim at No 5, Market Street, is tomorrow, Monday 24th. He is open until 3pm tomorrow, and will be closed on Tuesday. 

If you have misplaced your form Tim can supply one. 

We will be delivering the trees next Saturday morning and then Charlbury can be lit up for Christmas. 

Many thanks to all participating in this scheme - residents who have bought trees to display and the volunteer team who will be braving the weather, whatever it is, next Saturday to help deliver the trees. 

Janet Burroughs, Charlbury Christmas Trees

Janet Burroughs · Sun 23 Nov, 09:51 · Link

Hidden treasures on the Playing Close

If you have seen a man waving a stick and carrying a spade on the Playing Close and wondered what on earth he was doing, read on...

The Playing Close has been used since medieval times and the Charlbury Museum has an ongoing project to research its history.

A definitive way to learn about its history would be to bring in a team of archaeologists to remove the topsoil and dig trenches. And indeed if this were done, and if we dug deep enough, we might find medieval coins and artefacts, as well as arrow heads (in medieval times the Playing Close was used for archery practice).

Another, less invasive approach is to search the area with a metal detector. With permission from the Thomas Gifford Trust and in association with the Charlbury Museum, Charlbury resident Neil Pakenham-Walsh has been searching the area.

What have we found? Loads of ringpulls! Lots of decimal coins: 1/2p, 1p, 2p... Several old pennies and halfpennies going back to Victoria. And three interesting finds, all within a few inches of the surface:

The first, and oldest, is a dandy button. These were especially popular in the late 1700s and were worn by men who wanted to be seen. Wikipedia describes dandy as 'a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance and personal grooming' and with penchant for large buttons. There are doubtless still a few strutting around Charlbury today.

The second is a badge of some kind and we would like to ask your help to identify it. We do know that political rallies were held on the Playing Close in the 1800s. At this time there was growing tension between farm workers and landowners. This is recounted in a book published in Charlbury: the Ascott Martyrs, which relates how women and children were cruelly imprisoned, with their children, simply for protesting in solidarity with their farm worker husbands. Sue Rangeley has found that in that same year, 1873, there was a Charlbury Labourers Union meeting on the Playing Close. Perhaps this badge was lost then?

The third item is particularly lovely. It is made of solid silver and is set with marcasite, which glistens like diamonds. We think it is a Royal Artillery sweetheart brooch from World War Two, given by a soldier as he left for war. It would be wonderful to reunite it with their descendants.

These items will be on display in the Playing Close Exhibition when the museum reopens in April 2026.

So where are the medieval finds and arrowheads? They are there, but they are likely to be at least 2-3 feet deep. Much deeper than a metal detector can go (8-10 inches). The Playing Close has had repeated changes of use over the past 500 years and each change of use adds another layer, so that previous coins and artefacts become deeper and deeper. By contrast, if you detect arable fields or pasture you will find medieval, saxon, roman and even bronze age artefacts going back to 2500 BC in the top few inches.

To see examples of what might lie *deep* under the Playing Close, see the 214 coins and artefacts from Oxfordshire that Neil has registered with the British Museum's Portable Antiquity Scheme (those found in Charlbury are on display in the Museum): https://finds.org.uk/database/search/results/finderID/PAS62A6F70C00103D/show/100

If you have a piece of land and would like to learn more about its history, contact Neil at neil@hifa.org

Acknowledgements: With thanks to Sue Rangeley and the Charlbury Museum for the opportunity to contribute to Charlbury’s history, and to Kim Harrison, Trustee, and the Thomas Gifford Trust for permission to search.

Neil Pakenham-Walsh · Fri 21 Nov, 13:18 · Link

Charlbury Christmas Tree Festival

We are excited to invite the community to take part in the 7th Annual Christmas Tree Festival (CTF) this year, which will run from December 12th to January 2nd, 2026.

Please join us for our Turning on the Lights event on Friday, 12 December, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm, featuring delicious walking tacos and music from the children's choir. There will also be a special performance by the Wychwood Chorale at St Mary’s at 7:30 pm on December 13th.

Schools, charities, streets, friends or families are invited to sponsor and decorate a tree. Booking forms are available at https://forms.gle/9FS9GutGXW6tt4gt9

or from Anna at the CTF email below. The booking form is now open! If you or your organisation would like to participate in the festival this year, support us, or have any queries, please do register or reach out.

The money raised will be donated to the St Mary’s appeal and will contribute to the parish's outreach work. We would love to hear from you if you're interested in getting involved.

Anna Boardwell - charlburyctf@gmail.com

St Mary’s Church Office - parishoffice@charlburychurch.uk

Anna Boardwell · Thu 20 Nov, 18:03 · Link