Many thanks to the 70-plus VCH supporters who came along to our annual VCH Oxon Xmas lecture and reception this week - and not _solely_ for the mulled wine and mince pies afterwards, we trust! (Though I'm sure that helped).

Happy birthday @oxhistcentre.bsky.social 🎂 - where would we all be without you?! @vch-oxon.bsky.social hasn't been around _quite_as long as you (not counting one single vol in 1907) - but we've been constant users since well before your 1985 Golden Jubilee, and continue to be so! 😊

The first theme in this year’s Explore Your Archive campaign is #EYAConservation. Conservators are vital in helping to look after collections, including preserving and repairing material so that it remains accessible. And we’re delighted to have welcomed a new Conservator to our staff this week!

Art historian and gallery owner Philip Mould giving a superb lecture in support of VCH Oxon at Ditchley Park Fri 10 Oct, exploring the paintings of Winston Churchill and the difficulties of attribution. Warm thanks to Philip, all at Ditchley, and the 80-odd people who attended - a memorable event.

An important milestone - the complete draft of this volume is the latest of the VCH production line. The last - for the historic county, but not *the last* - will be on the area around Burford, but come back in a year or so for that. Why not *the last*? Well, watch this space... #Skystorians

Chilson: the final draft for our forthcoming West Oxon Chadlington area vol! - and an interesting one too. A chapelry and township of Charlbury until C19, but with early links to the vast Shipton-under-Wychwood royal estate and with Wychwood Forest. Plus a DMV and gt church wall paintings..!

Tomorrow! - a celebration of the publication of the VCH's 250th Big Red Book volume nationwide! - Westmorland Volume I (from Cumbria County History Trust). Plus a look back at 126 years of VCH and how the modern project is still evolving and developing: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

A reminder that tickets are on sale for a lecture in support of VCH Oxfordshire by the art historian Philip Mould (of BBC Fake or Fortune fame), exploring rediscovery of a lost painting by Winston Churchill (Ditchley Park: Friday 10 Oct 6 pm): www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/philip-mou....

Sad to hear of the death (at 97!) of the great Barbara Harvey (www.some.ox.ac.uk/news/barbara...), whose early work on Islip introduced her to the Westminster abbey archives, and also spawned a VCH Oxon parish history. Coincidentally, she also examined the current VCH Oxon Editor's doctoral thesis!

Be great if this can stay in Oxfordshire! - www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2532105... (Even if its discovery came a little late for inclusion in our 2011 account of Rotherfield Peppard parish in VCH Oxon XVI - which, incidentally, you can read at www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol...)

Interesting piece on a (sanitised) Victorian copy of the Bayeux Tapestry preserved in Reading Museum: www.theguardian.com/artanddesign.... (Images online at www.readingmuseum.org.uk/collections/...)

Thanks for your kind words! (We couldn't possibly comment...! 😂)

The signature (bttm rt on his 1635 marriage settlement) of Peter Browne, heir to the Kiddington estate, who 10 yrs later was mortally wounded at Naseby - leaving his widow Mgt to oversee the estate while bringing up a young family. As Royalists and Catholics the family suffered doubly in the 1650s.

And thanks to all those who've followed, reposted, and liked over the past 24 hours ... what a civilized place this is! 😊

On sale now! Discovering Churchill, a lecture in support of VCH Oxfordshire by the art historian Philip Mould (of BBC Fake or Fortune fame), exploring the rediscovery of a lost painting by Winston Churchill - Friday 10 Oct 6pm in the splendid surroundings of Ditchley Park!

Hello Bluesky! Like many of you in recent months we're moving here from a different platform and need to rebuild our profile - so if you've any interest in @vchlondon.bsky.social and local history in its many guises, please follow us and repost!