Defending Oxfordshire: The military landscape from prehistory to the present. Mike Osborne.
Mike Osborne is an experienced writer of county military histories. This is his twelfth volume since he began the series in 2010. He obviously enjoys writing them because the subject could be quite dry, but is in fact peppered with little asides, jokes, and curious anecdotes. The book is what the title says it is, but it is more than just a book about the military landscape in the topographical sense. It covers a huge range of subjects which inform the reader as to just why Oxfordshire has such a rich history, from Queen Matilda’s escape across the ice from Oxford, the Levellers rebellion, the various imperial adventures of Oxfordshire forces, to the activities of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the development of ‘secret weapons’ during WWII.
The book is set out chronologically from the prehistoric forts and defended settlements that the Roman invaders encountered, to the nuclear age exemplified in USAF Upper Heyford, and the role of RAF Brize Norton today. What this says is that despite England being an island nation constantly under threat (real or imagined) of invasion from the sea, land locked Oxfordshire had a pretty important role in the military history of the island. The River Thames and some of its tributaries played a crucial role. In Saxon times Oxford lay on the very border between Wessex and Mercia. Boundary Brook which winds its way through Cowley and is referenced in local street names, marked that border, and in 1940 the principal anti-invasion defence line traversed the county along the course of the River Thames from Kelmscott to Pangbourne.
Four Harcourt brothers
Oxfordshire’s relative proximity to London has always been a factor in its historical development whether that be its ancient University, or as Charles I’s capital during the English Civil War. Oxfordshire in Medieval times could be a place that was both dangerous, rewarding and challenging, and Osborne illustrates this with an account of the four Harcourt brothers who accompanied William I on his invasion in 1066. Their successors established what would become a prominent Oxfordshire family, while some would return to Normandy. Those that stayed were granted lands in Leicestershire and inherited lands around what became Stanton Harcourt. Those that returned found themselves in a more conflicted situation. As Osborne puts it, With a foot in both French and English camps the Harcourts fought to preserve their lands in Normandy by siding with whichever side could offer them the greater benefit. It didn’t end well as (the French) Geoffrey de Harcourt became a member of the Woodstock-born, Black Prince’s body guard at the battle of Crecy, while his brother Jean IV Compte de Harcourt was killed fighting on the French side. Changing sides yet again, he ended up dying in an ambush in Normandy in 1356.
Oxford was in early Medieval times the sixth largest town in England, with a population of around 5,000 guarding the route from London to Gloucester and South Wales, and Oxfordshire’s strategic importance at the time was reflected not only in the castles at Oxford and Wallingford, but also at Deddington, Chipping Norton and Mixbury. Indeed Deddington Castle was held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, half-brother of William I. Oxfordshire’s proximity to London meant that Woodstock Palace, which originated as a hunting lodge in the Forest of Wychwood, became one of Henry 1’s favourite royal palaces and an important centre for his spreading bureaucracy. The site of what is now Blenheim Palace, it was an early indicator of the significance royals considered Oxfordshire had in their kingdom.
One Legge
Its role in the Civil War was another example of the military and political significance of Oxfordshire. Driven out of London by Parliamentary forces, Charles I established his court in Oxford and closely surrounded the town with fortifications and an outer ring of fortified strong points. The city itself benefitted from having strong defensive walls and access through just five gates dating from Medieval times. Maps, diagrams and photographs of what remains of the fortifications add considerably to the text which rehearses the story of the City’s role in the Civil War and details which colleges were re-purposed for which activity, including where the munitions were stored – in the tower of New College. This is interspersed with lively anecdotes of life in the city. Bored soldiers took to drink. Their equally bored officers quarrelled and duelled, while insanitary conditions and food shortages caused discontent and outbreaks of diseases. Osborne drolly captures the moment, ’Miseries were compounded for citizen and soldier alike by the psychopathic Governor Sir Arthur Aston…Showing off in front of a group of ladies on Bullingdon Green he was thrown by his horse, breaking his leg which then had to be amputated. His successor, one Legge, afforded ample opportunity for court wits to gloat. Few tears would subsequently be shed when Aston was said to have been beaten to death with his own wooden leg at the siege of Drogheda in 1649.’
Life was hard in the besieged city, but the surrounding countryside had to contend with warring armies and their demands for taxes. Some unfortunate communities occupying the no-mans-land of disputed areas ended up having to pay twice. The impact resonated down the centuries. As a child in the 1960s I recall visiting Chastleton House with my parents. Still lived in by the impecunious Clutton-Brock’s, the house was in an advanced state of decay, and when my mother admired some piece of furniture they immediately offered to sell it. ‘You see we lost all our money in the War’, they explained. The Civil War.
Other aspects of change in the landscape had an impact on the military organisation and infrastructure of Oxfordshire. Enclosure was one. Combined with rising prices this led to unrest amongst the rural population. Local magistrates were unwilling to convict for acts against enclosure and it became impossible to recruit special constables owing to conflicting loyalties. Anti enclosure groups escalated their activities culminating in a crowd of 1000 people destroying the fences on the newly enclosed Otmoor in September 1830. Forty-two activists were arrested and conveyed from Islip to Oxford under armed guard. They hadn’t accounted for this coinciding with St Giles Fair and the crowds attending it ensured the escape of the prisoners. Despite yeomanry and regular troops being deployed to patrol the Moor it took a further five years to enforce the enclosure, a campaign commemorated in the popular local ditty, ‘The fault is great in man or woman who steals the goose from off a common: but who can plead the man’s excuse who steals the common from the goose?’
Totes Meer
Not being under direct threat of invasion, Oxfordshire’s involvement in WWI was relatively limited. Any invasion was expected to be from the east coast and evacuation routes from the Essex coast leading through Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire were physically marked with arrows painted on buildings. More significant were the location of POW camps, including at Enstone, Hook Norton, Banbury and Deddington, while Oxford became a significant centre of care for the wounded in military hospitals with the 3rd Southern General Hospital being established in the Examination Schools as early as 16 August 1914. But the rapid advance in aviation technology and the establishment of the RAF after the War led to Oxfordshire being identified as a site for bomber airfields – established at Abingdon, Bicester and Upper Heyford. This became very significant with rearmament and the outbreak of WWII in 1939. Oxfordshire was in certain respects on the front line, with the Thames acting as a key defensive line in the event of a ground invasion and the River Cherwell/Oxford Canal acting as part of a ‘stop line’ in the defence of Birmingham’s vital industrial centres. Morris Motors at Cowley was repurposed to produce military vehicles and later, aircraft. In 1939 it became the HQ for the Civilian Repair Organisation which repaired damaged aircraft and collected non re-useable parts for scrap and recycling. The Metal Produce and Recovery Unit covered 100 acres and is immortalised in Paul Nash’s classic wartime painting Totes Meer. Equally important was the role the county played in ‘the secret war’ with Thame Park becoming the training school for the SOE, Oriel College hosting MI6/SIS training courses, MI5 moving to Blenheim Palace, and Mansfield College and Oxford University Press taking on staff from Bletchley Park, working particularly on codes and ciphers for naval use. Medical research and development played no small part either, with Howard Florey and others developing the mass-production techniques for penicillin. Post war activities and infrastructure are covered too with the continuing use of RAF bases at Benson and Brize Norton for military use worldwide, and the use and eventual closure of the USAF base at Upper Heyford, site of controversial nuclear weapons in the 1980s.
The subject matter is necessarily bloody, but this military history of the county is comprehensively researched, well referenced and illustrated, and written with a light touch that will appeal to a wide readership.
This article first appeared in the Bulletin of the Oxfordshire Local History Association. October 2026