OXFORDSHIRE AT WAR: Water, water everywhere as 1915 approached

And it will be no surprise to modern-day citizens to discover which areas were most affected – West and South Oxford.

Heavy rain fell over Oxfordshire during the festive season of 1914 and huge swathes of land were under water as the New Year of 1915 approached.

Flooding was described as the worst for several years, despite the best efforts of the Thames Conservancy to prevent it.

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“All the low-lying districts of Oxford are flooded and many of the streets are partially inundated,” the Oxford Journal Illustrated, one of the city’s three newspapers, reported.

Homes in Bridge Street, Osney, were accessible only over planks, while water in Abingdon Road, near Cold Arbour, was nearly two feet deep.

Water was said to be “flowing in torrents” over Ferry Hinksey Road, off Botley Road, and the path leading to South Hinksey.

Under the headline, Water, water, everywhere, the paper published two pages of pictures to show the extent of the flooding.

The flood victims weren’t the only ones who faced a bleak Christmas – poor families were suffering too.

Organisers of the Oxford Dickens Christmas Appeal announced that “the demands are so much more than before, the response has been so much and food is so much dearer to purchase that we are really at our wit’s end. A few shillings, a few puddings, a few tins will be most gratefully received.”

For others, however, Christmas was much more fun.

The Horton Infirmary at Banbury, for example, “was the scene of much happiness, thanks to the forethought of the friends of the institution, who had sent lavish gifts for the pleasure and comfort on the inmates.

• 7 Water within a few inches of entering a front door; 8 the road at Marston; 9 When the Mesopotamia is not a Mesopotamia; 10 Weirs Lane; 11 The only way for residents in Kennington Lane; 12 Good weather for ducks; 13 Bad news for market gardeners 

“Miss Halstead, the popular matron, and the staff had decorated the wards with much taste, and the patients were given a good time.

“At the Banbury workhouse, the chairman, Mr F Young, Mr JJ Chard and others attended at midday and assisted in serving the repast, which included roast beef, plum pudding and beer.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Eustace Fiennes, wife of the Banbury MP, presented Christmas boxes to members of the Banbury squadron of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry on Christmas morning, each man receiving a parcel of Banbury cakes and veal patties, tobacco, pipe and pouch, a pair of buckskin gloves made in Chipping Norton, a khaki handkerchief and cigarettes.

• A celebration for children of Oxford soldiers, above, and a gathering for young Belgians evacuated to Oxford at Balliol College Hall, reported by Oxford Journal Illustrated

A ROUND-UP AS 1915 APPROACHED

• THE children of Oxford soldiers serving on the frontline were provided with a tea, after which gifts were distributed from a large tree. It is not known where the party was held.
• MR AND Mrs Hilliard, of Banbury Road, gave a Christmas party in Balliol College hall to young Belgians evacuated to Oxford. The tree was given by the Duke of Marlborough, and gifts were mainly thanks to the generosity of Lord Newlands, city MP Viscount Valentia and other members of the Santa Claus Fund.
• THE first military demonstration in Oxford to aid recruiting took place when some 4,000 troops assembled in St Giles and marched through the city, right. The mayor took the salute. Immense crowds gathered in St Giles and at Carfax.
• OXFORDSHIRE County Council added a serious note to the festive season by publishing its income and expenditure account, totalling £206,121 18s 10d.

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