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Explore - Strange History

The Cospatrick

Cospatrick Memorial: Disaster and cannibalism on the high seas

14 October 2024

Church Green, Shipton-under-Wychwood

On the village green at Shipton-under-Wychwood stands a memorial to a maritime disaster that claimed the lives of nearly 500 people, including 17 Shipton residents, over 6000 miles away in 1874.

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Bainton Obelisk

The Bainton Obelisk: Monument to a foxhound

17 July 2024

Field northwest of Bainton

Sir Thomas Mostyn's great love for his favourite foxhound is commemorated in this ornate obelisk near Bicester.

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The Bear pub, Oxford

The Controversial History of The Bear, Oxford

21 February 2024

6 Alfred Street, Oxford

The Bear has been dining out on its reputation as Oxford's oldest pub for centuries. Has it been stretching the truth for all these years?

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St. John's College, Oxford

The St. Brice's Day Massacre at Oxford

28 October 2023

St. Giles, Oxford

In 1002, King Æthelred ordered the murder of all the Danes in Oxford. Over 1000 years later, their bodies were discovered below St. John's College.

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Camping party at Hart's Wood, Goring, 1880

The Goring tragedy that inspired Jerome K. Jerome

17 October 2023

Hartslock Woods, Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

A memorable and moving incident from Jerome K. Jerome's novel Three Men in a Boat was inspired by a real-life tragedy at Goring-on-Thames that was reported in newspapers nationwide.

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Memento Mori tomb at Fyfield

The Cadaver Monument of John Golafre at Fyfield

21 September 2023

St. Nicholas's church, Fyfield

Visitors to the tomb of John Golafre at Fyfield will be confronted by a gruesome statue of his hollow-eyed corpse.

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The Knights Templar preceptory map 1910

The Knights Templar at Sandford-on-Thames

9 August 2023

Henley Road, Sandford-on-Thames

The legend of the mysterious Knights Templar still captivates people today. And one of their most important bases in England was located right here in Oxfordshire.

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