Dear Chearsley Friends
I do hope you’ll be able to join our next CVHS village
meeting which will take place at The Village Hall on the evening of Thursday 16th
March – 7.15 for a 7.30pm start
Colleagues from the North Marston History Club will be
joining us to make a presentation on the ‘North Marston Story’. You may be
aware that John Schorne’s Well is located in their village. It was one of England’s
most frequently visited ‘holy wells’ in early medieval years, due to the
healing powers of its waters, in particular for curing ‘gout’, a painful
disease of the foot. Traditional images of its founder, John Schorne, are
accompanied by an infamous ‘Boot’ with a devil’s head peering out of its top.
Evidence suggests a significant link between Chearsley and
North Marston at that time, with pilgrims stopping off in our village on their
way to visiting the well. Several Bucks villages, including our own, still have
houses carrying the name of ‘The Boot’. Although most are now private homes, it
is thought that they were originally hostelries, providing a stopover and
refreshments for pilgrims on their way to North Marston.
Our second session is aimed to provide some first-hand
memories of Chearsley Village School in our community. Our village school was
opened in 1880 but was sadly forced to close in 1988. A number of villagers
with close association with the school before its closure have kindly agreed to
share some of their memories with our audience.
The meeting will also provide an opportunity for us to
update our audience on current plans for our new organisation as well as
inviting your own suggestions on priorities for the future of our new organisation.
Entrance is open to all and free of charge and refreshments
will be available. However, we will ask for voluntary donations towards
covering our meeting costs.
John Howard
