Abingdon
"ABINGDON, comprises the two parishes of St. Helen, and St. Nicholas, it is a municipal and parliamentary borough and market town, having separate jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Hormer, in the county of Berkshire, of which it is the chief town, 6 miles S.W. of Oxford, and 56 miles N.W. of London. It is on a branch of the Great Western railway, the Abingdon-road station being about 2½ miles from the town. It consists of several large streets, diverging from the market-place, and is pleasantly situated on the Thames, where the small river Ock falls into it. In the time of the Britons it was a city of importance, and a royal residence, where the councils of the nation were held. Its earliest name was Seouechesham or Suekesham (Chron. Abbend.). In the year 680, a Benedictine monastery, which had been previously founded at Bagley Wood by Cissa, viceroy of the King of Wessex, was removed to this place, which then took the descriptive name of Abbandune, or Abbendon, the 'town of the abbey'." (more...)
From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868), transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003.
Other descriptions can be found from other periods in various trade directories covering Berkshire from the early 19th century onwards and from A Vision of Britain Through Time.
Abingdon Parishes
ABINGDON, comprises the two parishes of St. Helen, and St. Nicholas;
Archives and Libraries
Research Wiki from Family Search (the Church of Latter-day Saints (Genealogical Society of Utah))
Cemeteries
| St Mary Magdalene, Shippon, Shippon, Church of England |
| St Nicholas, Abingdon, Church of England |
| Congregational (was Presbyterian or Inde. (Upper Meeting Hou, Abingdon, Congregational |
| Cemetery (Old and New), Abingdon, Cemetery |
| Our Lady and St. Edmund , Abingdon, Roman Catholic |
Churches
| Abbey Baptist Chapel, Abingdon, Particular Baptist |
| Abingdon Baptist Church (was Lower Meeting House), Abingdon, Baptist |
| Congregational (was Presbyterian or Inde. (Upper Meeting Hou, Abingdon, Congregational |
| Cemetery (Old and New), Abingdon, Cemetery |
| All Saints, Abingdon, Methodist |
| Ock St, Abingdon, Primitive Methodist |
| Shippon, Wesleyan Methodist |
| Trinity, Abingdon, Wesleyan Methodist |
| Our Lady and St. Edmund , Abingdon, Roman Catholic |
| Friends Meeting House, Abingdon, Society of Friends |
You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the Abingdon area or see them printed on a map.
Church History
Information about some of the churches can be found below:
- Methodists: Trinity Methodist Church, Conduit Rd: 1875 - Trinity Wesleyan Methodist Church opened in Conduit Road; 1932 - Trinity Methodist Church was created through the union of United, Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists; 1945 - The Ock Street Church closed and the Primitive Methodist Church moved to Trinity; 1959 - 47 members living in North Abingdon transferred to form the new All Saints Methodist Church in Appleford Drive. 1968 - The Congregational Church closed its building in the town centre and moved in for joint services with Trinity on an informal basis. 1972 - The Congregational Church united with the Presbyterians to form the United Reformed Church; 1978 - The signing of sharing agreements between Trinity Methodist Church and Abingdon United Reformed Church, to form the current congregation. See A History of Trinity (Wesleyan) Methodist Church, Abingdon by D.B. Tranter.
- Congregationalists: Abingdon Chapel: Founded 1700 in a building that later became a school, new building erected 1862. Closed 1968 and amalgamated with Trinity Methodist, above. For early history, see The History of the Congregational Churches in the Berks, etc, for later history, see Trinity Methodist.
- Baptists: Abingdon Baptist Church records are held by Oxford University.
Gazetteers
Ask for a calculation of the distance from Abingdon to another place.
Click here for a list of nearby places.
Historical Geography
- Abingdon was in the hundred of Hormer
- Although now in Oxfordshire, Abingdon was part of the historic county of Berkshire and most of those records likely to be of interest to family historians are held in BRO, although some may be held by the Oxfordshire History Centre (more about boundary changes...).
You can see the administrative areas in which Abingdon has been placed at times in the past. Select one to see a link to a map of that particular area.
History
- Search the Berkshire FHS library and shop and the BRO for their holdings
- Movers and stayers in nineteenth-century Abingdon, article from the Berkshire Family Historian, Dec 1999.
- Christ's Hospital of Abingdon (and almshouses)
Maps
You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SU498970 (Lat/Lon: 51.669575, -1.281292), Abingdon which are provided by:
- This place shown on an OpenStreetMap map.
- Google Streetview
- StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
- OpenStreetMap
- Bing (was Multimap)
- OldMaps (Old Ordnance Survey maps.)
- Old Maps Online (Other old maps.)
- National Library of Scotland (Best site for old maps)
- Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
- English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
- Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
- Elgin Road Works
- GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
- Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.
Poor Houses, Poor Law etc.
Abingdon was in the Abingdon Union. For more information, see Poorhouses.
Societies
- Abingdon Buildings Record is a group primarily interested in the architectural history of the town