Short course
Five Medieval New Towns in Oxfordshire
Course status:
Applications being accepted
Dates and time:
15/04/2027 - 17/06/202710:30 - 12:30
Study format:
In-person weekly
Fees:
£315.00
This course will examine five Oxfordshire market towns, all of which developed as new towns in the Middle Ages – Thame, Chipping Norton, Witney, Woodstock and Burford. There are alternating class sessions and field trips.
Many of the market towns in Oxfordshire share a common plan. They have a broad open market area surrounded by the tenements and land strips that belonged to the earliest town merchants. Most of the small market towns of Oxfordshire originated between AD 1100-1300 as planned settlements attached to older villages.
In this course, we will look at five well-known medieval market towns and trace their origins and development through their street-plans and historic buildings. We will also look at the founders of these urban experiments and assess how commercially successful they were. Few of the chosen settlements had town charters, but they were all able to develop specific governmental organisations to control trade in their towns.
These towns have proved to be remarkably resilient; in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, several found new prosperity as coaching centres, and are characterised by a spread of coaching inns along their market streets. In the twentieth century, the motorcar and charabanc delivered a new source of income in the form of tourism. And in the twenty-first century, all have expanded beyond their medieval core to provide employment opportunities, more affordable housing, and overspill for Oxford.
Book this course
Book your place online using the button below.
Contact the team
Phone: +44 (0)1865 280900
Course starts Thursday 15 April 2027
This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford and at field locations on Tuesdays.
Week 1: Class – Thame
Week 2: Field Trip – Thame
Week 3: Class – Chipping Norton
Week 4: Field Trip – Chipping Norton
Week 5: Class – Woodstock
Week 6: Field Trip – Woodstock
Week 7: Class – Witney
Week 8: Field Trip – Witney
Week 9: Class – Burford
Week 10: Field Trip – Burford
Please note: students will have to arrange their own transport for the field trip, and cover the cost of any entry fees.
Course aims
To understand the urban topography of early market towns in Oxfordshire and how they have developed in more recent centuries.
Course Objectives:
1. To learn how to look at a medieval town.
2. To learn how to use the main sources for the analysis of small towns.
3. To learn how to interpret the topography and commercial role of small urban centres.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course students will be expected to:
1. know how to identify and use the main secondary sources for town analysis.
2. know the chronology of the chosen study towns.
3. have gained an understanding of the process of analysis of the topography of small towns.
Level and demands
The Department’s Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, ie first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in private study in preparation for the classes.
Teaching methods
Class seminars on individual towns will be followed by a field trip to each of the chosen study towns. The topography and buildings of the urban centres will be analysed.
Assessment methods
You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.
Dr Trevor Rowley
Trevor Rowley MA, MLitt, FSA, was formerly Deputy Director in the Department for Continuing Education and before that Director of Archaeology in the Department. He is now an Emeritus Fellow of Kellogg College and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He has published many books on landscape history and the Normans, most recently a biography of William the Conqueror’s half-brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux, and an examination of the landscape of the Bayeux Tapestry. His most recent book, ‘Landscapes of the Norman Conquest’, appeared at the end of 2022.
Academic credit
Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme (CATS Points)
Please note, students who do not register for assessment and accreditation during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun. If you wish to gain credit from completing this course you must register to do so before the course starts.
Only those who have registered for assessment and accreditation will be awarded CATS points for completing work to the required standard. Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail.
Learn more about the Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee for assessment and accreditation.
Digital certificate of completion
Students who are registered for assessment and accreditation and pass their final assignment will also be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Information on how to access the digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course attended. You will be able to download the certificate and share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course fee (with no assessment) | £315.00 |
| Assessment and Accreditation fee | £60.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses
Recommended reading
Recommended reading is optional and you are not required to purchase these books to study this course.
Library facilities
All short course students (online and in-person) may register to borrow from the Oxford Lifelong Learning Library, for the duration of their course.
Further information about the Oxford Lifelong Learning Library can be found on the library website.
Preparatory reading
- Interpreting the Landscape / Aston M
- The Landscape of Towns / Aston M and Bond J
- New Towns of the Middle Ages / Beresford M
- The Small Towns of Oxfordshire / Rodwell K (ed),
Module code: O26P493LHW
How to enrol
Please use the ‘Book now’ button on this page.
How to register for accreditation and assessment
To be able to submit coursework and to earn credit (CATS points) for this course, if you wish to do so, you will need to register and pay an additional £60 fee. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.