Towards the end of August, Priory Farm received a surprise visitor, David Pinfold who now lives in Bloxham, but told us that he was actually born at Priory Farm in 1938.
His parents, Harold and Norah, were probably the last people to use the property as a working farm and they, together with David’s sister Marjorie who died all too young in tragic circumstances, are buried in the churchyard close to Shutford Road. Dick Gaydon told us 10 years ago that he remembered driving some cattle over to Priory Farm on behalf of his father back in 1946, along the bridleway from North Newington, and it would presumably have been the Pinfolds to whom he was delivering them.
David told us what each of the old barns had been used for in the farming days and we in turn were able to show him photographs of the house as it was (very different) in the mid 1930’s.
After the Pinfolds left the house, they retained a plot on the far side of what is now the green, where they kept chickens. John Hedges asked Harold if he would gift the plot to the village in order to help establish the green after the pond was filled in. Harold agreed to this on condition he could leave a stone to mark the spot. Somewhat sceptical about this, I followed David over to the wooded area beyond the green, where he scratched around in the undergrowth for a few moments. There, sure enough, was the stone, as large as life and engraved with the words “Pinfold Corner”.
We promised David that we would clear the area and plant some bulbs to mark it more clearly, in order to preserve a small part of Balscote’s history.
Michael Robarts
Almost at the bottom of the map is a field named Holly Wells, and below it Ram Meadow. Both take their name from the spring here. This 'Ram' is not a male sheep, but a hydraulic ram once installed here to pump water back up the hill to the village. People and livestock need water, and its gift appearance in springs has a hint of the supernatural about it. Springs, and their seeming connection with the underworld have long fascinated us. Clear, clean and cold, the water flows never-endingly. No wonder that some might think that a draught of such water might be more than just refreshing. It might have curative properties, perhaps even miraculous ones in some cases. It has long been known that certain wells and springs had such a reputation, and even in pre-historic times people deposited items of value there, either in thanks for perceived favours, or to placate deities who might have power over health or crops. Even now, we still chuck coins into fountains or wells and make a wish.
