Chasleton House National Trust Oxfordshire ~ Why the National Trust is So Important!
Fom the Archive
March 2017
Chasleton House National Trust Oxfordshire
Why the National Trust is So Important!
I
Earlier today I visited Chasleton House - five miles beyond Morton-in-Marsh just across the county boundary in Oxfordshire. This is no ordinary House in that it has not been restored.
A Jacobean Manor, it soon fell on hard times some 375 years ago, as a result of the English Civil War.
On crossing the threshold, one steps back more than 300 years. History becomes alive.
As with all National Trust property, the visitor will quickly find other aspects of history beyond one’s immediate perspective suddenly connecting us with momentous events, people across the social spectrum, and famous, as well as hitherto unknown personalities coming to the fore.
It was upstairs that I found myself looking through the glass at the Bible used by Bishop Juxon attending Charles I R on the scaffold and from which he read to the King.
The accompanying notes begin to open up that tragic scene - for all executions are tragic because execution defines the failure of human nature every time.
At this point, the Steward very kindly attended my questions. And here I must advise the reader that I am a student of history and nothing more. And so it is wonderful to listen quietly to explanations, hypotheses and expositions of fact, fiction and being assisted to gain a better perspective of an historical account.
That happened today.
II
I was given the steward’s private notes to read; an eye-witness account of the conversations between the King and his Bishop, Juxon. The steward left me to read quietly. There are moments when, reading historical documents or observing history that just occasionally, in a millisecond, the Present has gone or, perhaps more accurately, the Past catches up with the Present and presents itself in a very tangible and real sense.
That indeed happened today.
And I shall never forget this priceless moment, this glimpse - this Josephian glimpse - into an event that brought much trouble upon everyone and which lasted until the Restoration 12 years later.
What I knew was this.
I was reading a very accurate eyewitness account that so moved me that upon returning her papers to the Steward, I had to apologise for my difficulty in speaking… “Do please forgive me; it has caught my throat.”
We both understood.
III
I made my way back to Saint Mary’s Church and for a very welcome coffee and a time of reflection in a truly remarkable Church. How awe-inspiring to see the colours exposed over the Norman door (circa 1100) and the original mediaeval tiles underfoot. It is surely a testimony to the remarkable work and success of the National Trust.
And as a member of the Historical Association, I am thankful that we have these two great Institutions, along with many others, which give the discerning enquirer a more accurate appraisal of times past.
Why is this so important?
I am firmly of the view, which at age 64 I’m beginning to feel more confident in maintaining, that it is only by a thorough and painstaking understanding of our Past, of our Evolution, that we can be better prepared to deal with the problems of today and the future; and stop potential reoccurrences of catastrophe, conflict and ultimately genocide, in their tracks.
Observation Nine Years On
There are times when we can see that something is a coincidence. There are also times when we can see beyond coincidence and observe synchronicity. This is one such moment that I had not anticipated.
For only 14 hours ago, I was talking about this very visit; only now do I find my handwritten notes at the back of the book I just happen to be reading in the night-season,[4] well known to many - Country Talk Continued by JHB Peel (1913-1983) of which this is Volume Two of Five, and best known for his columns about Country Life in the National Press.
23 May 2026
All Rights Reserved
Gloucestershire and Liverpool
©️2017 Kenneth Thomas Webb
Notes
1 This article was written by me Kenneth Webb on 18 March 2017 at 11:45 pm at Rectory cottage in Cowley Gloucestershire
2 The banner Image depicts Chasleton House taken from the Grounds of St Mary’s Church via Unsplash through Squarespace and to which and to whom all rights are reserved.
3 Kenneth Thomas Webb transcribed from my original notes dated the 18th of March 2017 on Saturday, 23 May 2026 1:40 AM at home.
4 Psalm 17:3 KJV
“All executions are tragic because execution defines the failure of human nature every time.”
