Blackthorn, Oxfordshire
Encyclopedia
Blackthorn is a village and civil parish in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire
about 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Bicester
. The parish is bounded by the River Ray
to the south, tributaries of the Ray to the east and north and field boundaries to the west. The parish's eastern boundary also forms part of the county boundary with Buckinghamshire
.
The old village lies between the A41
and B4011 main roads. Newer housing on the east side of the neighbouring village of Ambrosden
is in fact in the parish of Blackthorn.
pottery has been found at Blackthorn. The course of Akeman Street
Roman road
passes through the parish, which may explain why Roman pottery
has also been found here. The stretch of Akeman Street through the parish is now part of the A41 trunk road
.
is derived from the Old English blaec-porn or -pyrne.
In 1279 Blackthorn was recorded as a dependent hamlet
of Ambrosden
. In 1194 Ambrosden and Blackthorn were recorded as part of the honour
of St. Valery
. As such, Blackthorn would have descended to Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
, who in 1288 gave Ambrosden (including Blackthorn) to Ashridge Priory
of the Augustinian
order of the Brothers of Penitence
. In 1539 the priory was dissolved in the Dissolution of the Monasteries
and surrendered its lands to the Crown
.
The Crown seems to have separated Blackthorn from Ambrosden and sold them off separately. However, John Denton, lord of the manor
of one of the manors
of Bicester bought both of them: Ambrosden from Henry VIII
's agents in 1542 and Blackthorn from Elizabeth I
in 1564. Blackthorn later passed to the Nourse family of Woodeaton
, and in 1636 Philippa Nourse and her son John conveyed Blackthorn to Edward Rudge. Between 1706 and 1713 the manor changed hands three times, by which time it belonged to a Sebastian Smythe. In 1752 Smythe left it to his daughter Barbara Smythe of Cuddesdon
, who in 1787 left it to Sir John Whalley-Gardiner, 1st Baronet of Roche Court, Fareham
, Hampshire
(1743-1797). Blackthorn then changed hands a number of times. By the 1820s Alderman
Richard Cox of Oxford
owned it and in 1852 James Morrell, presumably of the Morrells Brewery family, was lord of the manor
.
missionary to Blackthorn, where he held services in an old bakery. By 1844 services were being held in someone's house and finally in 1870 a Congregational chapel was completed. The building was replaced by a new chapel in 1926, which was still being used for worship in 1944. It is now a private house.
The Church of England
parish of Ambrosden
includes Blackthorn, which therefore does not have its own Church of England parish church
. However, Rev. Charles Bagshawe, who was vicar of Ambosden 1866-1884, ran a mission room in Blackthorn. The mission room has since closed and Blackthorn has reverted to being served by the parish church of St. Mary the Virgin
, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away in Ambrosden, part of the Benefice of the Ray Valley.
The Church Charity was a local charity that let out land and property in Blackthorn to pay for the upkeep of Ambrosden Parish Church. The charity is known to have been in existence by 1336, when it owned two cottages, a close
and half a yardland
. In 1825 it owned one cottage, a close and 25 acres (10.1 ha).
. The Rector of Ashridge was allowed to inclose
3 acres (1.2 ha) of pasture at Blackthorn in 1299, but the open fields and remaining common land
s survived until in 1774 the 36 yardlanders
of Blackthorn petitioned for an Inclosure Act. Three yardlanders and the lady of the manor, Barbara Smythe, opposed inclosure. The petitioners were successful and the parish lands were enclosed in 1776.
In the 17th century the game of running at the quintain was played on the village green. Singlestick
matches were held on Blackthorn Hill in the 18th century but are said to have ceased by 1823.
Stone Pits Farm in the parish is named after a quarry that supplied limestone for building. In the 1740s stone from here was used to build Ambrosden House for Sir Edward Turner, 2nd Baronet
. In 1819 a brick and tile works was opened in the parish. Both the quarry and the brick and tile works were still in business by the end of the 19th century but were disused by 1957.
There was a windmill
on Blackthorn Hill by 1809, and Ordnance Survey
maps from 1880 onwards showed two windmills on the hill.
Towards the end of the 18th century Blackthorn experienced increases in both population and poverty. An agricultural depression followed, and the Church Charity responded by reducing its land rents in Blackthorn in 1805 and again between 1822 and 1830. Overcrowding and an insanitary water supply led to a cholera
epidemic in 1823 that killed at least 27 people. However, the population continued to increase, partly because Blackthorn was an "open village" where it was easy for paupers from outside the parish to move in. The 1851 Census
recorded a population peak of 417, but in subsequent decades it declined.
A parish school was opened in Ambrosden in 1818. It seems to have ceased operating by 1854, but a temporary school existed in Ambrosden in 1868. A permanent parish school built in Ambrosden was opened in 1876 and by the same year a school was operating in Blackthorn. By 1920 Blackthorn school was teaching children up to the age of 11, while older children from Blackthorn attended the school at Ambrosden. In 1952 Blackthorn school was still open but had only 16 pupils. It has since closed.
Blackthorn village is on the road between Bicester and Thame. In 1833 an Act of Parliament
made the road into a turnpike
. The turnpike trust rebuilt Blackthorn Bridge over the River Ray, replacing a wooden structure with the present stone bridge.
In about 1910 the Great Western Railway
built a new main line linking Ashendon Junction
and to complete a new high-speed route between its termini at and . The line passes within a few hundred yards of Blackthorn and crosses Akeman Street
on a steel bridge just north of the village. The GWR opened Blackthorn railway station
on the north side of the bridge. British Rail
ways closed the station in 1953, but the railway remains open as part of the Chiltern Main Line
.
Blackthorn had two public house
s: The Rose and Crown which closed in 1994, and The Royal Oak which closed some years previously. It had a butcher's shop but this too has closed.
In 2002 Blackthorn celebrated Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee
with a fête
opened by its own Queen of Blackthorn (a young village girl) who paraded around the village and greeted every visitor with a kiss.
. The village holds two or three public events annually including the village fête, a summer barbecue
and often another event, for example for Halloween
or carols for Christmas
.
Blackthorn has a few local businesses, including Harlan UK
which is occasionally targeted by animal rights
campaigners.
Blackthorn has infrequent bus services: routes 30 and 94 operated by Charlton on Otmoor Services.
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
about 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Bicester
Bicester
Bicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...
. The parish is bounded by the River Ray
River Ray
The River Ray is a river in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England. It rises at Quainton Hill and flows west through a flat countryside for around 25 km or 15 miles. It passes the village of Ambrosden and then flows through Otmoor...
to the south, tributaries of the Ray to the east and north and field boundaries to the west. The parish's eastern boundary also forms part of the county boundary with Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
.
The old village lies between the A41
A41 road
The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...
and B4011 main roads. Newer housing on the east side of the neighbouring village of Ambrosden
Ambrosden
Ambrosden is a village and civil parish in Cherwell, Oxfordshire, England, southwest of Bicester to which it is linked by the A41 road, and from Oxford. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 1,749 people. The parish is bounded by the River Ray to the south, its tributary the River Bure...
is in fact in the parish of Blackthorn.
Early history
Iron AgeBritish Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
pottery has been found at Blackthorn. The course of Akeman Street
Akeman Street
Akeman Street was a major Roman road in England that linked Watling Street with the Fosse Way. Its junction with Watling Steet was just north of Verulamium and that with the Fosse Way was at Corinium Dobunnorum...
Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
passes through the parish, which may explain why Roman pottery
Ancient Roman pottery
Pottery was produced in enormous quantities in ancient Rome, mostly for utilitarian purposes. It is found all over the former Roman Empire and beyond...
has also been found here. The stretch of Akeman Street through the parish is now part of the A41 trunk road
A41 road
The A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...
.
Manor
Blackthorn's toponymToponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
is derived from the Old English blaec-porn or -pyrne.
In 1279 Blackthorn was recorded as a dependent hamlet
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of Ambrosden
Ambrosden
Ambrosden is a village and civil parish in Cherwell, Oxfordshire, England, southwest of Bicester to which it is linked by the A41 road, and from Oxford. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 1,749 people. The parish is bounded by the River Ray to the south, its tributary the River Bure...
. In 1194 Ambrosden and Blackthorn were recorded as part of the honour
Honour (land)
In medieval England, an honour could consist of a great lordship, comprising dozens or hundreds of manors. Holders of honours often attempted to preserve the integrity of an honour over time, administering its properties as a unit, maintaining inheritances together, etc.The typical honour had...
of St. Valery
Saint-Valery-en-Caux
Saint-Valery-en-Caux is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A small fishing port and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some west of Dieppe at the junction of the D53, D20, D79 and the D925 roads...
. As such, Blackthorn would have descended to Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
Edmund of Cornwall of Almain was the 2nd Earl of Cornwall of the 7th creation.-Early life:Edmund was born at Berkhamsted Castle on 26 December 1249, the second and only surviving son of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall and his wife Sanchia of Provence, daughter of Ramon Berenguer, Count of Provence,...
, who in 1288 gave Ambrosden (including Blackthorn) to Ashridge Priory
Ashridge Priory
Ashridge Priory was a medieval abbey of the Brothers of Penitence.The seventeenth century historian Polydore Vergil said that Edmund founded in 1283 a monastery at Ashridge, Hertfordshire, for a rector and twenty canons of "a new order not before seen in England, and called the Boni homines"...
of the Augustinian
Augustinians
The term Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , applies to two separate and unrelated types of Catholic religious orders:...
order of the Brothers of Penitence
Brothers of Penitence
The Brothers of Penitence or Fratres Saccati were an Augustinian order also known as Boni Homines, Bonshommes or Bones-homes. They were also known as the "Bluefriars" on account of the colour of their robes.-History:...
. In 1539 the priory was dissolved in the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
and surrendered its lands to the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
.
The Crown seems to have separated Blackthorn from Ambrosden and sold them off separately. However, John Denton, lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
of one of the manors
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Bicester bought both of them: Ambrosden from Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
's agents in 1542 and Blackthorn from Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
in 1564. Blackthorn later passed to the Nourse family of Woodeaton
Woodeaton
Woodeaton or Wood Eaton is a village and civil parish about northeast of Oxford.-Archaeology:There was a Romano-Celtic temple north of where the parish church now stands, and probably a Romano-British settlement and shrine as well. The shrine was used successively by Roman pagans and Christians...
, and in 1636 Philippa Nourse and her son John conveyed Blackthorn to Edward Rudge. Between 1706 and 1713 the manor changed hands three times, by which time it belonged to a Sebastian Smythe. In 1752 Smythe left it to his daughter Barbara Smythe of Cuddesdon
Cuddesdon
Cuddesdon is an east Oxfordshire village about east of Oxford. It is notable as the location of Ripon College Cuddesdon....
, who in 1787 left it to Sir John Whalley-Gardiner, 1st Baronet of Roche Court, Fareham
Fareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
(1743-1797). Blackthorn then changed hands a number of times. By the 1820s Alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
Richard Cox of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
owned it and in 1852 James Morrell, presumably of the Morrells Brewery family, was lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
.
Churches
In 1820 the Home Missionary Society sent a CongregationalistCongregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
missionary to Blackthorn, where he held services in an old bakery. By 1844 services were being held in someone's house and finally in 1870 a Congregational chapel was completed. The building was replaced by a new chapel in 1926, which was still being used for worship in 1944. It is now a private house.
The Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
parish of Ambrosden
Ambrosden
Ambrosden is a village and civil parish in Cherwell, Oxfordshire, England, southwest of Bicester to which it is linked by the A41 road, and from Oxford. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 1,749 people. The parish is bounded by the River Ray to the south, its tributary the River Bure...
includes Blackthorn, which therefore does not have its own Church of England parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
. However, Rev. Charles Bagshawe, who was vicar of Ambosden 1866-1884, ran a mission room in Blackthorn. The mission room has since closed and Blackthorn has reverted to being served by the parish church of St. Mary the Virgin
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away in Ambrosden, part of the Benefice of the Ray Valley.
The Church Charity was a local charity that let out land and property in Blackthorn to pay for the upkeep of Ambrosden Parish Church. The charity is known to have been in existence by 1336, when it owned two cottages, a close
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
and half a yardland
Virgate
The virgate or yardland was a unit of land area measurement used in medieval England, typically outside the Danelaw, and was held to be the amount of land that a team of two oxen could plough in a single annual season. It was equivalent to a quarter of a hide, so was nominally thirty acres...
. In 1825 it owned one cottage, a close and 25 acres (10.1 ha).
Economic and social history
Although Blackthorn was a hamlet of Ambrosden it had a separate open field systemOpen field system
The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in some places, particularly Russia and Iran. Under this system, each manor or village had several very large fields, farmed in strips by individual families...
. The Rector of Ashridge was allowed to inclose
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
3 acres (1.2 ha) of pasture at Blackthorn in 1299, but the open fields and remaining common land
Common land
Common land is land owned collectively or by one person, but over which other people have certain traditional rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect firewood, or to cut turf for fuel...
s survived until in 1774 the 36 yardlanders
Virgate
The virgate or yardland was a unit of land area measurement used in medieval England, typically outside the Danelaw, and was held to be the amount of land that a team of two oxen could plough in a single annual season. It was equivalent to a quarter of a hide, so was nominally thirty acres...
of Blackthorn petitioned for an Inclosure Act. Three yardlanders and the lady of the manor, Barbara Smythe, opposed inclosure. The petitioners were successful and the parish lands were enclosed in 1776.
In the 17th century the game of running at the quintain was played on the village green. Singlestick
Singlestick
Singlestick, also known as cudgels, refers to both a martial art that uses a wooden stick as well as the weapon used in the art. It began as a way of training soldiers in the use of swords such as the sabre...
matches were held on Blackthorn Hill in the 18th century but are said to have ceased by 1823.
Stone Pits Farm in the parish is named after a quarry that supplied limestone for building. In the 1740s stone from here was used to build Ambrosden House for Sir Edward Turner, 2nd Baronet
Sir Edward Turner, 2nd Baronet
Sir Edward Turner, 2nd Baronet was one of the Turner Baronets of Ambrosden and a Member of Parliament.-Life:Turner was the son of Sir Edward Turner, 1st Baronet and his wife Mary. He received his early education at Bicester Grammar School. He went on to Balliol College, Oxford where he was noted...
. In 1819 a brick and tile works was opened in the parish. Both the quarry and the brick and tile works were still in business by the end of the 19th century but were disused by 1957.
There was a windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
on Blackthorn Hill by 1809, and Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
maps from 1880 onwards showed two windmills on the hill.
Towards the end of the 18th century Blackthorn experienced increases in both population and poverty. An agricultural depression followed, and the Church Charity responded by reducing its land rents in Blackthorn in 1805 and again between 1822 and 1830. Overcrowding and an insanitary water supply led to a cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic in 1823 that killed at least 27 people. However, the population continued to increase, partly because Blackthorn was an "open village" where it was easy for paupers from outside the parish to move in. The 1851 Census
United Kingdom Census 1851
The United Kingdom Census of 1851 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of 30 March 1851, and was the second of the UK censuses to include details of household members...
recorded a population peak of 417, but in subsequent decades it declined.
Blackthorn village is on the road between Bicester and Thame. In 1833 an Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom
An Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is a type of legislation called primary legislation. These Acts are passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster, or by the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh....
made the road into a turnpike
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
. The turnpike trust rebuilt Blackthorn Bridge over the River Ray, replacing a wooden structure with the present stone bridge.
In about 1910 the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
built a new main line linking Ashendon Junction
Ashendon Junction
Ashendon Junction in Buckinghamshire, England, was a major mainline railway junction where, from July 1910, the Great Western Railway's London-Birmingham direct route diverged from the Great Central Railway's main London-Sheffield route....
and to complete a new high-speed route between its termini at and . The line passes within a few hundred yards of Blackthorn and crosses Akeman Street
Akeman Street
Akeman Street was a major Roman road in England that linked Watling Street with the Fosse Way. Its junction with Watling Steet was just north of Verulamium and that with the Fosse Way was at Corinium Dobunnorum...
on a steel bridge just north of the village. The GWR opened Blackthorn railway station
Blackthorn railway station
Blackthorn railway station was a railway station serving the village of Blackthorn, Oxfordshire, England. It was on what is now known as the Chiltern Main Line.-History:...
on the north side of the bridge. British Rail
British Rail
British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
ways closed the station in 1953, but the railway remains open as part of the Chiltern Main Line
Chiltern Main Line
The Chiltern Main Line is an inter-urban, regional and commuter railway, part of the British railway system. It links London and Birmingham on a 112-mile route via the towns of High Wycombe, Banbury, and Leamington Spa...
.
Blackthorn had two public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s: The Rose and Crown which closed in 1994, and The Royal Oak which closed some years previously. It had a butcher's shop but this too has closed.
In 2002 Blackthorn celebrated Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II
The Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II was the international celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth II to the thrones of seven countries, upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, and was intended by the Queen to be both a commemoration of her 50...
with a fête
Fête
Fête is a French word meaning festival, celebration or party, which has passed into English as a label that may be given to certain events.-Description:It is widely used in England and Australia in the context of a village fête,...
opened by its own Queen of Blackthorn (a young village girl) who paraded around the village and greeted every visitor with a kiss.
Amenities
Blackthorn has a village hallVillage hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
. The village holds two or three public events annually including the village fête, a summer barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
and often another event, for example for Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
or carols for Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
.
Blackthorn has a few local businesses, including Harlan UK
Harlan (company)
Harlan Sprague Dawley Inc. is one of the world's leading suppliers of animals and other services to laboratories for the purpose of animal testing...
which is occasionally targeted by animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
campaigners.
Blackthorn has infrequent bus services: routes 30 and 94 operated by Charlton on Otmoor Services.