Maps
Site of Ridge’s Weir, otherwise Langley’s, Cock’s, Rudge’s, Butler’s.
1763: Romance leads to social mobility! -
William Flower, Viscount Ashbrook, was an
undergraduate at Oxford who came one day to fish at what was then probably known
as Rudge’s Weir. And there he fell in love with the weir
keeper’s daughter, Betty Rudge. He was
determined to marry her, despite the enormous social gulf between them, and
sent her away to be educated.
They eventually married quietly in Northmoor Church in 1766 when he
was 23 and she was 19. He died aged 36.
His epitaph in Shellingford Church ends with these lines -
He was a kind and affectionate husband, father and brother,
In him the Rich had lost a sincere and disinterested Friend,
The Poor, a compassionate and generous Benefactor.
Betty, or Elizabeth, as she was then called, outlived her husband by twenty eight years. She died on the 23rd February, 1808 -
universally lamented in the 63rd year of her Age.
Thomas Ridge (Rudge?) was the weir keeper.
His daughter became a Viscountess.
Two grandchildren became Viscounts.
His great grandson became a Viscount.
His great grand daughter became Duchess of Marlborough
on her marriage to Sir Winston Churchill’s great grandfather: -
Thomas Ridge had a daughter Elizabeth Ridge born 18 July 1746
Elizabeth Ridge married William Flower, 2nd Viscount Ashbrook on
20 March 1766 when she was 19. She
became Viscountess Ashbrook on her marriage.
William & Elizabeth Flower had two children, William & Henry.
William Flower was born 16 Nov 1767. On his father’s death on 30 August 1780
he became 3rd Viscount Ashbrook. He died on 6 January 1802.
Henry Jeffery Flower was born 6 November 1776. He became 4th Viscount
Ashbrook on his brother’s death on 6 January 1802.
Elizabeth Flower nee Betty Ridge married again on 20 January 1790, the Revd John
Jones. She died on 22 February 1808.
Henry Jeffery Flower married Deborah Susannah Friend on 26 May
1802. They had two children. She died 26 March 1810.
Henry Jeffery Flower then married Emily Theophila Metcalfe on
22 June 1812 and they had a daughter Hon. Charlotte Augusta Flower born on
25 November 1818.
Hon. Charlotte Augusta became Duchess of Marlborough when she
became the second wife of Sir Winston Churchill’s great grandfather,
George Spencer Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough.
So be polite to lock keepers!
1860: Ridges Weir, Henry Taunt -
Ridges Weir, Henry Taunt, 1860
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; HT1149
1879: Harts Footbridge built.
1880: Harts Weir removed.
1909: The Stripling Thames, Fred Thacker -
Above [Northmoor] lock is Ridge's footbridge, over the site of another dismantled weir; Ridge's or Langley or Cock's. From the crown of this bridge, which lies at the exact point at which the River ascends northward for its long sweep round by Oxford and southward again to Abingdon, you may behold a true vision of the soul of remote Thames landscape. Across the Oxfordshire meadows lie the grey roofs and barns of tiny Moorton; and hence if you choose, is the nearest way from the River to Fyfield; across Appleton Lower Common, desolate under a bleak August sky the day I was there, then over a little ridge and through the hamlet of Netherton.
Hart’s (Ridge’s) Footbridge in 1910.
1920: Fred Thacker -
It is now a very picturesque scene. Close by, on the right bank,
[just discernible in the 1910 photograph above, between the willows and the tall
reeds]
is an ancient thatched house of some size, which
may have been the weir keeper’s. The
bridge crosses at the exact point at which the river ascends northwards for its
long sweep round by Oxford and thence southward to Abingdon: only
six miles away as the crow flies, although some twenty-four by water.
1999: -
Hart's Footbridge in 1999.
Hart’s Footbridge, Doug Myers © 2005
(Upstream to the Rose Revived at Newbridge)
Introduction
Estuary
PLA
QEII Br
Barrier
Tower Br
Custom Ho
London Br
; Frost Fairs
Cannon St Rb
The Great Stink
Southwark Br
Millenium Br
Blackfriars Rb
Blackfriars Br
Waterloo Br
Charing Cross Rb
Westminster Br
Lambeth Br
Vauxhall Br
Victoria Rb
Chelsea Br
Albert Br
Battersea Br
Battersea Rb
Wandsworth Br
Fulham Rb
Putney Br
Hammersmith Br
Barnes Rb
Chiswick Br
Kew Rb
Kew Br
RICHMOND
Twickenham Br
Richmond Rb
Richmond Br
TEDDINGTON
Kingston Rb
Kingston Br
Ditton Slip
Hampton Br
MOLESEY
SUNBURY
Walton Br
Desborough Cut
SHEPPERTON
Chertsey Br
CHERTSEY
M3 Br
Laleham Slip
PENTON HOOK
Staines Rb
Staines Br
Runnymede Br
BELL WEIR
Magna Carta Is
OLD WINDSOR
Albert Br
Datchet
Victoria Br
Black Potts Rb
ROMNEY
Eton
Windsor Br
Windsor Rb
Windsor Slip
Elizabeth Br
BOVENEY
Dorney Lake
York Cut
Summerleaze Fb
MonkeyIsland
New Thames Br
BRAY
Bray Slip
Maidenhead Rb
Maidenhead Br
Below Boulters
BOULTERS
Cliveden
Hedsor
COOKHAM
Cookham Slip
Cookham Br
BourneEnd RFb
Quarry Woods
A404 Br
MARLOW
Marlow Br
Bisham
TEMPLE
HURLEY
Medmenham
Culham Ct
Aston Slip
HAMBLEDEN
Temple Is
Fawley Ct
Remenham
Regatta
Phyllis Ct
Henley Slip
Leander
Red Lion
Henley Br
Angel on Br
Landing
Hobbs Boatyard
Hobbs Slipway
MARSH
Hennerton
Bolney
Wargrave
Shiplake Rb
R.Loddon
SHIPLAKE
Sonning Br
SONNING
Dreadnought
K&A Canal
CAVERSHAM
Reading Br
Caversham Br
Reading Slip
Purley
MAPLEDURHAM
Hardwick Ho
Whitchurch Br
WHITCHURCH
Hartswood Reach
Gatehampton Rb
Goring Gap
Goring Br
GORING
Swan
CLEEVE
Moulsford
Moulsford Rb
Papist Way Slip
Winterbrook Br
Wallingford Br
BENSON
Shillingford Br
R.Thame
DAYS
Burcot
Clifton Hampden
Clifton Church
Clifton H Br
Barley Mow
Long Wittenham
CLIFTON
Appleford Rb
Sutton Courtenay
Sutton Br
CULHAM
Culham Cut Fb
Abingdon Slip
Abingdon
Abingdon Br
ABINGDON
Nuneham Rb
Nuneham
Nuneham Park
Radley Boats
SANDFORD
Rose Island
Kennington Rb
Isis Br
Iffley Mill
IFFLEY
Oxford Rowing
Isis
Donnington Br
Riverside Slip
Boathouses
Punting
Lower Cherwell
Upper Cherwell
Islip
Head of River
Salters Steamers
Folly Br
Bacons Folly
Oxford Fb
Osney Fb
Weir stream
Osney Rb
Bullstake Stream
Osney Marina
OSNEY
Osney Br
Four Rivers
OLD RIVER
CANAL
Medley Weir Site
Medley Fb
Bossoms
Perch
Trout
GODSTOW
Godstow Nunnery
Godstow Br
Thames Br
KINGS
River Evenlode
EYNSHAM
Swinford Br
Oxford Cruisers
PINKHILL
Farmoor
Stanton Harcourt
Bablock Slip
Arks Weir Site
NORTHMOOR
Harts Fb
Rose Revived
Newbridge
Maybush
River Windrush
below Shifford
SHIFFORD
Shifford Fb
Tenfoot Fb
Trout Inn
Tadpole Br
RUSHEY
Old Mans Fb
RADCOT
Radcot Cradle Fb
Swan Inn
Radcot New Br
Radcot Old Br
GRAFTON
Eaton Hastings
Kelmscott
Eaton Fb
BUSCOT
Bloomers Hole Fb
Trout Inn
St Johns Br
ST JOHNS
Halfpenny Br
Marina Slip
LIMIT
Inglesham
Hannington Br
Kempsford
Castle Eaton Br
Marston Meysey
A419 Br
Cricklade
SOURCE?
THAMES HEAD
SEVEN SPRINGS