Page 4 - Hampdens Monument Unveiled

Pictorial evidence shows the outside railings around the
Monument were erected by 1880 and a photographic postcard taken
in 1913 shows them again. In 1943 members of the Cromwell
Association painted the railings to mark the Monument's
hundredth anniversary. John Hampden's Regiment from the English
Civil War Society also painted the railings in 2001 and
replaced some missing stakes. Although a few other stakes have
been replaced in earlier times, it seems that this is the
original fencing from 1863. It is in remarkable condition for
its age, only showing deterioration where the stakes have been
pressed into the ground.
In 1943 Chalgrove airfield was built across the Watlington to
Stadhampton Road, resulting in all traffic being diverted down
Monument Road and through Chalgrove village; a novelty not
welcomed by all. The arc of road facing Hampden's coat of arms,
as far as Chalgrovian contemporaries can remember, was laid in
early 1944 to help buses and heavy traffic make the turn.
Moira Ruth Calvert, nee Hampden, the last survivor of the
direct male line of the Barbados Hampdens, offered the
ownership of the Monument to the Oxford County Council in 1956.
Without a bursary for its upkeep they refused the bestowal.
Correspondence flowed between them until 1987, but always with
the same refusal. Chalgrove Parish Council was offered the
title and on the 1st July 1988 it was officially accepted.
Each year the Chalgrove Battle Group lay a wreath at the
Monument to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Chalgrove
Field and the great man's life and mortal wounding in the
conflict that occurred close by.