local tribe from Churn Knob. He converted the tribe and was allowed to found Dorchester Abbey in Dorchester-on-Thames. An annual pilgrimage now walks from Churn Knob to Dorchester in celebration. Blewbury is called "this venerable village" in its Saxon charter. There is more information in the Domesday Book of 1086. At that time the population was probably about 400, and there were four water mills. Two mills remain. In the English Civil War in the 17th century Blewbury was in no man's land between King Charles I in Oxford and the Parliamentarian forces. On a day in 1644, following the Second battle of Newbury a troop of Royalist cavalry arrived at Hall Barn and demanded lunch. They had just been satisfied and left when a troop of Parliamentarians arrived with the same request, and were served at the same tables. The East Field would have been open farmed, and tracks up to the downs have been deeply cut into the chalk by the frequent passage of animals. One of these tracks is still called Cow Lane. The chalk pit above the village was used to quarry chalk stone, which can be seen in houses and walls to this day. Blewbury's inclosure act was passed in 1805. Its inclosure award records details of the parish at that time. The Local History Society has a register of registered births and deaths in the Parish. The governance of the village fell to a number of major farming families who intermarried. They included the Humfreys, the Robinsons, and the Corderoys. There were also the variety of local tradesmen. The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway was built past the village in 1882. The nearest station was called but was at Upton, away. British Railways closed the line in 1964. Around the end of the 19th century, the open areas of the downs were used for military manœuvres each summer, the camp being victualled by the local farmers. A firing range was also introduced, and was used intermittently until the 1970s. Since the 1950s Blewbury has become an attractive place for people commuting to work in the area, or even in London. The old cottages have been improved and extended, and a number of estates have been built. Until about 1970 there were several racing stables in the village; one is still in business a mile to the south, and several racehorse gallops on the Downs