Walking Woodstock: Finding the Former Glove Making Empire’s Quirky Past

What links a one-legged criminal, creepy ghosts and Lady Diana with an albatross? Find out on this fascinating walking tour of Woodstock, a medieval town in the heart of Oxfordshire with legends hidden around every corner.

The tour starts outside the Old Glove House on Oxford Street, an echo of the town’s famous former industry: turning the hides of animals killed on royal hunts into gloves for the fashionably rich. From there, you’ll find out why the Marlborough Arms is named after a town 50 miles away, see a statue that was hidden for centuries, and ponder how the town stocks could punish two and a half criminals.

You’ll pass the Town Hall with its very strange coat of arms that seems to feature cavemen and see the house named after famous poet Geoffrey Chaucer. You’ll walk through the St Mary Magdalene Church’s graveyard, then go onto learn how homeowners had to pay for fire insurance policies that were painted on their walls. You’ll discover the gruesome origins behind the Bear Hotel’s name, and hear tales of its many ghosts. The tour ends at the gates of Blenheim Palace, a World UNESCO site, famed for its flamboyant architecture and majestic setting.

Along the way, you’ll have a chance to:

• Sample gin from the Feathers Hotel’s famous selection and hear the hotel’s association with James Bond
• Find out how the town has connections with Lady Diana Spencer
• Learn how to spot the church’s 12th-century parts at St Mary Magdalene
• Listen to the story of Edward Hione, the town’s clerk in 1642, and how the Civil War brought him to his knees (literally)
• Hear the local bonds with great wartime leader Winston Churchill
• Be amazed by how many architects Blenheim’s creator, Sarah Churchill, went through - she fell out with absolutely everyone

This 45-minute walking tour takes us around a medieval town that has hardly changed over the centuries and offers a thousand years’ worth of stories about how people lived, fought and laughed.