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St Mary's Church Built by Grosteste

High St

This information was kindly sent to me by PJ - Words & Music mailing list

Thame is the perfect English market town; a small town with an old fashioned charm and a vibrant history rich in tradition. There were royal visitors here in former days, and the town was even mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086.  Every now and then Thame appears in historical records, from the charter of King Wulfhere of Mercia in 675 to the visits of Kings Edward I and III.  In later years, Lord Williams grammar school has produced famous politicians like the Parliamentarian John Hampden and the radical John Wilkes.  The old grammar school is still  there as it has been since 1567, although the pupils now study in a more modern Victorian building at the edge of town.

In Thame there are no shopping centres; there are three times as many antique shops as there are supermarkets.  There are few tourists, although the local farmers always came on market day.  On Tuesdays, the local traders set up their stalls in the High Street Market as they have done every week since the twelfth century!  High Street was one of the widest streets in England.  Everything happened there, from the New Years Day Hunt Meet to the arrival in autumn of carousels and coconut shies as the annual three day fair arrived in town.  Each year, the fair coincides with the famous Thame show, one of the largest agricultural shows in the country.

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