Qualla: Abingdon-on-Thames https://qualla.com/abingdon-on-thames en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:14 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/j/abingdon-on-thames-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Abingdon-on-Thames https://qualla.com/abingdon-on-thames Abingdon-on-Thames: Introduction https://qualla.com/abingdon-on-thames/ Photo credit Pishmishy at English Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5. Every time the British state has something to celebrate, the mayor and councillors of Abingdon climb onto the roof of the County Hall Museum and throw buns at the crowd below. They have done this since 1761, when the trigger was the coronation of King George III. The most recent bun-throwing was for the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, when five thousand buns rained down into the market square. The museum keeps a collection of these buns, dried and varnished, dating back to the nineteenth century. There have been thirty-five bun-throwings in all. Abingdon does this because Abingdon has been doing things in roughly the same square mile for fifteen hundred years, and feels entitled to a tradition or two.

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Image: Pishmishy at English Wikipedia | CC BY 2.5

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/j/abingdon-on-thames-wp/gcpj-abingdon-on-thames-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Abingdon-on-Thames: An Oppidum Beneath the Town https://qualla.com/abingdon-on-thames/ Photo credit David Howard, CC BY-SA 2.0. Abingdon's claim to be the oldest continuously occupied town in England rests on what lies under the modern streets. A late Iron Age defensive enclosure, an oppidum, sits beneath the town centre and was in use throughout the Roman occupation. A Neolithic causewayed enclosure dati...

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Image: David Howard | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/j/abingdon-on-thames-wp/gcpj-abingdon-on-thames-an-oppidum-beneath-the-town.mp3 0:06 2 full Abingdon-on-Thames: Wool, Riots, and a Charter https://qualla.com/abingdon-on-thames/ Photo credit Motacilla, CC BY-SA 4.0. Through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Abingdon prospered on wool. The abbot ran the markets and fairs and held the town firmly under his hand. In 1337 there was a famous riot in protest at the abbot's control of trade; several of the monks were killed in the street figh...

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Image: Motacilla | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/j/abingdon-on-thames-wp/gcpj-abingdon-on-thames-wool-riots-and-a-charter.mp3 0:06 3 full Abingdon-on-Thames: Lost to the Railway https://qualla.com/abingdon-on-thames/ Photo credit The Car Spy, CC BY 2.0. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries gave Abingdon two great engineering gifts. Abingdon Lock opened in 1790 and rerouted the Thames navigation away from the old Swift Ditch. The Wilts and Berks Canal opened in 1810, linking Abingdon to the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington a...

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Image: The Car Spy | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/j/abingdon-on-thames-wp/gcpj-abingdon-on-thames-lost-to-the-railway.mp3 0:06 4 full Abingdon-on-Thames: Bun-Throwing and Morris Dancing https://qualla.com/abingdon-on-thames/ Photo credit Tom Bastin uploaded and derivative work: MrPanyGoff, CC BY 2.0. Abingdon takes its rituals seriously. Every October the Michaelmas Fair runs through Market Place, High Street, and Ock Street, claimed locally as the longest and oldest street fair in Europe. Every year a Mayor of Ock Street is elected by the inhabitants of Ock Street alone and ...

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Image: Tom Bastin uploaded and derivative work: MrPanyGoff | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/j/abingdon-on-thames-wp/gcpj-abingdon-on-thames-bun-throwing-and-morris-dancing.mp3 0:06 5 full Abingdon-on-Thames: Radiohead at Abingdon School https://qualla.com/abingdon-on-thames/ Photo credit Reading Tom from Reading, UK, CC BY 2.0. In 1985, five sixth-formers at Abingdon School began rehearsing on Friday afternoons in the school music room. The band initially called themselves On a Friday. The members were Thom Yorke, Jonny and Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, and Phil Selway. They renamed themselves Radiohead ...

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Image: Reading Tom from Reading, UK | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/p/j/abingdon-on-thames-wp/gcpj-abingdon-on-thames-radiohead-at-abingdon-school.mp3 0:06 6 full