The exhibition – The County Collection – at The Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock shows through a range of oil paintings how some Oxfordshire areas have dramatically changed over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and how others have largely remained the same in appearance.

The free-to-enter show, which runs from Saturday 28 January to Sunday 3 June, includes landscapes, portraits and urban views, all of which are illustrated in a recently published national guide.

Range of subjects

Highlights include a T Langford painting of the New Mill by the River Windrush which was created in c1830.

The building, located between Crawley and Witney and used as part of the area’s then famous blanket industry, was damaged four times by fire over a 100-year period, the last being in 1883, an event then described by the Witney Gazette as “one of the most calamitous conflagrations that has ever taken place in this district”.

The building was reconstructed and completely refurbished and is now occupied by a variety of small businesses.

Other pictures on show include lesser-known works by nineteenth century Oxford-based artist William Turner, such as two views of Shipton, where he was brought up as a child. The exhibition also displays colourful local characters, including ‘Old Mettle’, a portrait by R Cheney of the nineteenth century mock political agitator William Castle, a sulphur match seller from Banbury who was said to have spent more time in prison than not.

The interior of Botley Cinema – now Halfords, having previously been Cooper’s Marmalade Factory – in Botley Road, Oxford, at Christmas time in 1940 in a detailed view by LH Woollatt will be displayed at the Park Street gallery, as will Margaret Bellwood’s 1967 painting of New Street in Chipping Norton which shows Bignell’s Café, a building which was later demolished so that the road could be widened.

An unusual exhibition piece – ‘Our Founder’ – is a painting of a sheep’s head for a 1967 advertising campaign linked to the Witney blanket industry which appeared in the Sunday Times. The painting was donated by Dorland Advertising Ltd to the Board of Charles Early and Marriott Ltd, where it hung for many years in their Burford Road offices in Witney.

Great opportunity

Councillor Judith Heathcoat, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Safer and Stronger Communities, said: “The Oxfordshire Museum produces a varied programme of exhibitions for the public to enjoy throughout the year. The County Collectionexhibition is an opportunity for visitors to see some fantastic paintings of historical scenes and characters from our local community and others created by local artists.

“The Museum Service has taken the opportunity to display some paintings from the county’s permanent collection in a special exhibition and I hope that many people seize the chance to view them.”

The exhibits are included in The Public Catalogue Foundation – Oil Painting in Public Ownership, a guide intended for those interested in discovering where paintings are publically accessible in different areas of the country.

The Oxfordshire Museum is open 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Saturday, and from 2pm to 5pm on Sundays.