Southam’s Oldest House
Cardalls Corner - Jan 2020 - Bernard Cadogan
Southam has been around as a town, village and community for a very long time, in fact longer than many places in the country including some of our major ...
Oral History
Cardal's Corner - June 2019 - Helen Morris
In 2007, shortly after joining the Friends of the Cardall Collection, I volunteered to work on collecting oral history – that is, recording spoken historical memories. It is one of the best ways ...
Speed Records
Cardall's Corner - March 2019 - Bernard Cadogan
Speeding vehicles on our roads is a problem that we are all aware of, and most of us will know of someone who has been ‘caught speeding’. With two of the country’s leading car manufacturers, Jaguar and Aston Martin Lagonda, having facilities within seven miles …
The Great Storm of 1703
Cardall's Corner - December 2018 - by Jill Prime
‘The Great Storm of 1703’ was of unusual, tremendous ferocity, probably passing in intensity all the storms ever known in Great Britain. It was the most terrifying and catastrophic storm ever recorded here. During the night of 26th-27th November 1703, widespread devastation was caused to many parts of the Midlands, East Anglia …
WW1 Commemorations
Cardall's Corner - November 2018 - by Val Brodie
As a hundred years passes since the ending of the desperate war of 1914-1918, details continue to emerge in Southam of the men who died, who served and of what was done to assist the wounded here on the home front. This photograph was recently donated to Southam Heritage Collection. Southam people raised money ...
WW1 Centenary Archive
Cardall's Corner - September 2018 - by Val Brodie
People in Britain, across Europe and around the world are commemorating the tragedy that was WWI. As Armistice Day approaches in November, at Southam Heritage Collection we are continuing to develop the Centenary Archive, a permanent record for future generations of ...
WW1 Southam’s Canadian Connection
Cardall's Corner - March 2018 - By Val Brodie
The story of the Bull family of Daventry Street is a complex, courageous and tragic one. Sadly in 1903 Ada Bull, died and her husband George, a baker, was left with four youngsters to bring up: Ida (15), Nellie (13), George (10) and John (8). George senior took the bold step of moving the whole family to Canada. ...
The Hunting Season
CARDALLS CORNER - February 2018 - by Linda Doyle
The Great War changed the British way of life by starting to narrow the class divisions between the rich and poor. Previously, a year was not only divided into four weather seasons, but by social and lifestyle ‘seasons’ as well. One such season was the fox hunting season during the autumn and winter months. [...]
All our Yesterdays
CARDALLS CORNER - January 2018 - by Chris Holding and Pam McConnell
Our new exhibition titled ‘All Our Yesterdays’ opens on Tuesday 9th January and will be available to view on Tuesday and Saturday mornings (10am to 12 noon) at Vivian House, Market Hill, until the end of April. To begin this New Year we are going ‘back to basics’ by creating a display featuring some of the [...]
Southam Coat of Arms
CARDALLS CORNER - December 2017 - by Bill Pease
The arms and crest of Southam are familiar but how many of us know their origins and meaning? They were granted by the College of Arms to Southam Rural District Council on 19th May 1959. The red and silver of the shield are the basic colours of the arms of both Warwickshire County Council and [...]
The Merestone
CARDALLS CORNER - November 2017 - by Helen Morris and Len Gale
In the year 998 Aethelred (the Unready) gave some land which included Southam to Leofwine, the father of Earl Leofric of Coventry whose wife was the famous Lady Godiva. The description of the land still exists written in Old English in a Charter. The boundaries of Southam were carefully marked and remembered through the custom [...]
Mop Fairs
Cardalls Corner - October 2017 By Jenny Frith
Mop or Hiring Fairs started when, in 1351, Edward III passed the Statute of Labourers to regulate the labour market after the Black Death had resulted in dire shortages of labourers. They were held in the Autumn on or near Michaelmas Day in bustling Market Towns which had many nearby villages to attract both employers and employees. [...]