Summary
A colour image of a street in Oxford, England, taken from St. Giles and looking towards St Mary Magdalen.
The church of St. Giles in Northern Oxford was established c. 1120 and later consecrated by St Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1200. Today the church continues to be an active place of worship and accommodates the main War Memorial in Oxford within its graveyard.
The church of St. Mary Magdalene stands on the site of a wooden Saxon church that burnt down in 1074. Robert D'Oyly, the Norman Constable of Oxford, rebuilt the church with a single aisle before it was further developed by St. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1194. In 1841-42 Gilbert Scott redesigned the interior in the Gothic style, making St. Mary Magdalene the first church in Oxford to have a Victorian Gothic interior. Today, the church continues to be an active place of worship.
Part of a collection of material relating to the World War I service of brothers John and Albert Victor Peile, who both died in the conflict. Younger brother Albert enlisted first. He was a 22-year-old unmarried clerk when he enlisted on 27 August 1914, service number 769, 3rd Battalion. He served in Gallipoli and later France, and was eventually promoted to the rank of corporal. He died in Bullecourt, France on 4 May 1917; his body was never found. He is commemorated at the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. His brother John Peile was a 38-year-old unmarried miner when he enlisted on 25 June 1915, service number 2662, 2nd Battalion. He also served in in Gallipoli and France, and was similarly promoted to corporal. He died in France on 18 September 1918 and is buried at Roisel Communal Cemetery Extension, France. Their mother died only a few years later in 1926, aged 73.
Their niece was Mrs M. J. Hitchens, the donor. Margaret Joan Hitchens (1916-?) was the daughter of Albert and John's sister Alice and her husband John Henry Dinwoodie.
Description of Content
Urban streetscape with road and trees.
Physical Description
Colour reproduction of a painting, printed onto paper.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Donation from Victorian Branch, Returned & Services League of Australia Limited (RSL), Mrs Margaret J. Hitchens, 1986
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Place Depicted
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Inscriptions
Printed on front: 'ST GILES, LOOKING TOWARDS ST. MARY MAGDALEN (SOUTH)'
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Classification
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References
'History,' St Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford webiste, at:[Link 1] accessed: June 18, 2012 'St Giles Church, Oxford,' Sacred Destinations, at: [Link 2] accessed: June 18, 2012 'War Memorial,' St Giles Church, at: [Link 3] accessed: June 18, 2012 For Albert Peile's war record see the National Archives of Australia website at: [Link 4] For John Peile's war record see the National Archive of Australia website at: [Link 5]
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