History of water energy
- Little Wittenham had water from standpipes fed by the springs until a mains water supply was installed in 1953·
- On the south side of Castle Hill (by present Clumps Car Park) a well at least 60 feet deep was used to draw water for cattle.
- Hill Farm has its own water well.
- Highest Thames flood levels are shown by marks on corner of building by Shillingford wharf. The highest was in 1809. Improved locks helped minimise flooding.
- Marsh areas around North Moreton have been progressively drained since late Anglo-Saxon times.
- Domesday book refers to a mill at Little Wittenham. This was presumably a water mill, perhaps on a side stream of the River Thames. Two water mills operated in Long Wittenham during the 13th and 14th C. Overy Mill on the tributary river Thame at Dorchester shows use of water-power until recent times.· People’s homes were heated by fires (local coppiced wood or coal) and lit by paraffin oil.
- Oxford Canal opened in 1790 and allowed coal to be brought by barge from the Coventry coalfields via Oxford and led to a dramatic drop in its price. There was a rise of local industries using coal eg Lucy’s Ironworks Oxford from 1825 and foundries at Shillingford and Wallingford.
- Coal led to more efficient ploughing and threshing using steam traction engines from about 1850 (a steam threshing machine was in use at Hill Farm during 1879).
- Mains electricity came to a typical local village (Brightwell) in 1947, mains drainage in 1958 and mains gas in 1994 .
