Three booklets about Cottisford parish, where Flora Thompson was born and lived until she was 14, are available as described below. Juniper Hill - the hamlet so vividly described by Flora as “Lark Rise” - is part of the parish (which Flora called “Fordlow” in her books).

The first booklet, “Cottisford Revisited”, was published in 1999 as part of the parish’s Millennium celebrations. It is now in its second edition, the first edition having sold out in 2007.

The Great War of 1914-1918 was a tragedy almost beyond imagining today and this parish suffered terribly - eleven young men killed from a population of only 150 in 1911, including Flora Thompson’s dearly loved brother Edwin

The family connections in the parish of all these young men are traced in this booklet, together with details of where they died and are commemorated. The booklet also describes many of the rapid social changes which have occurred since Flora lived here. With 62 pages and more than 30 black and white illustrations, “Cottisford Revisited” costs £5.00, or £6.00 by post in the UK.

The second booklet, “Cottisford MIs”, published in 2006, records the inscriptions on all the 100+ memorials in the church and churchyard, with the corresponding entries in the Burial Register. This is of particular interest to those tracing their family history in the parish.

With 44 pages, a colour plan of the churchyard showing the locations of all the headstones, and two pages of colour plates

“Cottisford MIs” costs £5.00, or £6.50 by post in the UK

The third booklet, “The real Lark Rise parish”, published recently in 2009, covers a wide span of parish history and includes several chapters relating to Flora Thompson. It also traces the way in which, after the remarkable “baby boom” of early Victorian times, many of the younger families were forced to leave the area and take up employment elsewhere in activities far removed from the farm work which had been the almost unvarying lot of previous generations. Using the greatly enhanced availability of historic records on the Internet, the travels of branches of many local families are recorded, plus the dramatic effects of their exodus on those remaining in the parish. With 107 pages and more than 80 illustrations, 10 of them in colour, “The real Lark Rise parish” costs £8.00, or £10.00 by post in the UK.

The authors of these booklets, Ted and Joan Flaxman, live in the former school which Flora and her brother Edwin both attended in the 1880’s. If you wish to purchase copies of any of these booklets please send a cheque payable to “The Friends of Cottisford Church” to Ted and Joan Flaxman, The Old School, Cottisford, Oxfordshire, Near Brackley, NN13 5SW.

If ordered together, all three booklets may be obtained by post at the reduced price of £20.00