Ewelme: five highlights from the South Oxfordshire village

Ewelme, a picturesque village in the Chiltern Hills, boasts notable former residents including a medieval royal power broker and a famed Victorian writer. Its chalk-stream watercress beds and a bridge over Ewelme Brook anchor a living history trail. The piece also highlights railway-era transport of watercress to London in the 1800s. Geoffrey Chaucer features prominently, with his work on St Mary the Virgin and family ties to Ewelme Manor. The narrative traces Chaucer’s descendants and political marriages, and notes Jerome K. Jerome’s affection for the village. It portrays Ewelme as a place where past and present intertwine, celebrated through community history.