Morris Sides

Our compatriots in Bampton
Bampton Traditional Morris Men Craig Godwin, Squire.
Bampton Morrismen Matthew Green, Squire. (No website yet)

Sides with which we have a connection
Moulton Morris Men
Ickneild Way Morris Men
Charlbury Morris

Sides who have been our Whitsun guests in recent years
Adlington Morris Men
Blackheath Morris Men
Bourne River Morris
Earls of Essex Morris
Long Man Morris Men
Mad Jack's Morris
Mr Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris

Morris Information

The Morris Ring is the oldest of the Morris dancing organisations (founded 1934) and is widely recognised as the leading custodian of the lore and tradition of the Morris. Their website is full of information on Morris (and related) dancing, as well as contact information for sides around the country. The Traditional Bampton Morris Dancers are a member of the Morris Ring.

Morris Music. There are many CDs of Morris music available from the usual sources, but if you need the sheet music or a quick listen to the tunes the quickest source is the Morris Ring music pages. The tunes that Lionel Bacon noted for Bampton are here.

What am I looking at? Our friends at Icknield Way Morris have a convenient guide to the different Morris dance traditions that you are likely to come across. Icknield Way are among the finest Morris sides one is likely to encounter and are one of the few sides that follow the Arnold Woodley tradition for the Bampton dances.

Photo Credits

Home page banner photos: 1, Bampton Morris 1894; 2, Bampton Morris 1897; 3, Bampton Morris 1937. All three photos courtesy of the Morris Ring photo archives.

Our History page banner photo: Bampton Morris 1894, Morris Ring photo archives Arnold Woodley collection. For individual photos with the text, place cursor on photo for further information and source credit.

Our Side page: Photo of Arnold Woodley courtesy of the Bampton Community Archive. Photo of Sonner Townsend was published in the Oxford Mail on 9th June 1995 and is used with permission.

Images page banner photo: Bampton Morris around 1940. Arnold Woodley is second from right, Sonner Townsend is third from the right. Photo courtesy of the Morris Ring Archives Arnold Woodley collection.

All other photos are from the current TBMD collection.

Morris Ring photo archives: Our thanks to photo archivist Duncan Broomhead for his assistance.
Bampton Community Archive: Our thanks to Janet Rouse for her assistance.

Miscellany

Bathsheba's Wedding A very popular ceilidh and barn dance band in which two of our side perform.

Bampton has more than Morris dancing and Downton Abbey. Here is the town website.

And a big thank you to side member and musician Tom Bower for taking time from his busy artistic and musical career to look after the previous incarnation of our website. You have seen his work in your local bookshop.