Welcome to the Oxted & District History Society 

Our Programme & Activities

Formed in 1960, the Society presents an annual programme of talks which take place fortnightly at 8.00 pm on Tuesday evenings between October and March, normally at the United Reformed Church, Bluehouse Lane, Oxted, RH8 0AA.  There are ten main talks each year and two shorter ones, at Christmas and at the AGM in March.

Our 2023-24 season of talks has now concluded.  A new programme will begin on Tuesday 1 October 2024.  Full details will be posted on the website shortly.

Talks cover all areas and periods of history and the Society is not specifically concerned with local history. There are, however, usually several talks a year on topics relating to Oxted or Surrey and its neighbouring counties and London.   Recent and past speakers have included:

Prof. George Bernard on Anne Boleyn

Dr Stephen Bungay on the Battle of Britain

Prof. David Carpenter on Magna Carta  

Dr Catherine Ferguson on Medieval Pilgrimages

Henry Hemming on Maxwell Knight - MI5's Greatest Spymaster

Dr Judy Hill on the Dorking & Petworth Emigration Schemes

Prof. Ryan Lavelle on Alfred the Great

Mathew Morris on Richard III - the King Under the Car Park

Charles O'Brien on The Historic Architecture of Surrey

Dr David Rudling FSA on Hadrian's Wall

Prof. David Stevenson on 1918 - how the First World War ended

Maj. Gen. Julian Thompson on the Falklands War

The annual membership fee is £20 per person, which includes free admission to all our meetings. A reduced rate is offered to new members from January onwards for the remainder of the season. Guests are very welcome to attend for a fee of £5 per meeting.  Entry is free for full-time students and people aged under 18.  If you would like to become a member or attend a meeting, please contact the Society through the email address given below.   We will be accepting subscriptions for the 2024-25 season from September.

More information on membership and on our meetings can also be found here.

The Society also organises an annual summer visit to a place of historic interest in the south east.  Our outing this year takes place on Thursday 9 July when we will be going to Chatham Dockyard and Rochester in Kent.   Details and booking information have been sent to members.  In July 2023 our first outing for four years took place with a visit to Walmer Castle in Deal and the Battle of Britain Memorial near Folkestone.  Other recent destinations have included Brooklands Motor & Aviation Museum, Brighton Pavilion and  Jane Austen’s House.  Further information about our past visits can be found here.

If you are seeking information or are carrying out research into the history of Oxted and the neighbouring area, or the county of Surrey, many of the web sites listed on our links page may be of interest.   Please note that the Society does not hold any archives or records of its own and is unable to assist with enquiries about individuals in connection with family history matters.