A Shepherd's Stone

Burmington born shepherd who died at 104 in 1910

The most prominent gravestone in St Andrew’s churchyard in Great Rollright, Oxfordshire, is dedicated to Richard Widdows. He was not a landowner or a prosperous farmer. He was, as the inscription says, a humble man who died at the age of 104 in 1910 – a shepherd. The headstone was erected by public subscription.

Who was Richard Widdows? Did he really live to the age of 104?

In his later years, Widdows was photographed by Chipping Norton photographer Percy Sims and celebrated as a centenarian in the local papers. In the accompanying captions, his birth place is mentioned as Burmington in Warwickshire. Why might he have left Burmington for Great Rollright in the 1830s? How hard was life for an agricultural labourer or shepherd in the 19th century?

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