In the 1920s the old cottage, 44 High Street, was purchased from
the Earl of Abingdon by Mrs Evelyn Hartop, who was the daughter of the late
tenant Richard Wing and the then occupier Mrs Elizabeth Wing. Richard Wing had
used the stable wing to house his horse and cart. Mrs Hartop had the stables
converted by Hinkins & Frewin, Oxford builders, to make a Post Office, with a
telephone exchange at the rear. Joseph Wing, brother of Mrs Hartop, was
appointed sub-postmaster; he had been born in the cottage, served in the London
Metropolitan Police Force, but retired owing to injuries in 1926. The Post
Office moved there from Oxford Road.
The telephone exchange moved there in 1929, with 28 subscribers - there had been
10 with the exchange when it began in 1924 in Oxford Road.
(Recorded by Iris Wastie 1980.)