Sir, In the report ‘Villages come top in survey’, you quoted councillor Gervase Duffield as stating that Sutton Courtenay contains the former house of George Orwell. This is incorrect, Orwell never lived in Sutton Courtenay although he is buried there with his real name, Eric Blair, on his tombstone.
Although he had no connection with any church or vicar, he expressed a wish to be buried in an English country churchyard.
His friend David Astor, whose country estate was near Sutton Courtenay, arranged for him to be buried in All Saints churchyard. David Astor, who died in 2001, is also buried there, immediately behind Orwell’s grave.
Bobbie Nichols
Mattock Way
Abingdon
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