CHRISTMAS shoppers scanning the stores of Chipping Norton for presents are unlikely to lift their eyes above street level, writes Andrew Flaxman.

That would be a real shame as they would then have missed the grand roofline of the building behind the Town Hall, the one-time headquarters of the Chipping Norton Co-operative Society.

It would probably surprise most people who have only come to the town in the last 20 or so years that the society once owned a whole host of shops along the High Street.

Right up until the 1960s the society was a major player in the economy of the town, as it had been since the latter years of the 19th century. Now a new book has been published which tells the story of the Chipping Norton Co-operative Society from its foundation in 1866 to its amalgamation in 1968 into what has since become the Oxford, Swindon and Gloucester Co-operative Society.

The book, A History of the Chipping Norton Co-operative Society from 1866-1968, is the work of two men, Peter Tyrell, the archivist and administrator of Chipping Norton Museum of Local History, and Oxford Brookes University academic Malcolm Bee.

The duo have spent two years researching and writing the book and Mr Tyrell said: "We have some of the records here at the museum, and the rest Malcolm was able to study at the Co-op headquarters in Oxford, where they allowed him to use the boardroom. They were very keen to help with the book," added Mr Tyrell.

In fact the Oxford, Swindon and Gloucester Co-op are the landlords of the Chipping Norton museum, which has a permanent display on the history of the society.

Mr Tyrell said he believed the book, which includes more than 20 photographs, had achieved the authors' aims, although for design reasons the names of people featured in many photographs are not included, even though they knew 90% of them.

The book describes how the Co-op was formed in 1866 to distribute coal to members and explains why it was able to thrive as it expanded, while many other co-operatives, including some in the co-operative movement's northern heartlands, folded.

The Chippy Co-op proved so successful that in 1891 it opened its new headquarters (that grand building behind the Town Hall). It took over other co-operatives that ran into trouble, among them Long Compton, while after long debate Moreton joined the fold in 1898. The society eventually set up shops in Stow, Cornwell and Blockley, among others, and its business interests included bakery, butchery, drapery, furnishings, a tea rooms and farming. It even built and owned several houses in the town.

In the post-war years it continued to expand and boost its business, paying above-average dividends to members, but eventually the late 20th century caught up with it - car ownership, changes in shopping and trading patterns - prompting the decision in 1968 to merge with the Oxford Co-op.

The recent launch of the book in Chippy attracted almost 50 people to The Bookshop in West Street, where the museum was presented with a cheque for £1,000 by bookshop owner Elizabeth Sleight, who had promised to donate £2 for the first 500 copies sold of the museum's last book of photographs about the town, called In and Around Chipping Norton. She said: "It is nice to be able to support these things locally."

A History of the Chipping Norton Co-operative Society is available from the bookshop and elsewhere, priced at £3.50. Proceeds will go to the publishers - the Chipping Norton Museum of Local History.