She tasted the country air of three centuries and is believed to have been Oxfordshire's oldest woman, writes David Horne.

Now tributes have been paid to Elizabeth Jones, who died in her village home aged 111.

Her friend Rachel Range said: "We think she might have been one of the oldest people in the country, certainly in Oxfordshire."

One of the last people to visit her before her death was Roy Storey, a long-time friend who, as a child, came to live with her as an evacuee from wartime London.

"She spanned three centuries. She was a good woman and had a good, peaceful life. She didn't smoke, had just the occasional glass of wine and enjoyed good, country air. "It's amazing when you think of it. She's seen all the inventions of the modern age: the motor car, the aeroplane, everything," he said.

Mrs Jones was born in 1888 and lived on her own up to her death in a council bungalow in the small village of Langford, west Oxfordshire. She refused to go into an old people's home and was cared for by friends, neighbours, relatives and home helps.

Her funeral took place on Friday, in the parish church near where she had lived for the past 23 years. She came from a long-living family - two brothers survived into their 90s.

Mrs Jones was born in Harrow, Middlesex, on August 20, 1888, but came in her 20s to Oxfordshire to look after her grandmother at Middle Barton. She met her husband, Herbert, who came from nearby Sandford St Martin, and worked as a gardener for the Chance family. They married in 1923. The couple moved with them when they took over Kencot House, in west Oxfordshire, in 1936, and stayed with them until Mr Jones died more than 30 years ago. The couple had no children.

"I saw her a few days before her death," added Mr Storey, who now lives in Maidenhead.

"We were filling in her forms for income support. She was a determined woman and wanted to remain independent. She was still pretty sharp, though in the last few years she was getting frail."

Mrs Jones had been well-known in the village as a member of Langford Women's Institute and supporter of the Red Cross.

Story date: Wednesday 22 March

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