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TOWNS & VILLAGES -
Oxfordshire
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You can see the information we have on individual towns
by selecting from the towns and villages listed on the
left.
Please note that some Oxfordshire towns are covered in
our Cotswolds area.
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Autumn on the Thames at Abigngdon - Photo:
Pam Brophy
CCL |
Occupied in the Bronze and
Iron ages, Abingdon - famous in the 20th century
for the manufacture of MG sports cars - may well
be the oldest continuously inhabited town in
England. It stands at the confluence of the River
Ock with the River Thames and, thanks to its
riverbank site, was important to both the Romans
and the Saxons.
A Benedictine monastery called Abbandun was
founded here in the 7th century and became one of
the richest abbeys in Britain. Surviving parts
include a Long Gallery and a hall that has been
turned into an Elizabethan theatre. |
St Helen’s Church is one of only four English
churches to boast five aisles, while one of the
town’s two river bridges is over 500 years old.
Stone-built County Hall houses the local museum.
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This lovely old wool town used
to be a Protestant stronghold but is best known
now for its criss-cross cakes, its market cross
and the nursery rhyme Ride a Cock Horse – the
‘fine lady on a white horse’ may be a reference to
Lady Godiva.
The original market cross was destroyed by local
citizens in 1602. The existing cross was erected
in 1859 to mark the marriage of Queen Victoria’s
eldest daughter to Frederick of Prussia. Although
some fine old buildings were consumed by fire in
the 17th century, Banbury is a charming town whose
modern prosperity owes much to the construction of
the Oxford Canal. |
The Fine Lady at Banbury Cross - Photo:
Colin Smith
CCL |
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A pleasure boat enters Benson Lock, River
Thames - Photo:
Phil Champion
CCL |
This large, attractive village
lies just 10 miles from Oxford at the foot of the
beautiful Chiltern Hills. An important settlement
existed here at least as early as the Saxon
period, probably due to its proximity to the River
Thames. During the Second World War, nearby RAF
Benson was the base of the RAF’S Photographic
Reconnaissance Unit. |
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A busy market town, Bicester’s
existence preceded the 11th century Domesday Book.
It is best known today as a centre for the sale of
riding equipment and is home to a major shopping
‘village’. The novels of Flora Thompson which make
up her 'Lark Rise to Candleford' trilogy relate to
an area close to Bicester. The town centre boasts
a traditional market square and has a number of
interesting 16th century buildings. |
Kings Arms Hotel, Market Square - Photo:
Jon S
CCL |
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Burford Road, Carterton in the snow - Photo:
Martin Loader
CCL |
Although Bronze Age relics
have been found here, Carterton is one of
England’s newest towns and was only built in the
early 20th century by the entrepreneurial house
builder William Carter after he bought part of a
large estate. During the Second World War it
provided accommodation for personnel from nearby
RAF Brize Norton, now Britain’s largest RAF base
and the area’s largest employer. |
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This pleasant village with no
less than two traditional greens lies close to the
River Thames near its confluence with the River
Evenlode and was mentioned in the 11th century
Domesday Book. It dates back at least to the
Bronze Age, later becoming a Saxon settlement. Its
Norman church dates to the 12th century and has an
unusual eight-sided spire. |
The Chequers and St Peters, Cassington -
Photo:
Jonathon Billinger
CCL |
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Pannier Tank at Chinnor Station - Photo:
Martin Addison
CCL |
This pretty village is located
on the prehistoric Icknfield Way footpath in the
splendid Chiltern Hills. Its biggest claim to fame
is the Chinnor and Princes Risborough steam
railway, built in the late 19th century to link up
with Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire some
four miles away. It operates at weekends during
the summer months on a former Great Western line.
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This quaint village with its
traditional market place figured in the TV series
of the comic novel ‘Blott on the Landscape’
together with nearby Ludlow. It was built on a
hill in the 6th or 7th centuries by the Saxons and
following the Norman Conquest in the 11th century
was owned for a time by Bishop Odo of Bayeux,
half-brother of William the Conqueror. He built a
large castle here. Although its earthworks can
still be seen, the fortress was destroyed in the
14th century. Charles 1 slept at Castle House
after his victory at Cropredy Bridge (1644). |
Deddington Village centre - Photo:
Steve Edge
CCL |
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Didcot Railway Centre - Photo:
Christine Matthews
CCL |
This commuter town was just a
village until the construction of the Great
Western Railway - which linked London and the West
Country - brought sudden prosperity and growth.
Its rail link is still important and it boasts a
top-notch rail museum operated by the Great
Western Society. Overlooking the town are the
giant chimney and cooling towers of the Didcot 'A'
power station. The Harwell atomic energy
establishment is another large employer. |
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Sitting on the banks of the
River Thame close where it joins the mighty
Thames, the village of Dorchester has truly
ancient origins; it dates back to the Bronze Age
and later had important Roman and Saxon
associations. It was here that St Birinus first
introduced Christianity to southern England in
635AD. Although magnificent Dorchester Abbey dates
from the 12th century, it was overlaid onto an
earlier Saxon cathedral. The abbey’s 14th century
Jesse window is one of the finest in England.
Another window contains the earliest coloured
glass known in England. |
Dorchester Abbey - Photo:
Angela Tuff
CCL |
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Farringdon Folly - Photo:
Neil Hanson
CCL |
This historic town has a
sloping market place and lies in the Vale of the
White Horse. It was the first capital of Wessex,
where Alfred the Great ruled his kingdom for a
time. In 1216 King John gave the town a charter
for a weekly market, which still exists. Close to
the centre of the town is Folly Hill and a 20th
century brick tower from which there are fine
views. The folly was built by Lord Berners who
lived at 18th century Faringdon House. The town
hall, surrounded by Georgian-fronted buildings,
dates to the 17th century.
Within the Vale of the White Horse is the
2,500-year-old Iron Age camp of Uffington Castle
and the ancient ‘White Horse’ figure carved into
the chalk hillside. |
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Sixteen miles south of Oxford,
this pretty village and boating centre was
important in prehistoric times as the place where
the Icknfield Way and the Ridge Way linked up at a
fording place on the River Thames. Nearby is the
Goring Gap, which separates the Berkshire Downs
and the Chiltern Hills. Goring is often considered
a ‘twin’ with nearby Streatley because they are
linked by a river bridge. |
Goring Lochs - Photo:
Roy Gray
CCL |
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Henley Bridge - Photo:
Nigel Homer
CCL |
An attractive, atmospheric
riverside town in the Chiltern Hills, Henley
boasts an 18th century five-arched bridge over
the Thames but is internationally famous for
its Royal Regatta which draws crowds of
blazer-clad rowing enthusiasts each summer.
The regatta course is the longest straight
stretch on the river.
The town grew up as a river crossing and as a
port supplying goods to London. It is full of
Georgian buildings and has a number of old
coaching inns.
St. Mary’s Church has a 16th century chequerwork
tower while a porch links it to a 14th century
chantry house. |
A few miles north of Henley is beautiful Greys
Court, a 17th century mansion constructed on top
of the remains of an older castle. It was named
after Lord de Grey who fought at Crecy and was one
of the original Knights of the Garter. It was once
occupied by William Knollys, said to be the ‘real’
Malvolio of Shakespeare fame.
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In the 13th century Kidlington
was just a hamlet but has now grown into the
largest village in England. Its ancient church
still stands, as does its 16th century vicarage.
Hampden House with its 18th century pavilion is
nearby. |
Kidlington Old Village - Photo:
Andrew Chapman
CCL |
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Christ Church College - Photo:
Steve Matthews
CCL |
Crammed with architectural
jewels – there are hundreds of listed buildings -
Oxford has rightly been called the ‘city of
dreaming spires’. It still is, even today, despite
the traffic, the industry and the encroachment of
modernity.
Built on the banks of the rivers Cherwell and the
Thames (known around here as the ‘Isis’), it
provides a unique glimpse into England’s Gothic
past. And while its magnificent cathedral is
comparatively small, everything else seems
overwhelmingly ornate, as you might expect from
Britain’s first university city. |
Oxford’s story began rather humbly with Saxon
ox-drovers and the founding of St Frideswide’s
nunnery in the 8th century. Its famous university
originated in the early 13th century when an irate
Henry 11 discovered the exiled Thomas Becket had
fled to France and demanded that all English
students return home. After a great deal of strife
many of them ended up in Oxford determined to
recreate their Continental lifestyle.
The city’s rich history was often steeped in
violence. In the 11th century, for example, Danish
immigrants were burned to death by a mob after
seeking sanctuary at St Frideswide’s.
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Oxford’s city-centre castle was built in 1071 by
the Norman baron Robert D’Oyly. Here, Henry I's
daughter, Matilda, had to withstand a 10-week
siege and was forced to escape in the snow,
dressed in white. Later Henry II’s queen, Eleanor
of Aquitaine, gave birth to the future King
Richard I in the castle.
The stronghold eventually fell into disrepair only
to become the county jail, then Oxford prison and
now a major hotel-cum- shopping complex.
The city has many beautiful parks and walks,
mostly associated with its riverbanks and –
unsurprisingly - is a haven for boaters and lovers
of water.
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Oxford's old Prison - Photo:
Terry Bean
CCL |
Perhaps its most revered masterpieces, though, are
its museums and galleries. The Ashmolean Museum of
Art and Archaeology was the world’s first-ever
university museum, created to house the collection
of curiosities of Elias Ashmole in the 17th
century; the Bodleian Library is one of the oldest
libraries in Europe.
The semi-circular Sheldonian Theatre was built in
1699 to the design of Sir Christopher Wren who, at
that time, was Professor of Astronomy at the
university.
The city has many other treasures among which is
the oldest botanic garden in the world.
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The river Thames at Sandford - Photo:
Sheila Russell
CCL |
This ancient village dominated
by the influence of the River Thames was mentioned
in the Domesday Book and boasts a remarkable
history. The Romans realised its importance as a
fording place and later the Knights Templar owned
land here. The river helped to create trade and
wealth and played a role in the English Civil
when, in 1644, the Earl of Essex had to cross it
to take part in the Battle of Cropredy. Jerome K
Jerome’s famous novel ‘Three Men in a Boat’ refers
to the river here as ‘a very good place to drown
yourself in’. Ironically, it was where the real
Peter Pan – author J.M. Barrie’s son Michael –
drowned as an Oxford student. |
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This busy Oxfordshire village
lies on the banks of the River Thames and its
local church has a tower rather than a steeple.
Nearby are North Aston, and West Aston. Just a
mile from here is the stern-looking Jacobean
mansion Rousham House, built by Sir Robert Dormer
in 1635 and used as a Royalist stronghold during
the Civil War. Later a landscaped park was added. |
St. Peter & St. Paul Church, Steeple Aston -
Photo:
Jon S
CCL |
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Church of St.Mary the Virgin, Thame - Photo:
Rob Farrow
CCL |
An attractive market town
mentioned in the Domesday Book, Thame has a host
of charming buildings dating as far back as the
15th century lining its wide, mile-long main
street. The poet John Milton was taught at the
local 15th century grammar school. Another pupil
was John Hampden, cousin of Oliver Cromwell, who
was killed nearby at the Battle of Chalgrove in
1643. Thame’s parish church was rebuilt in the
13th century when the boat-shaped market area was
created. The old Spread Eagle inn was made famous
by the cookery writer John Fothergill who
pioneered the notion of country pubs becoming
eateries. |
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This small market town has a
remarkable history and was founded in the 10th
century by Alfred the Great. He encircled it with
strong walls. Its strategic position on the banks
of the River Thames persuaded William the
Conqueror to built Wallingford Castle which was
later destroyed by Oliver Cromwell after a 65-day
siege. Earlier, King Henry 11 had held his first
parliament in Wallingford in 1154. The town hall,
which stands on pillars, dates from 1670 and is
one of many old buildings that have survived the
ravages of time. The hall contains a number of
important portraits (view by appointment). In
modern times the town’s most famous resident was
the crime writer Agatha Christie who lived at
Winterbrook House. |
Wallingford Bridge - Photo:
Alan Simkins
CCL |
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King Alfred Statue, Wantage Marketplace -
Photo:
Colin Smith
CCL |
This traditional market
town in the beautiful Vale of the White Horse
was the birthplace in 849AD of King Alfred the
Great - a statue in the market square
commemorates his arrival. The large 13th
century Church of St Peter and St Paul
contains tombs of the Fitzwaryn family whose
members included Dick Whittington, Lord Mayor
of London. Close to the church is a wooded
park dedicated to John Betjeman who lived in
Wantage. Nearby is the prehistoric Ridge Way
track and carved into the chalk hillside is
the famous – and ancient – figure of the White
Horse, possibly created around 350BC by the
Celts. |
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The town of Witney is world
famous for its blankets. Much of the architecture
of the town reflects the past prosperity of the
woollen trade and the firm, ‘Earlys of Witney’
still manufactures blankets today.
The beautiful Church of St.
Mary the Virgin with its 150ft spire stands at the
end of Church Green. From here, a row of
almshouses and the Buttercross can be seen. At
nearby Mount House are the remains of the Palace
of the Bishop of Winchester.
Other historic buildings
include the Corn Exchange, the 17th century Town
Hall and the exterior of the Blanket Hall. A small
market is held twice weekly in the Square.
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St Mary the Virgin Church, Church Green,
Witney - Photo:
Brian Robert Marshall
CCL |
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