Home > Villages in the Vale

Villages in the Vale

Appleford

For information on this village, please visit the Appleford Village website.

Ardington and Lockinge

These villages are classic Victorian estate villages. Many footpaths lead through them and through woodlands planted in 1993 on a hillside with views over the villages, older woodlands and the Downs. A series of lakes and connecting streams run through the two parishes. Many of the old farm buildings have been converted to offices, showrooms and a wholesale patisserie, for example. Ardington has a thriving pub and shop/tearoom/bistro/Post office. West Lockinge Farm was where Best Mate, a three-time winner of Cheltenham Gold Cup, was trained. Ardington's Church dates from c.1200 (nave, chancel and north doorway) while the earliest parts of East Lockinge's Church date from c.1150 (north doorway and font).

Ashbury

Ashbury is a little village on the extreme western edge of the district. Many of the cottages are thatched and Ashbury can trace its history back to the Doomsday Book though there was a settlement here as early as 947 AD. The Ridgeway crosses the parish at the top of Ashbury Hill, popular with long distance walkers and also ramblers. Wayland Smithy is also on The Ridgeway and within the parish. Originally there were two mills here though neither is working now. The Parish Church is well worth a visit and there is also a beautiful Manor House built in 1488 (not open to the public). The first Sunday school was held in a cottage in Ashbury. For further information on this village, please visit the Ashbury website.

Blewbury

We have seen dramatic changes in our landscape and environment over the last half-century; more than at any time in the history of mankind. We must understand these changes if we are to develop a sustainable way of living. Community awareness and participation in environmental issues is becoming a force of change today and many local groups have come together in recent years to take up the challenge. The Blewbury Village Society Environment Group, together with a very wide range of amateurs and professionals, have produced a new book to emphasise the value of the countryside and at the same time raise funds to preserve and improve it. "A View from the Hill" manages to give a deep insight into the downland environment and events of the distant past in an authoritative and yet highly readable style. For more information about this book please visit the Blewburton Hill website.

For further information and events please visit the Blewbury website.

Buckland

A picturesque, almost traffic free, small village, the unspoilt appearance results from Buckland's history as an estate village servicing the Old Manor House and the classical 18th Century built Buckland House. Parts of the village offer fine views of the Thames Valley to the north and the Berkshire Downs to the south. The village is unusual in having two churches as well as a thriving school. "The Lamb Inn" in the village and "The Trout" down on the Thames at Tadpole Bridge are welcoming comfortable country inns.

Charney Bassett

For information on this village, please visit the Welcome to Charney Bassett Parish Council website.

Childrey

The village of Childrey is situated in the Vale of White Horse close to the historic town of Wantage and on the edge of the Berkshire Downs and close to the famous White Horse Hill at Uffington. The church of St Mary's in Childrey has a magnificent window of restored 14th Century medieval glass and is well worth a visit. Childrey is very close to The Ridgeway which is good for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

Childrey has its own school, shop, pub, two churches, village hall and playing field and has a parish population of approximately 500. For further information on this village, please visit the Childrey Village website.

Chilton

A small attractive village close to The Ridgeway which has apub and Garden Centre. All Saints' Church was built between 1160 and 1180 and the churchyard has a memorial to a John Brooker, buried in 1551. Now home of the world famous Diamon Synchrotron, the UK's largest investment in science in the last 25 years. Modern attractive village hall available for hire for futher information visit the Chilton Village Hall website or telephone 01235 831750.

East Hendred

For information on this village, please visit the East Hendred website.

East and West Hanney

For information on these villages, please visit the Hanneys website.

Fernham

For information on this village, please visit the Fernham website.

Fyfield and Tubney

(Small villages west of Oxford surrounded by farmland.) The exterior of the "White Hart" in Fyfield conceals its high vaulted and beamed ceilings and other features of its original construction in the 14th Century when it was the chantry serving the village church which itself dates back over 1000 years.

The interior of Tubney church was designed by Pugin (famed for the interior of the Houses of Parliament).

Nearby in a parkland setting is one of the country's largest farm produce and garden centres.

Grove

A large village amid a traditional farming area. From a hamlet of 500, Grove has grown into a thriving modern community of some 9,000 inhabitants. It has a village green through which the Letcombe Brook meanders on its way to the Thames at Abingdon. Parts of the Wiltshire and Berkshire canal, once a bustling waterway, have been restored to provide some very pleasant local walks. At various times through the ages Grove has accommodated differing modes of transport including canal boats, trams and aircraft and is at present home to the Williams Formula 1 racing team who have their headquarters located on the outskirts of the village. For further information on this village, please visit the Grove Parish Council website.

Harwell

Harwell is a friendly thriving village with many clubs and societies. There is a British Legion, football pitch, rugby pitch, village shop and butchers shop which houses the Post Office. Places of interest include the Cobb Wall, War Memorial, Victorian post box, the church and many historical houses to look at. For further information on this village, please visit the Harwell website.

Hinton Waldrist

A small quiet village with market gardening, cattle and arable farming. The Village Hall is well used, perhaps all the more, as there is no pub. The Manor stands close by the church that dates from the 13th Century. By the Thames is Duxford, with the disused ford crossing what is now the weir stream for the lock.

Kennington

The village of Kennington lies in the upper Thames Valley on a long narrow strip of land bordered by the ancient woodland of Bagley Wood to the west and the water meadows of the River Thames to the east. Settled first by Anglo-Saxon people in the 5th and 6th Centuries the village was first mentioned by name in 821 in a Charter of Abingdon Abbey. The village is thought to derive its name from its Anglo-Saxon founder 'Cene' with early spelling Cenigtun meaning 'the place of Cena's people.' It is possible to regard 13 May 1913 as the birthday of modern Kennington, as on that day the Kennington Estate, divided into plots, was put up for sale. The village is popular with walkers for its attractive riverside and woodland walks and there are also some interesting buildings, the welcoming Tandem Public House and the historic Manor House, basically unchanged since it was built in 1629. For further information this village, please visit the Kennington Online website.

Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor

For information on these villages, please visit the KBS Online website.

Longworth

For information on this village, please visit the Longworth Village website.

North Hinksey (Botley) including North Hinksey Village

North Hinksey (Botley) Parish is situated less than 2 miles west of the centre of Oxford and is in many ways a suburb of the City. Botley and North Hinksey were small Saxon hamlets where agriculture was the main occupation.

The earlier history of North Hinksey is most evident in the Church of St Lawrence. A small Saxon building was replaced by a Norman Church about 1100 AD; the nave and the south door are fine examples of Norman building. The direct route into Oxford developed when in 1524 a raised causeway was built over the streams and fields by "The George" public house. It is still the only route into Oxford from the west and hence is very busy.

Until 1900 the settlements were small but there are several thatched roof buildings and others which date from Elizabethan times. From 1930 the population grew rapidly and an ever higher proportion of the people went to Oxford to work.

North Hinksey Village lies in a conservation area, at the foot of Boars Hill. It is a picturesque village with a number of thatched buildings. John Ruskin's cottage in the village bears a plaque recalling Ruskin's experiment in physical labour for art students. John Ruskin was a painter, art critic and social thinker of the late 19th Century.

In the Botley area of the parish there is a good variety of shops, large stores and the spire sometimes referred to as "Botley Cathedral". There are three churches and part of Brookes University formerly the Methodist Teacher Training College.

The Botley Commonwealth War Graves section lies at the back of the Oxford City Cemetery in North Hinksey Lane. It is one of the larger ones in the country and contains the graves of 746 servicemen from both the First and Second World Wars, including a nurse from the First World War. Loved ones travel regularly from New Zealand, Australia and Canada and other Commonwealth countries. There are also the graves of young men from Italy and Germany.

North Hinksey (Botley) lies on good public transport routes to the centre of Oxford. For further information on these villages, please visit the North Hinksey (Botley)Parish Council website.

Radley

For information on this village, please visit the Radley website.

Shrivenham

For information on this village, please visit the Shrivenham Community website.

South Hinksey

A small village with historic church dating from Saxon/Norman times. The Baptist chapel has become an attractive Village Hall. This part of the Thames Valley has been inhabited from prehistoric times onwards and Romano-British settlements have been found in the area. The village is mentioned in Matthew Arnold's poem 'Thyrsis' regarding the 'Scholar Gypsy's quest'.

Stanford in the Vale

For information on this village, please visit the Stanford in the Vale website.

Sutton Courtenay

Sutton was a royal manor, and for centuries also had connections with Abingdon Abbey. The village's name stems from one of the King's bodyguards, Reginald de Courtenay. The village, situated on the River Thames, has a rich variety of timber-framed and 18th Century brick-faced buildings, many of them listed buildings. In the Churchyard there is a monument to Lord Asquith, Prime Minister who had his country home in Sutton Courtenay. You will also find the simple grave of the writer Eric Blair, better known under his pseudonym of George Orwell. The village is served by four public houses serving food and two grocers' shops including newsagent and post office, a butchers, nursery/green grocer and hairdresser.

For further information and events please visit the Sutton Courtenay website.

Upton

For information on this village, please visit the Upton Village website

Woolstone

A picturesque and ancient hamlet/village at the foot of the White Horse Hill. A beautiful village church dating from the 12th Century sits on the southern edge of the village while the heart of the settlement is dominated by the pretty thatched public house - "The White Horse Inn". There are many interesting walks around the village and an abundance of interesting architecture.

Wootton and Boars Hill

Wootton is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'the township in the wood'. The origins of the village go back nearly 1,000 years when a group of Saxon farmers made a clearing in the woodlands below Boars Hill, which covered all the lower slopes of the hill. The peaceful environment of Boars Hill and its close proximity to Oxford has attracted well-known poets over the last hundred years. John Masefield, Poet Laureate, lived here in the 1920's and 1930's.

Wytham

Whytham is a small but thriving village, which lies 4 miles north west of Oxford City Centre. Formerly owned by the Earls of Abingdon, for several hundred years, Wytham is now owned by Oxford University.

Despite having a population of only about 120, Wytham village attracts many visitors who come to see this special un-touched place. They comment on the tranquility of the village and its rural setting despite its proximity to Oxford and to main road communications (A34 and M40). For further information please visit the Wytham Village website.