Uffington, Oxfordshire

Uffington
St. Mary's parish church
Uffington  Uffington shown within Oxfordshire
Population	715 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SU3089
Civil parish	Uffington
District	Vale of White Horse
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	FARINGDON
Postcode district	SN7
Dialling code	01367
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Wantage
Website	Uffington.net
List of places UK England Oxfordshire

Uffington is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Faringdon and 7 miles (11 km) west of Wantage. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. Uffington is most commonly known as the location of the Uffington White Horse hill figure.

Location and character

The village is one of chalk-block houses and thatch, at the foot of the White Horse Hills. The Church of England parish church of St Mary is known as The Cathedral of the Vale and has the rare feature of a hexagonal tower. The village is in the middle of the Vale of the White Horse, otherwise known as the Ock Valley. Like most parishes in the Vale, Uffington parish is long and thin, running north-south, so that it includes both low-lying arable land and grazing upland on the Berkshire Downs. The River Ock forms most of its northern boundary. The western boundary runs up across Dragon Hill, Whitehorse Hill, Uffington Down and the gallops on Woolstone Down before turning north again as the eastern boundary across Kingston Warren Down and Ram's Hill, almost to Fawler and partially along Stutfield Brook. The parish formerly included Baulking and Woolstone.

Local government

Uffington is in the Vale of White Horse District and has its own parish council. The village has been twinned with Le Chevain in France since 1991.

Transport

The village is about 3 miles (5 km) west of the A417 road.

The Great Western Main Line was built through the parish in 1840, passing just over north of the village. In 1864 the Faringdon Railway was completed, joining the Great Western at a junction 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of the village. Uffington railway station was opened at the junction. British Railways closed the station in 1964.

The route of the Wilts & Berks Canal passes just north of Uffington. This was developed late in the British canal boom and was only officially opened in 1810. The Canal was never very profitable, facing stiff competition from the Kennet & Avon Canal and then the railways. The Wilts & Berks Canal was formally abandoned in 1914.

White Horse and other prehistoric features

See main articles: Uffington White Horse, Dragon Hill, Uffington Castle and The Ridgeway

One of the United Kingdom's best-known archaeological sites, the White Horse is a 374 feet (114 m) long Bronze Age hill figure, cut out of the turf on White Horse Hill on the Berkshire Downs, just south of the village of Woolstone. It is generally thought to have been a religious totem of some kind, associated with the people who later became known as the Atrebates. In this capacity it was probably associated with the adjoining Dragon Hill, a small natural hillock with an artificially flattened top. Above these stands Uffington Castle, an Iron Age hill fort (overlying a Bronze Age predecessor) where some of this tribe may have lived. There are also a number of associated burial mounds and there are others further south. Just to the south of the hill fort, the ancient trackway thought to be Britain's oldest road, called the Ridgeway, passes through the parish. Ram's Hill seems to have been a Bronze Age cattle ranching and trading centre.

History

Despite popular Victorian theories, Uffington was not the location of the Battle of Ashdown in 871 and the White Horse was not created as a memorial by King Alfred's men. The place does, however, appear in mid-10th century boundary charters. Abingdon Abbey owned the manor throughout the Middle Ages and King Edward I visited their grange there.

In 1630 Elizabeth Craven, widow of Sir William Craven, bought the Uffington and Compton estates from Sir Francis Jones. This began a 329 year connection between the Craven family and Uffington. St Mary's Church suffered during the Civil War because of their Royalist sympathies. Despite their long ownership of the Uffington estate the Earls of Craven never lived in Uffington, basing themselves instead at nearby Ashdown House.

The common lands of Uffington, Baulking and Woolstone were enclosed in 1776.

Notable residents

The Old School, now Tom Brown's School Museum

• Sir John Betjeman lived in the village in the 1930s.
• Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), author of Tom Brown's Schooldays, was born in the village. The village school mentioned in the book still exists: now it is Tom Brown's School Museum and has exhibits on Thomas Hughes, the Uffington White Horse, and other local subjects. The large village hall is named the Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall.

Amenities and events

Uffington United Football Club plays in North Berks Football League Division Four. Uffington Cricket Club plays in Oxfordshire Cricket Association Division Four. Uffington has also a badminton club and a tennis club.

The Uffington White Horse Show is held annually, with the profits being distributed for the benefit of the inhabitants of Uffington, Baulking and Woolstone by a registered charity.

External links

• Royal Berkshire History: Uffington
• Royal Berkshire History: Uffington Church
• Royal Berkshire History: The Uffington White Horse
• Vale of White Horse District Council: Uffington Parish Council
• Tom Brown's School Museum