Stanford in the Vale

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Parish Church of St Denys

Stanford in the Vale is a large village with approximately 2,000 residents situated in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. Until the administrative county boundary changes of 1974, the village was in Berkshire.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Stanford is located at grid reference SU342935. It lies on the A417 road, four miles from Faringdon and six from Wantage. It has two churches, one primary school, two pubs, shops and businesses, as well as numerous clubs and societies. The parish church of St Denys dominates 'Church Green'. The village is built on Corallian Limestone and there is heavy quarrying activity, extracting sands and gravels.

[edit] History

Stanford in the Vale takes its name from the ancient crossing of the River Ock, which flows into the River Thames at Abingdon. In Saxon times, the crossing was known as "stony ford". It is often assumed that this ford once served where the bridge now spans the river on the A417, near Stanford Mill, however others speculate that it was actually a crossing of Frogmore Brook. In mediaeval times, the village rivalled Abingdon as a market centre, having the unusual feature of two village greens. It was also noted for its chive cheese. During 1644 and 1645, the English Civil War came to Faringdon and Radcot (a strategic river crossing over the Thames). According to local legend, Cromwell's Cavalry was billeted in the village.

[edit] Trivia

The poet Pam Ayres was born in the village.
The village was twinned with St Germain du Corbeis (France) in 1989.
Stanford in the Vale featured on national UK news in August 2005 because of a serious fire affecting a row of thatched cottages on the village green. [1]
Stanford has had its own community bus service, set up and operated by volunteers, since 1982. It provides regular services to the local towns of Faringdon and Wantage, and also serves the surrounding villages Lyford, Denchworth, West Challow, Hatford, Gainfield, Shellingford and Charney Basset.