Watlington, Oxfordshire

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Watlington in Oxfordshire, UK, is a small, quiet market town of just under 3,000 inhabitants, located in the Chiltern Hills south of Oxford and north of Reading, Berkshire. The M40 motorway, which links London to Birmingham, is only two and a half miles from the town centre.

The famous walking route, the Icknield Way (an ancient route from Cromer in Norfolk to Avebury in Wiltshire), passes the town along the dry, high ground to the east, and Watlington is a convenient location to begin walks along it, with Watlington Hill and its "White Mark" a popular stopping point. The Watlington White Mark was originally designed by local squire Edward Horner, who felt that the Norman church of St Leonard, when viewed from his home, would appear more impressive if it looked as though it had a spire. He had this unusual folly cut into the chalk of Watlington Hill in 1764. It is 270 feet tall and 36 feet wide.

Aside from this the most striking feature of Watlington is its market hall in the centre of the town, which was built in 1665. The Watlington area is likely to have been settled at an early date, encouraged by the proximity of the Icknield Way. The placename means 'settlement of Waecel's people' and this indicates occupation from around the 6th century. A 9th-century charter mentions eight 'manses' or major dwellings in Watlington and the Domesday survey of 1086 identifies the area as being an agricultural community valued at £610. The Town also has an Anglo-Saxon Church which forms an integral part of the town's architecture and functionality.

Watlington was also a site used in the English Civil War for housing troops: it is thought that John Hampden stayed in the town the night before the Battle of Chalgrove Field.

The local MP for Watlington is Boris Johnson.