Long Wittenham

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Long Wittenham
Long Wittenham shown within Oxfordshire
OS grid reference	SU545935
Parish	Long Wittenham
District	South Oxfordshire
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Abingdon
Postcode district	OX14
Dialling code	01865
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
European Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Wantage
List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire

Coordinates: 51°38′13″N 1°12′40″W / 51.637, -1.211

Long Wittenham is a small village on the southern bank of the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England.

The village Cross has ancient origins, with the base dating from the 7th century. St. Birinus preached here when he brought Christianity to the area. Cruck Cottage is believed to be around 800 years old, and as such is the oldest house in South Oxfordshire. The village church, St Mary's, begun around 1120, is on the site of a previous Saxon church.

Pendon Museum, with models of buildings and railways, is located here.

An example of Bronze Age Yetholm-type shields was found here^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Location

Long Wittenham is situated in the Thames Valley 3½ miles north of Didcot, with Abingdon 5 miles to the west. Clifton Cut bypasses the river to the north. Also nearby to the north are Clifton Lock on the river, the historic Barley Mow public house (mentioned in Three Men in a Boat), and Clifton Hampden Bridge leading to the village of Clifton Hampden on the north side of the river.

To the east, over the river, is the Roman town of Dorchester-on-Thames, actually a little way from the riverside. To the south-east of the village are the smaller village of Little Wittenham, also on the Thames, and the hills of Wittenham Clumps.

To the south-west is the nearest town, Didcot. To the west is Appleford, with the nearest railway station, on the line between Didcot and Oxford.

Position: grid reference SU546937