Shotover

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See also Shotover River, New Zealand.

Shotover is a hill and country park in Oxfordshire, England.

Shotover Hill is 3 miles (5km) to the east of the city of Oxford. It rises to a height of 557 feet (171m) above sea level. The name Shotover may be derived from the Old English "Scoet Ofer", which means a steep slope. An alternative suggested derivation is a corruption of the French "Chateau Vert" (green castle).

Legend has it that two brothers who lived on either side of the hill tied messages to arrows and shot them over the hill to each other, giving Shotover it's name.

Shotover was also a royal forest from around the period of the Domesday Book until 1660. By this time, the woodland was in a poor state and it was deforested.

The road between London and Oxford used to pass over the top of Shotover Hill. The road was made into a turnpike through the 1719 Stokenchurch Turnpike Act.