| Little Wittenham | |
St. Peter's parish church |
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Little Wittenham
Little Wittenham shown within Oxfordshire |
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| Population | 87 (2001 census)[1] |
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| OS grid reference | SU564932 |
| Parish | Little Wittenham |
| District | South Oxfordshire |
| Shire county | Oxfordshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Abingdon |
| Postcode district | OX14 |
| Dialling code | 01865 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Wantage |
| List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire | |
Little Wittenham is a village and civil parish on the south bank of the River Thames, northeast of Didcot in South Oxfordshire. It has one of only 220 habitats across Europe which is designated as a Special Area of Conservation under the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire to the county of Oxfordshire, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire.
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The Church of England parish church of Saint Peter has a 14th century west bell tower,[2] of which the lower stages are Decorated Gothic and the upper stages are Perpendicular Gothic.[3] In 1863 the Gothic Revival architect Charles Buckeridge rebuilt the nave and chancel in the Early English Gothic style.
St. Peter's has a number of memorials to members of the Dunche family who lived in Little Wittennham. Several Dunches represented Wallingford as MPs, including Edmund Dunch, member of the Kit-Kat Club.
The most notable is a large monument to Sir William Dunche (died 1611) and his wife.[3] The monument is missing a canopy and supports, but it retains fine alabaster effigies of Sir William and Lady Dunche,[3] a pair of obelisks[3] that would have surmounted the canopy and a pair of tablets commemorating the couple's children.
Day's Lock is north-east of the village. On the opposite bank to the north-east, a little distance from the river itself, is the town of Dorchester-on-Thames which can be reached across Little Wittenham Bridge.
South of the village are the hills of Wittenham Clumps and to the south-east is Little Wittenham Wood bordering on the river. From Round Hill, one of the Clumps, there is a good view of the village to the north.