| Wytham | |
All Saints' parish church |
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Wytham
Wytham shown within Oxfordshire |
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| Population | 131 (2001 census)[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SP4708 |
| Parish | Wytham |
| District | Vale of White Horse |
| Shire county | Oxfordshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Oxford |
| Postcode district | OX2 |
| Dialling code | 01865 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Oxford West and Abingdon |
| Website | Wytham Village |
| List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire | |
Wytham ( /ˈwaɪtəm/) is a village and civil parish on Seacourt Stream, a branch of the River Thames, about 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Oxford. It is just west of the Western By-Pass Road, part of the Oxford Ring Road (A34).
Wytham was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The toponym is first recorded as Wihtham around AD 957, and comes from the Old English for a homestead or village in a river-bend.[2]
The manor of Wytham along with Wytham Abbey (not a religious foundation but the manor house) and much of the village was formerly owned by the Earls of Abingdon. The Church of England parish church of All Saints is a medieval building extensively rebuilt between 1811[3] and 1812[4] by Montagu Bertie, 5th Earl of Abingdon.
Wytham Woods is an area of long-established mixed woodland noted for their high population of badgers and long-term monitoring of great tits. The woods are a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The University of Oxford owns the woods and uses them for research in zoology and climate change. The University also has a field station north of the village.
Wytham village and Wytham Woods have frequently featured in the "Inspector Morse" detective novels by Colin Dexter.
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