Oxfordshire

 

or Oxon, county (1991 pop. 553,800), 749 sq mi (1,940 sq km), S central England. The county seat is Oxford. The terrain is generally flat except for a branch of the Chiltern Hills in the southeast. The county is drained by the Thames River (or Isis as it is sometimes locally called) and its affluents, the Windrush, the Evenlode, the Cherwell, and the Thame. The chief occupation is farming (wheat, barley, and oats), with some dairying and sheep raising. Ironstone and limestone are found. Oxford is the industrial center (automobiles and steel products). In the Middle Ages, Oxfordshire was a part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. During the English civil war it was a stronghold of royalist resistance. Near Woodstock, rich in historical associations, is Blenheim Park.

Oxfordshire
Geography
Status	Ceremonial & Non-metropolitan county
Region:	South East England
Area - Total - Admin. council	Ranked 22nd 2,605 km² Ranked 19th
Admin HQ:	Oxford
ISO 3166-2:	GB-OXF
ONS code:	38
NUTS 3:	UKJ14
Demographics
Population - Total (2006 est.) - Density - Admin. Council	Ranked 35th 631,900 242 / km² Ranked 18th
Ethnicity:	95.1% White 1.7% S. Asian
Politics
Oxfordshire County Council http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/
Executive	Conservative
Members of Parliament	Tony Baldry (C) David Cameron (C) Evan Harris (LD) Boris Johnson (C) Andrew Smith (L) Ed Vaizey (C)
Districts
Oxford Cherwell South Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse West Oxfordshire The parties ruling the borough councils by 2005.

Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire.

It is divided into five local government districts: Oxford, Cherwell, Vale of White Horse (after the Uffington White Horse), West Oxfordshire and South Oxfordshire.

The county has a major tourism industry. The area is noted for the concentration of performance motorsport companies and facilities. Oxford University Press has headed a concentration of print and publishing firms; the university is also linked to the concentration of local biotechnology companies.

The main centre of population is the city of Oxford. Other significant settlements are Bicester, Banbury, Kidlington, and Chipping Norton to the north of Oxford; Witney to the west; Thame and Chinnor to the east; and Abingdon, Wantage, Didcot and Henley-on-Thames to the south. Future population growth in the county is hoped to be concentrated around Banbury, Bicester, Didcot and Witney, near the South Midlands growth area.

The highest point of the county is Whitehorse Hill, in the Vale of White Horse, reaching 856 feet (261m).

Oxfordshire's county flower is the Snake's-head Fritillary.

History

Main article: History of Oxfordshire

The county of Oxfordshire, at that time entirely situated to the north of the River Thames, was formed in the early years of the 10th century.^{[citation needed]}

Historically the area has always had some importance, it has been valuable agricultural land resting between the main southern cities and containing the prestigious settlement at Oxford (whose name came from Anglo-Saxon Oxenaford = "ford for oxen"). Ignored by the Romans, it was not until the formation of a settlement at Oxford that the area grew in importance. Alfred the Great was born in Wantage. The University of Oxford was founded in 1096. The area was part of the Cotswolds wool trade from the 13th century. The Great Western Railway reached Didcot in 1839. Morris Motors was founded in Oxford in 1912 and MG in Abingdon in 1929. The importance of agriculture as an employer has declined rapidly in the 20th century; currently under one percent of the county's population are involved.

In 1808 the county had fourteen hundreds, namely Bampton, Banbury, Binfield, Bloxham, Bullingdon, Chadlington, Dorchester, Ewelme, Langtree, Lewknor, Pyrton, Ploughley, Thame and Wootton.

The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was based at the Barracks on Bullingdon Green, Cowley.

The Vale of the White Horse and parts of South Oxfordshire south of the River Thames were historically part of Berkshire, but were added to the administrative county in 1974. Conversely, the Caversham area of Reading was historically part of Oxfordshire. (See History of Oxfordshire for the traditional county boundaries).

Towns and cities

• Abingdon (In Berkshire until 1974)
• Banbury
• Bicester
• Burford
• Carterton
• Chipping Norton
• Didcot (In Berkshire until 1974)
• Faringdon (In Berkshire until 1974)
• Henley-on-Thames
• Oxford
• Thame
• Wallingford (In Berkshire until 1974)
• Wantage (In Berkshire until 1974)
• Witney
• Woodstock

For a more complete list of settlements in the county see List of places in Oxfordshire.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Oxfordshire at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added[1]	Agriculture[2]	Industry[3]	Services[4]
1995	7,607	120	2,084	5,404
2000	10,594	80	2,661	7,853
2003	12,942	93	2,665	10,184

1. ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
2. ^ includes hunting and forestry
3. ^ includes energy and construction
4. ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Education

Oxfordshire has a completely comprehensive education system with 23 independent schools. The state schools are from ages of 11 to either 16 or 18. Sixth-form provision is very good, with only eight schools not having a sixth-form; these are mostly in South Oxfordshire and Cherwell districts. At GCSE in England, 45.8% of pupils gain five good GCSEs including English and Maths; for Oxfordshire's 6500 pupils taking GCSEs at 16, it is 47.5%. The best school at GCSE is the Chiltern Edge Community School (which has no sixth form) in Sonning Common. All schools in South Oxfordshire perform very well, with the notable exception of Wheatley Park School in Holton. The worst performing school is the Peers School in Littlemore in south Oxford. At A level, Oxfordshire performs well under the England average. The independent schools get good results, but in general the state schools achieve much less. The best school is the Faringdon Community College with excellent results, followed by the Cherwell School in Oxford. These two schools outstrip the others by a long way.

GCSE results by district council (%)

• South Oxfordshire 56.9
• West Oxfordshire 54.6
• Vale of White Horse 43.8
• Oxford 42.4
• Cherwell 38.7

Places of interest

• Blenheim Palace - UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Chiltern Hills - Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
• Chinnor & Princes Risborough Railway - A heritage railway operated with steam and diesel locomotives
• Cholsey and Wallingford Railway
• Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens
• Cotswolds - Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
• Didcot Railway Centre - Museum of the Great Western Railway
• Greys Court
• Heythrop Hall -by Thomas Archer. Hotel Golf & Country Club
• Kelmscott Manor - Home of William Morris
• Oxford
• Project Timescape - Visitor Centre near Wittenham Clumps
• The Ridgeway
• River and Rowing Museum
• River Thames
• Rousham House and Gardens
• Sulgrave Manor
• Thame Museum
• Uffington White Horse, Uffington Castle and Wayland's Smithy in the White Horse Hills
• Wallingford Museum

See also

• Oxford University (including links to the individual colleges).
• Oxford Canal
• Blewbury

Further reading

• Philip Powell - The Geology of Oxfordshire (Dovecote Press, 2005) ISBN 1-904349-19-6

External links

• Oxfordshire County Council
• Results of the 2005 county council election
• Oxfordshire Forum - The place to discuss Oxfordshire issues
• Thisisoxfordshire Oxfordshire news, sport & information
• Flags of Oxfordshire
• Visit South Oxfordshire

Ceremonial counties of England

Counties of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 Bedfordshire • Berkshire • City of Bristol • Buckinghamshire • Cambridgeshire • Cheshire • Cornwall • Cumbria • Derbyshire • Devon • Dorset • Durham • East Riding of Yorkshire • East Sussex • Essex • Gloucestershire • Greater London • Greater Manchester • Hampshire • Herefordshire • Hertfordshire • Isle of Wight • Kent • Lancashire • Leicestershire • Lincolnshire • City of London • Merseyside • Norfolk • Northamptonshire • Northumberland • North Yorkshire • Nottinghamshire • Oxfordshire • Rutland • Shropshire • Somerset • South Yorkshire • Staffordshire • Suffolk • Surrey • Tyne and Wear • Warwickshire • West Midlands • West Sussex • West Yorkshire • Wiltshire • Worcestershire

Historic counties of England

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