Longworth

Coordinates: 51°41′34″N 1°25′40″W / 51.692845°N 1.427743°W / 51.692845; -1.427743

Longworth
Longworth  Longworth shown within Oxfordshire
OS grid reference	SU395995
Parish	Longworth
District	Vale of White Horse
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ABINGDON-ON-THAMES
Postcode district	OX13
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

Longworth is a village and civil parish, located near Oxford, Witney, Faringdon and Abingdon-on-Thames, in the English county of Oxfordshire and lies only eight miles (12 km) from the Gloucestershire border. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire. It is in the Vale of White Horse district and use to be in the Faringdon Rural District, it is located on the edge of the Cotswolds. In the 2001 census, Longworth had a population of 848.^[1]

Longworth parish extends north of the village to the River Thames. Harrowdown Hill, in the north of the parish near the Thames, is where biological warfare expert, David Kelly, died (or committed suicide) during the Second Gulf War WMD scandal.^[2] Sir Henry Marten, a 17th century Judge of the Admiralty Court, and his son, Henry Marten, the infamous regicide, resided at Longworth House.^[3][4]

Geography & Transport

Longworth is nine miles (14 km) south west from the city of Oxford and eight miles (12 km) from the towns of Witney, Abingdon-on-Thames and Faringdon. Longworth is situated just south of the River Thames by the crossing at Newbridge.

Longworth has two bus services, Whites Coaches 63 service (www.whitescoaches.com) which runs from Longworth to Oxford on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and passes through the villages of Southmoor, Hinton Waldrist, Appleton, Eaton and Cumnor and the other from Longworth to Abingdon-on-Thames but does not go through the main village.

Blue Boar Pub

The Blue Boar Pub is located in Tucks Lane, Longworth. It was built in the late 17th Century with the thatched half predating the two storey other half by 50 years. Its unclear however whether it has always been a pub. As it is situated on the main route out of the village to the river Thames it was certainly popular in the 19th Century as a resting stop for horse, cart and drover. The current owner rescued it from dereliction in the late 1970s and has extended and modernised it whilst still retaining the characterful beams and comfortable open fires. It is the only one of five original drinking establishments within the village boundary to survive and is now a popular and well regarded 'gastro' pub.

On the Blue Boar pub sign, the white boar and the white rose on the pennant represent the symbols of King Richard III.

The blue boar was the personal badge of the De Vere family - who were the Earls of Oxford. Legend has it that when King Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, any White Boar pubs were quickly repainted as Blue Boars, as an acknowledgement that the white boar was dead and the blue boar prevailed.

Blue Boar RFC

Blue Boar RFC is based at the Blue Boar pub in the village of Longworth in Oxfordshire. Which home games are normally played at Oxford RFC.

The club played its first game of rugby in March 1977, as a result of a challenge by Blackwells Bookshop in Oxford. The occasion proved so enjoyable that the following season several more matches were arranged against local sides, and the club became affiliated to the Oxfordshire RFU.

In succeeding seasons, the number of fixtures and strength of opposition increased, and in May 1981 the club was elected to the Rugby Football Union.

In September 1980, the club made its first tour to Cornwall; there were further visits to the Duchy in 1987, 1988 and 1989. The first foreign tour came in 1981, when a party of 35 players and supporters went to Brittany and enjoyed themselves so much that they returned there a year later.

In 1991, the club had the honour of making the first official tour by an English RFU club to Hungary, which was ably hosted by the Hungarian Rugby Union.

The Highlight of the 2003/2004 season was reaching the final of the Oxfordshire Knockout Cup Plate competition.

The Highlight of the 2008/2009 season was reaching the final of the Oxfordshire Knockout Cup Plate competition.

MP

Longworth is in the UK Parliament constituency of Wantage. The MP is Edward Henry Butler Vaizey (born 5 June 1968) who is a British Conservative commentator, politician and columnist. He was elected Conservative Member of Parliament for the constituency of Wantage on 5 May 2005.

Vaizey is the son of the late Lord Vaizey, a life peer, and his wife Marina Vaizey, a well-known art historian. As the son of a peer he has the title "The Honourable Edward Vaizey". Vaizey spent part of his childhood growing up in Berkshire. He was educated at St Paul's School and Merton College, Oxford, where he rose to the rank of Librarian (Vice President) of the Oxford Union and took a BA in History, achieving a 2.1. After leaving Oxford, Vaizey worked for the Conservative politicians Kenneth Clarke and Michael Howard as an adviser on employment and education issues. He trained and practised as a barrister for several years, specialising in family law and child care cases. He was a partner at Consolidated Communications, a Public Relations agency.

References