Otmoor or Ot Moor is an area of wetland and wet grassland in Oxfordshire, South-East England, located halfway between Oxford and Bicester. It is 60 metres (200 ft) above sea level, and has an area of approximately 160 hectares (400 acres).
It is encircled by the "Seven Towns" of Otmoor - Beckley, Noke, Oddington, Charlton-on-Otmoor, Fencott, Murcott, & Horton-cum-Studley.
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History
Bisected North-South by the Roman Road between Bicester and Dorchester-on-Thames, its name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon for Otta's Fen.
Enclosure
Watered by the River Ray, it was until the early 1800s unenclosed marshland, and regularly flooded in winter. An Enclosure Act was passed in 1815, under which the area was extensively drained. This disadvantaged the local farmers and led to civil disturbances known as the Otmoor Riots of 1829 to 1830.
Lewis Carroll
The enclosure and drainage of Otmoor resulted in a characteristic field pattern. Lewis Carroll lived at Beckley[citation needed], overlooking Otmoor, and this "Chessboard" landscape is believed to have been the inspiration for the second 'Alice in Wonderland' book - Through the Looking-Glass (1871).
Motorway to Nature Reserve
The semi-wetland landscape provided habitat for many rare species of birds and butterflies. These were threatened in 1980 by a government proposal for the route of the M40 motorway to cross Otmoor. Opposition to the motorway was led by Friends of the Earth and included the "Alice's Meadow" campaign.[1]
An alternative route was eventually adopted by the government, and since 1997 a large part of Otmoor has become an RSPB nature reserve - with large areas of land being returned to marshland.
Coordinates: 51°49′19″N 1°10′47″W / 51.82194°N 1.17972°W
References
External links
- Further information is available on the Otmoor Noticeboard website
- 'Starlings on Otmoor' video
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