Dorchester on Thames
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Coordinates: 51°38′37″N 1°09′57″W / 51.6435°N 1.1657°W
| Dorchester-on-Thames | |
 Dorchester with the abbey tower in the background |
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  Dorchester-on-Thames
Dorchester-on-Thames shown within Oxfordshire |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Parish | Dorchester |
| District | South Oxfordshire |
| Shire county | Oxfordshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WALLINGFORD |
| Postcode district | OX10 |
| 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 | |
Dorchester-on-Thames is a village on the River Thame in Oxfordshire, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Wallingford and 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Oxford. Dorchester is just above the Thame's confluence with the River Thames. Historically the Thames was only so-named downstream of the village; upstream it is named the Isis, and Ordnance Survey maps continue to label the river as "River Thames or Isis" until Dorchester. Practically, however, this distinction is rarely used outside of the City of Oxford.
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[edit] History
The area has been inhabited since early times. In the north of the parish there was a Neolithic sacred site, now largely destroyed by gravel pits. On one of the Sinodun hills on the opposite side of the River Thames, a ramparted settlement was inhabited during the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Two of the Sinodun hills bear distinctive landmarks of mature trees called Wittenham Clumps. Adjacent to the village are Dyke Hills which are also the remains of an Iron Age hill fort.
Dorchester's position on the navigable Thames and bounded on three sides by water made it strategic for both communications and defence. The Romans built a town here, with a road linking the town to a military camp at Alchester, 16 miles (25 km) to the north.
In 634 Pope Honorius I sent a bishop called Birinus to convert the Saxons of the Thames Valley to Christianity. King Cynegils of Wessex gave Dorchester to Birinus as the seat of a new Diocese of Dorchester under a Bishop of Dorchester, which was extremely large, and covered most of Wessex and Mercia. Dorchester became the de facto capital of Wessex, which was later to become the dominant kingdom in England, but eventually Winchester displaced it.
In the 12th century the church was enlarged to serve a community of Augustinian canons. King Henry VIII dissolved the Abbey in 1536, leaving the small village with a huge church.
[edit] Amenities
Dorchester Abbey[1] is both the village's Church of England parish church and its main tourist attraction. The Abbey has a museum.
[edit] Festivals and events
Dorchester on Thames is the home of a number of annual events:
Nearby is Day's Lock on the Thames, where the annual World Poohsticks Championship is held.
[edit] Notable people from Dorchester
- Jonty Hearnden - antiques expert and television presenter
- Mark Wright - footballer and former England captain
- Tom Penny - professional skateboarder
[edit] Sources
- Lobel, Mary D (1957). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 5: Bullingdon Hundred. pp. 56–76.
- Lobel, Mary D. (ed.) (1962). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 7: Thame and Dorchester Hundreds. pp. 39–64.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Sherwood, Jennifer (1974). The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin. pp. 576–586. ISBN 0 14 071045 0.
- Tiller, Kate (ed.) (2005). Dorchester Abbey: Church and People 635–2005. Stonesfield Press. ISBN 0-9527126-4-4.
