Longcot
Coordinates: 51°36′58″N 1°36′18″W / 51.616°N 1.605°W
| Longcot | |
 Longcot
Longcot shown within Oxfordshire |
|
| Population | 574 (2001 census)[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SU2790 |
| Civil parish | Longcot |
| District | Vale of White Horse |
| Shire county | Oxfordshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Faringdon |
| Postcode district | SN7 |
| Dialling code | 01793 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Wantage |
| List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire | |
Longcot is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse District. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is about 3 miles (5 km) south of Faringdon and about 2.5 miles (4 km) northeast of Shrivenham. The A420 road between Swindon and Oxford passes through the parish 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of the village.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
Longcot Civil Parish covers 1,894 acres (766 ha). It is in a wide bend of the nascent River Ock, in typical low-lying vale landscape. The view to the south is dominated by the scarp of the Lambourn downs, including the Uffington White Horse.[2]
Longcot had many mature elm trees in hedgerows and gardens until Dutch elm disease affected them early in the 1970s.[citation needed]
[edit] History
Longcot (or, until 20th century, Longcott) was in the Shrivenham Hundred, with the manor and most of the land belonging to Viscount Barrington.
For most of its history Longcot was an agricultural community, but population growth in early 19th Century began with the arrival of the Wilts & Berks Canal in 1805[3] and the building of Longcot Wharf, which was the busiest wharf on this section of the canal[citation needed] due to its nearness to Faringdon. The village population declined in line with the loss of commercial traffic on the canal to the Great Western Railway, completed in 1841. Commercial traffic on the canal ceased completely in 1902[citation needed] and it was formally abandoned by Act of Parliament in 1914.[4]
The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin has a 13th century Norman nave and chancel.[5] One lancet window on the north side of the chancel is original[5][6] but all other the current windows were inserted later.[6] On the north side of the church they include one two-light Decorated Gothic and one four-light Perpendicular Gothic window.[5] The pulpit is Jacobean.[5][6]
St. Mary's original west tower collapsed while the bells were being rung.[citation needed] The tower was rebuilt in 1721[6] or 1722.[5] Abraham Rudhall of Gloucester cast five new bells in 1722, followed by the treble bell in 1729[6] to complete a ring of six. Four stone urns, mounted on iron spikes at each corner of the tower, were removed in the late 1970s for safety.[citation needed]
The parish has had a Church of England school since 1717,[citation needed] the original building in the southwest corner of the churchyard paid for by voluntary subscription.[citation needed] The current school building, built in 1969 opposite The Green on Kings Lane, replaced a previous building on the same site built in 1874.[citation needed]
Longcot was awarded the Marlborough Trophy for Oxfordshire's Best Kept Village in 2002.[7]
[edit] Population
The following data has been taken from historical Census information in the public domain.
| Year | Total | Male | Female | Households |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1871 | 494 | 229 | 265 | 110 |
| 1881 | 393 | 198 | 195 | 92 |
| 1891 | 310 | 162 | 148 | 77 |
| 1901 | 256 | 139 | 117 | 65 |
| 1911 | 334 | 169 | 165 | 77 |
| 1921 | 295 | 146 | 149 | 71 |
| 1931 | 264 | 139 | 125 | 76 |
| 1941 | No Census Taken | |||
| 1951 | 285 | 143 | 142 | 88 |
| 1961 | 337 | 173 | 164 | 102 |
| 1971 | 446 | |||
| 1981 | ||||
| 1991 | ||||
| 2001 | 574 | 290 | 284 | 220 |
[edit] References
- ^ "Area selected: Vale of White Horse (Non-Metropolitan District)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=4&containerAreaId=790499. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
- ^ Panoramio photograph of the Uffington White Horse
- ^ Dalby 2000, p. 23.
- ^ Dalby 2000, p. 96.
- ^ a b c d e Pevsner 1966, p. 170.
- ^ a b c d e Page & Ditchfield 1924, pp. 531–543.
- ^ "Villagers' pride pays off in battle for honours" in The Oxford Times, 25 July 2002
[edit] Sources and further reading
- Dalby, L.J. (2000) [1971]. The Wilts & Berks Canal (3rd ed.). Usk: Oakwood Press. p. 23. ISBN 0-85361-562-4.
- Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds. (1924). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4. Victoria County History. pp. 466–471.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 171–172.
- Richards, Guy; Dalton-Morris, Shirley. Longcot: A Village in the Vale. ISBN 0-9536602-0-6.
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Longcot |
