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Long Wittenham

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Long Wittenham
Population950 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSU545935
Civil parish
  • Long Wittenham
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townAbingdon
Postcode districtOX14
Dialling code01865
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteWelcome to Long Wittenham.com
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire

Long Wittenham is a village and civil parish on the south bank of the River Thames in South Oxfordshire. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire to the county of Oxfordshire, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire.

History

An example of Bronze Age Yetholm-type shields was found here[citation needed].

The village Cross has ancient origins, with the base dating from the 7th century. St. Birinus preached here when he brought Christianity to the area. The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary, begun around 1120, is on the site of a previous Saxon church. Cruck Cottage is believed to be around 800 years old,[by whom?] and as such is the oldest house in South Oxfordshire.

The Pendon Museum, with models of buildings and railways, is in Long Wittenham.

Location

Long Wittenham is in the Thames Valley 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Didcot, and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southeast of Abingdon. To the west is the village of Appleford, which has the nearest railway station, on the line between Didcot and Oxford.

Clifton Cut bypasses the river to the north. Also nearby to the north are Clifton Lock on the river, the historic Barley Mow public house (mentioned in Three Men in a Boat), and Clifton Hampden Bridge leading to the village of Clifton Hampden on the north side of the river.

To the east, over the river, is the Roman town of Dorchester-on-Thames, actually a little way from the riverside. To the south-east of the village are the smaller village of Little Wittenham, also on the Thames, and the hills of Wittenham Clumps.

References

  1. ^ "Area: Long Wittenham CP (Parish): Parish Headcounts". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 17 March 2010.

Further reading

Long Wittenham Athletic Club

  • Long Wittenham Athletic Club/Football Club was officially formed in 1902 and affiliated to the Berks and Bucks Football Association. By 1907 there were enough local teams to form the North Berkshire League and on the 30th May of that year the first North Berks Junior Challenge Cup final was played between Long Wittenham and Faringdon Town. Long Wittenham ultimately triumphed and followed this up with back-to-back wins in 1910 and 1911 starting a long tradition of North Berks Cup wins.

In 1935 Sir Archibald Bodkin presented the Jubilee Cricket Field to Long Wittenham as a gift to mark the Silver Jubilee of King George V and the field is leased to the Athletic Club to maintain and ensure it is used for the purpose of sport.

In 1937 the Athletic Club moved from their base at the west edge of the village to what is now known as Bodkins Sportsfield.

Long Wittenham Athletic Club enjoyed its most successful period on the field during the 50s and 60s with victory following victory and, almost as importantly, the completion of a new pavilion.

Until 1958 there was no proper pavilion on the field, only a wooden shed.

Footballers and cricketers would arrive for matches already in their kit to find there was no running water to wash either.

This changed with the opening of the new pavilion, built entirely by the clubs members, with money raised by the membership and with a donation from regular benefactor Brigadier Harrison.

The on-field success started in the 1954-55 season with 3-1 win over Botley United in the Charity Shield Final.

1956 saw the first team win a local six-a-side tournament while the reserve team were runners-up in the Nairne-Paul cup which at this time was a six-a-side competition for reserve teams.

In 1957 Long Wittenham played in the final of the Reading Town Junior Cup at Elm Park, defeating Finchampstead 3-1 with goals from Ray Woodage, Andy Stone and Danny Wench. 1957 also saw the club crowned North Berks League Champions, followed a year later by the first in a hat-trick of North Berks Charity Shield wins.

In the 1959-60 season Long Wittenham, captained by Ray Woodage, were crowned North Berks League Winners, North Berks Cup and Charity Shield Winners and Runners-up in the Didcot Festival Cup and Abingdon Centenary Cup. As well as this the clubs B team beat the A team in a local 6-a-side tournament.

The 1960 Annual Dinner was attended by former Reading footballer Maurice Edelston who congratulated the football team on their 19 wins and 2 draws in 21 league games and the cricket team on their 16 wins, 10 defeats and 6 draws in 34 matches.

The 1960s saw further success for Long Wittenham with North Berks Cup wins in 1964 and 1969. Unfortunately 1961 also saw the last, to date, of Long Wittenhams 10 North Berks League wins.

This period also saw the club make the decision to move the cricket club to Clifton Hampden. The ever lengthening seasons making it increasingly difficult to accommodate both sports on Bodkins Sportsfield. The two teams maintain close links with many footballers continuing to play cricket at Clifton Hampden during the summer.

By the 70s the victories were no longer on the scale of the previous years.

The 1974-75 season saw the Reserves chalk up their only AG Kingham Cup success to-date with a 2-0 win over Faringdon Town.

While the First team followed that 2 years later with the most recent of their 14 North Berks Cup wins. The trophy secured with a 1-0 win over local rivals Harwell Village.

On 19th January 1986 Long Wittenham Athletic Club faced their biggest challenge when fire destroyed the Pavilion. The Clubs Management Committee immediately estimated the cost of rebuilding to be between 20000 and 30000 pounds with more required to replace the equipment lost in the fire.

A prefab building was sourced to use as a changing room to allow the club to continue playing in the North Berks League while fundraising began. Events such as a fun run, disco, and Mini Olympics were held and the club were able to move into their new clubhouse in September 1986.

The Club celebrated its 90th year with a Charity match against an Arsenal ex-pro and celebrity and even managed a now rare cup success with a Charity Shield win in the 95-96 season and runners-up medals after a 2-1 defeat by Saxton Rovers in the North Berks Cup Final.

The Clubs centenary was celebrated with a football weekend including a match against an Oxford Utd XI and the Allsports Centurians Challenge Cup Competition.


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