WELCOME to this personal and growing collection of photographs of the villages of Oxfordshire. At the moment all my photographs are of villages towards the south of the county, so the collection is not comprehensive. But I'm adding more villages all the time and, who knows, maybe in time I'll cover the whole county! In the meantime I hope you find my collection interesting, and I'll be pleased if you take a look.

The photos I've chosen reflect the character of each village - typical village views and pictures of some of the cottages that give the village its particular character. I've also included pictures of the parish church, village pubs and other important or well-known buildings, including other churches.

Most villages have an individual entry but where villages are close together and small, or it just seems more logical, villages have been included as a group. As well as the photographs I've included some information about each village and a Multimap link so you can locate the village easily. Multimap gives a choice of map formats so you can explore the village on foot if you wish using the OS format (see below for more information).

I've tried to describe the village as I saw it but to provide a background I have collected some information from other sources, especially historical information. I realise there may be some omissions but I sincerely hope there are no errors. If you come across any errors perhaps you could kindly let me know so I can put them right.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE COUNTY:
Much of Oxfordshire is pleasantly undulating, with the rolling Berkshire Downs in the extreme south and the wooded Chiltern Hills in the south-east. In the west and north-west are the the Cotswolds, well-known for their attractive mellow stone towns and villages. But elsewhere the county is very flat! Visit the Vale of White Horse, or the Thames valley west of Oxford, and the extreme flatness of these areas is immediately apparent! The River Thames, which crosses the county from west to east, is the main river of Oxfordshire and many of the small rivers and streams throughout the county feed this great river .

The character of most villages is influenced by their local geography; the hills, rivers and the flat countryside of Oxfordshire all contribute to their character and often still dictate their appearance. In the shadow of the Downs you will find cottages built of chalk, and in much of the county timber framing is very evident and thatch is very common. The north and north-west of the county is quite different and golden or grey stone buildings with stone roofs dominate.

OXFORD'S VILLAGES:
Modern Oxford includes several old Oxfordshire villages within its city boundaries; villages that were at one time 'ordinary' rural communities. However although villages like Iffley, Cowley, Headington, Marston can still be identified they are now suburbs of the city. I know these villages still have a sense of community and their identity has been preserved but my collection concentrates on rural villages and I regret Oxford's urban villages will not therefore be included.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
My thanks are especially due to the following reference sources for some of the information: The Oxfordshire Village Book, published by Countryside Books and updated by the Oxfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes, Philip's County Guide Oxfordshire, Harry Knight's Upper Thames Valley Today, David Nash Ford's Royal Berkshire History - www.berkshirehistory.com, the free online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, the numerous village websites to which links have been provided in the showcase and numerous other sources I've come across whilst idly googling for information. Some of the information about churches has been obtained from leaflets or flyers published by the churches concerned.

Multimap mapping gives a choice of three views of the area. The map can be viewed either in road atlas style or, if you prefer, as an Ordance Survey map. The Ordnance Survey map is particularly useful if you want to explore the village on foot as it shows contours, footpaths, woodlands, etc. when you zoom in on the village. There is also an aerial view which shows place names (and, depending on the scale, road names) and generally provides added interest.