Shrivenham

Shrivenham is a large Vale village with a population of about 5,500 located just south of the A420 Oxford to Swindon road, adjacent to the border with Wiltshire.

The village has a wide main street lined with pollarded trees. There are a number of shops, restaurants, etc., evidence of Shrivenham's past as a small market town. In and around the main street are many thatched cottages and stone walls. The ancient village pump, which is in the main street, has an interesting rustic and slate roof.

There is known to have been a human settlement at Shrivenham from at least 400 bc and the remains of a Roman villa have been uncovered nearby.There is also evidence of earlier habitation with late Neolithic and early Bronze Age implements having been found nearby.

There are three churches in the village, St. Andrew's (Church of England), St Patrick's (Roman Catholic) and Shrivenham Methodist Church. St. Andrew's Church is approached through a lychgate and an avenue of trees. Parts of St. Andrew's Church date back to the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, but most only dates from the 1700s.

The village hall, opened by Princess Beatrice in 1925 as a war memorial, is reputed to be one of the finest in the country. The oak hammerbeam construction roof is covered in Cotswold stone.

The Beckett Estate, formerly the home of the Barrington family, is to the east of the village between Shrivenham and Watchfield. This is now the home of the Defence College of Management and Technology, which is part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.

To the south of the village is the route of the old Wiltshire and Berkshire Canal which was once important to the village for local trade. The canal was superceded in importance by the Great West Railway which was built in 1840. The village is no longer served by the railway and the station has disappeared.