Southmoor

Southmoor is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor, about 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Historically part of Berkshire, the 1974 boundary changes transferred local government to Oxfordshire.

Southmoor

Southmoor Methodist Church
Southmoor
Location within Oxfordshire
OS grid referenceSU3998
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townAbingdon
Postcode districtOX13
Dialling code01865
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteKingston Bagpuize with Southmoor Community Website

Southmoor village is just south of the A420 between Oxford and Swindon.

History

Southmoor was historically the southern part of the township of Draycot Moor (also spelt Draycott Moor), a manor of the ancient parish of Longworth. At the time of the Domesday Book the manor was held by Abingdon Abbey. In 1574 the manor passed to St John's College, Oxford, who still own it today.[1]

John Blandy the Elder left money in his will of 1736 to found the Blandy educational charities.[2] John Blandy the Younger left money to augment the charities in his will of 1791.[2] In 1874 a scheme was established under the Endowed Schools Act 1869 for the Blandy charities to provide an elementary school, scholarships, a public lending library and extra playground facilities.[2] The school is now a primary school, John Blandy Voluntary Controlled School.[3]

A Wesleyan chapel was built in Southmoor in 1841.[4] It was a Methodist church in the Wantage and Abingdon Methodist Circuit[5] but is now a private dwelling.

Draycot Moor became a separate civil parish in 1866. On 1 April 1971 the two parishes of Kingston Bagpuize and Draycot Moor merged into one civil parish forming Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor.[6]

Amenities

Southmoor has a public house, the Waggon and Horses. There is also a village hall. Southmoor's retailers are One Stop, the Coop, Aquarius hairdressers and Crossroads garage. John Blandy VC Primary School teaches children from the ages of 4 to 11 and has about 180 pupils. It has also a nursery situated in the grounds. There is also a tennis club; cricket club; drama group; village newspaper and many other activities and events.

Transport

The village is served by Stagecoach and other smaller bus company services. There are services up to every 20 minutes to Oxford or Swindon on route S6[7] running Mondays to Saturdays and hourly services on Sundays. There are services to the towns Abingdon and Witney on the 15 service running Monday to Saturday. Available public transport facilities thus make Southmoor a convenient dormitory for working and shopping in Oxford.

Famous resident

Dr. David Kelly, microbiologist and distinguished UN-sponsored weapons inspector, was a Southmoor resident; Dr. Kelly disappeared in July 2003, and the finding of his body soon afterwards on nearby Harrowdown Hill led to a public enquiry concluded by the Hutton Report.

References
  1. Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds. (1924). "Parishes: Longworth". A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4. Victoria County History. Institute of Historical Research. pp. 466–471. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  2. Page & Ditchfield, 1924, pages 349-353
  3. John Blandy
  4. Oxfordshire Churches & Chapels: Southmoor Archived 4 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Wantage and Abingdon Methodist Circuit: Southmoor Methodist Church
  6. Vision of Britain website: Longworth
  7. "S6 - Swindon - Shrivenham - Faringdon - Oxford – Stagecoach West – Bus Times". bustimes.org. Retrieved 30 January 2019.

Sources

Media related to Southmoor at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.