Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Encyclopedia
Abingdon or archaically
Abingdon-on-Thames (icon) is a market town
and civil parish in Oxfordshire
, England
. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse
district. Previously the county town
of Berkshire
, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town
, with people having lived there for at least 6,000 years. It was part of Berkshire
until the 1974 boundary changes
transferred it to Oxfordshire.
and 5 miles (8 km) north of Didcot
in the flat valley of the Thames on its west (right) bank, where the small river Ock
flows in from the Vale of White Horse
. It is on the A415 between Witney
and Dorchester
, adjacent to the A34 trunk road, linking it with the M4
and M40
motorways. The B4017 and A4183 also link the town, both being part of the old A34 and often heavily congested.
Local bus services to Oxford and the surrounding areas are run by Stagecoach Oxfordshire, Thames Travel
, the Oxford Bus Company
and smaller independent companies. The main local town bus service is operated by White's Coaches. The nearest railway stations are and , and the nearest major stations are and . All are managed by First Great Western
.
and the remains of a late Iron Age defensive enclosure (or oppidum
) lies below the town centre. The oppidum was in use throughout the Roman occupation.
Abingdon Abbey
was founded in Saxon times
, possibly the 7th century, but its early history is confused by numerous legends, invented to raise its status and explain the place name. The name seems to mean 'Hill of a man named Æbba, or a woman named Æbbe', possibly the saint to whom St Ebbe's Church in Oxford was dedicated (Æbbe of Coldingham or a different Æbbe of Oxford
). However Abingdon stands in a valley and not on a hill. It is thought that the name was first given to a place on Boars Hill
above Chilswell
, and the name was transferred to its present site when the Abbey was relocated.
In 1084, William the Conqueror celebrated Easter at the Abbey and then left his son, the future Henry I
, to be educated there.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Abingdon was a flourishing agricultural centre with an extensive trade in wool
and a famous weaving and clothing manufacturing industry. The abbot seems to have held a market from very early times and charters for the holding of markets and fairs were granted by various sovereigns, from Edward I
to George II
. In 1337 there was a famous riot in protest at the Abbot's control of this market in which several of the monks were killed.
After the abbey's dissolution
in 1538, the town sank into decay and, in 1555, upon receiving a representation of its pitiable condition, Mary I
granted a charter establishing a mayor, two bailiffs, twelve chief burgesses and sixteen secondary burgesses, the mayor to be clerk of the market, coroner and a Justice of the Peace
. The present Christ's Hospital
originally belonged to the Guild of the Holy Cross
, on the dissolution of which Edward VI
founded the almshouses instead, under its present name.
The council was empowered to elect one burgess to parliament
and this right continued until the Redistribution of Seats Act
of 1885. A town clerk and other officers were appointed and the town boundaries described in great detail. Later charters, from Elizabeth I
, James I
, James II
, George II
and George III
, made no considerable change. James II changed the style of the corporation to that of a mayor, twelve aldermen and twelve burgesses.
In 1790, Abingdon Lock
was built, replacing navigation to the town via the Swift Ditch. In 1810, the Wilts and Berks Canal
opened, linking Abingdon with Semington
on the Kennet and Avon Canal
. Abingdon became a key link between major industrial centres such as Bristol
, London
, Birmingham
and the Black Country
. In 1856 the Abingdon Railway opened, linking the town with the Great Western Railway
at . The Wilts and Berks Canal
was abandoned in 1906 but a voluntary trust is now working to restore and re-open it. Abingdon railway station
was closed to passengers in September 1963. The line remained open for freight until 1984, including serving the MG
car factory, which opened in 1929 and closed in October 1980 as part of a British Leyland rationalisation plan.
The nearest railway station is Radley, two miles (3 km) away. Abingdon was served by a branch line however the line and Abingdon Railway Station
were closed in 1963. Much of the original Abingdon branch line is now a cyclepath, whilst the land on which the station stood has been extensively redeveloped, and is now the site of a large Waitrose
store and surrounded by a large number of new flats and houses.
Abingdon became the county town of Berkshire
sometime after receiving its Royal Charter in 1556. Assize courts were held in Abingdon from 1570 but in the 17th century it was vying with Reading
for County Town status. The county hall and court house were built between 1678 and 1682, to assert this status. The building, now the Abingdon County Hall Museum
, was supposedly designed by Christopher Kempster
, who worked with Sir Christopher Wren. However, Abingdon's failure to engage fully with the railway revolution, accepting only a branch line, sidelined the town in favour of Reading which became the County Town in 1869. The corporation was reformed, under the Municipal Reform Act 1835 and was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972
. In 1974, under local government reorganisation, Abingdon became part of the non-metropolitan shire county
of Oxfordshire and the seat of the new Vale of White Horse
District Council, with Abingdon becoming a civil parish with a town council.
Since the 1980s, Abingdon has played host to a number of information communication companies, with many based in the town's respective business and science parks. With this, and the result of Abingdon's proximity to academic and scientific institutions in Oxford, the town has seen an influx of young professionals taking residence in the town's many residential areas such as Peachcroft.
Local councillors voted in November 2011 to rename the town "Abingdon-on-Thames", though this would need approval from the Vale of White Horse
council.
The local newspapers are the Oxford Mail
, The Oxford Times
and the Abingdon Herald. The Oxford Journal
, a free newspaper, has been based in Abingdon for many years and was formerly called the South Oxfordshire Courier
. Local radio and television stations are shared with Oxford, although ITV
retains a ‘news gathering’ centre in the town, formerly a broadcasting studio, for ITV Meridian. Traditionally, the ITV franchise was ITV Central. Local radio is provided by BBC Radio Oxford
, Jack FM
, Glide FM and Heart Thames Valley
. There was also a SIX TV
local TV channel until 2009.
Shopping in Abingdon fares poorly in comparison to developments in nearby Didcot
, Wantage
and Witney
. The Tesco
Extra store to the west of the town is the largest supermarket in Abingdon and one of the most profitable Tesco
stores in the country. Nearby is the Fairacres Retail Park, recently redeveloped, which includes Homebase
, Argos
, Subway
, Dreams, HomeStore&More and Pets at Home
stores as well as several retailers that are part of Anglia Regional Co-operative Society
. It was originally home to two long established Abingdon retailers — Vineys Home Furnishings (now part of the Lee Longlands chain) and Mays Carpets (now part of the Carpetright
chain and has re-branded accordingly). In the town centre, many independent stores, estate agents and charity shops make up the Bury Street shopping precinct as major high street names have chosen to go to other towns. However, this may change following earmarked redevelopment here.
The town centre of Abingdon was refurbished in 2007 as part of the council's redevelopment plan. The roads around the area have been changed: notably the one-way system around the centre has been partially changed to two-way. While this has slightly reduced traffic within the historic town centre, congestion has greatly increased elsewhere. Local businesses have also complained that the increased traffic has driven shoppers away. Also planned for the town centre is a roof over the pre-1970s shopping precinct and the removal of two kiosks. The market square was repaved and a new tourist information centre is planned.
In 2010, further refurbishment was planned; the Bury Street Precinct has a new owner/landlord, its name has been changed to Abbey Shopping Centre and it is to get another "facelift" plan: instead of a roof (always promised), the covered walkways are to be removed and the flat roofs replaced. A few shops have been knocked together for larger shops; W H Smith
have moved in. When Woolworths went into administration, the shop was empty for a while, then Cargo returned to Abingdon on a short-term lease. The current occupants of the former Woolworths store are Poundland
. Proposed plans show demolition of the buildings in the Charters. The GP practice and public library are to be relocated, with the latest plans being to move them into the second floor of the building where Woolworths used to be.
The Old Gaol redevelopment has started: the first stage was demolishing the 1970s additions and swimming pool extension. The Gaol is to become luxury flats, shops and restaurants, with promised access to the riverside. Part of the old Police Station will be demolished to access the older building of the Old Gaol.
Abingdon is one of the few towns in the UK to have its own annual air display — the Abingdon Air & Country Show
, which takes place every May at Dalton Barracks, the former RAF Abingdon
(see below).
cars, who opened a factory there in 1929. 1,155,032 cars were made at the plant over the next 51 years before British Leyland closed it down on 24 October 1980.
The Pavlova and Gloria leather works, now both closed, used to be major employers. Abingdon was home to the Morland Brewery
, whose most famous ale was Old Speckled Hen
, named after an early MG car. Greene King Brewery
bought Morland for £182 million in 1999, closed the brewery and moved production to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk
. The site of the brewery has been redeveloped into residential housing. The Maltings was demolished and is now a mixed residential area and council offices.
Abingdon is close to several major scientific employers: the UKAEA at Culham
(including the Joint European Torus
(JET) fusion research project), Harwell Laboratory, the STFC
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
and the new Diamond Light Source
synchrotron
, which is the largest UK-funded scientific facility to be built for over 40 years. Many inhabitants work in Oxford
or commute by rail to London
, from nearby Didcot
. The Army
now occupies Dalton Barracks, which, prior to 1993, was the Royal Air Force
station RAF Abingdon
.
Abingdon has a business park which has offices for several national and international companies including Northern Rock
bank. Until recently, Vodafone
had offices in the town, acquired as part of its takeover of Mannesmann
in 2000. The Science Park is home to the headquarters of Sophos
, the anti-virus company. RM
, an educational computing supplier, commonly refer to themselves as being Abingdon-based, which is technically true — even though their HQ is actually in nearby Milton Park
, Milton, they have an Abingdon post code (as does the rest of Milton Park). Penlon Ltd, a medical equipment company, have their premises on the outskirts of Abingdon (their previous site, close to the former railway station, has been redeveloped as residential housing). Another major employer is the British head office of the German appliance company Miele
.
In 1924, carmaker MG
was founded and moved its business alongside the Pavlova Leather Factory in 1929. By the outbreak of the Second World War , MG was established as one of the most popular brands of sports car in Britain. After the war, the MG factory continued to churn out increasing volumes of popular sports car which were available at competitive prices. But the factory closed in October 1980 on the demise of the ageing but still popular MG MGB
range, and was demolished within months. The headquarters of the MG Car Club
, founded in 1930, is at 11 & 12 Cemetery Road, next to the old factory offices.
A police
station was built in its place, currently being extended with the addition of more cells, as Oxford's police station could not be extended further.
Of the Benedictine Abingdon Abbey
there remains a beautiful Perpendicular gateway (common local knowledge, however, is that it was actually rebuilt out of the rubble of the original, and a little cursory examination of the patternation of the stonework will apparently divulge this) and ruins of buildings such as the mainly Early English prior's house, the guest house and other fragments. Other remains from the former abbey include the Unicorn Theatre and Long Gallery, which are still used for plays and functions including an annual craft fair.
The most distinguished landmark in Abingdon is probably the building that now houses the Abingdon County Hall Museum
, which was formerly the county hall of Berkshire
(the town was the county town until it ceded that title to Reading
in 1867): a building hailed as the "grandest town hall in Britain" and built by Christopher Kempster, who worked with Christopher Wren
on St Paul's Cathedral
. The hall stands on pillars, leaving a sheltered area beneath for a market or other municipal functions, and overlooks the main market square. The museum and town hall is run by English Heritage
.
The picturesque narrow-arched Abingdon Bridge
over the Thames, near St Helen's Church, dates originally from 1416. St Helen's Church dates from around 1100 and is the second widest church in England, having five aisles and being 10 ft(3 m) wider than it is long. The tower of St Helen's Church is home to a new ring of ten bells, cast by The Whitechapel Bellfoundry in 2005 and hung in a new frame with new fittings by Whites of Appleton Church Bellhangers in 2006.
The Abbey Gateway between the Abingdon County Hall Museum and the Guildhall remains a point of local importance. Although it is unclear how far back this tradition dates, some people from families that have lived in the town for generations follow the superstition that in walking under the gateway one should hold one's breath to stop the gargoyles that decorate the gateway from stealing it.
A large gaol, built by prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars
in 1811, stands on the south edge of town next to the Thames. It has had various uses, most recently as a leisure centre, but is now being partially demolished and developed into residential and commercial premises.
The Roysse Room was the site of Abingdon School
(then 'Roysse's School') from 1563 until it moved to its current site after an indenture by John Roysse
, who had been born and educated in Abingdon before he moved to London . The room is now part of the civic offices.
s from the roof of the Abingdon County Hall Museum
for crowds assembled in the market square on specific days of celebration (such as royal marriages, coronations and jubilee
s). The museum has a collection of the buns, dried and varnished, dating back to bun throwings of the 19th century. Since 2000, there have been bun-throwing ceremonies to commemorate the Millennium
, the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, 450th anniverary of the town's being granted a Royal Charter
in 2006, and the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
on the 29th April 2011.
The centre of town and the whole of Ock Street (half a mile) are closed every October for two days for the Ock Street Michaelmas Fair
, once a hiring fair but now maybe Britain's longest and narrowest funfair. The much smaller Runaway Fair, the following Monday, was traditionally for workers who had found their new employers too much to stomach within the first week.
Abingdon has a very old and still active Morris Dancing
tradition, passed on by word of mouth since before the folk dance and song revivals of the 1800s. Every year a Mayor of Ock Street
is elected by the inhabitants of Ock Street; he then parades through the town preceded by the famous Horns of Ock St
, a symbol of Abingdon's Morris Dance troupe.
The Friends of Abingdon's Unicorn Theatre, housed in the old Abbey buildings, is the site of first productions of many stage adaptations of Terry Pratchett
's Discworld
novels, by Stephen Briggs
.
Old Speckled Hen
ale
was originally brewed by Morlands of Abingdon to commemorate the MG factory in the town.
with: Argentan
, France
Lucca
, Italy
Schongau
, Germany
Sint-Niklaas
in Belgium
It also has links (through the Vale of White Horse
District) with: Colmar
, France
Archaism
In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...
Abingdon-on-Thames (icon) is a market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
and civil parish in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
district. Previously the county town
County town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town
Oldest town in Britain
The Oldest town in Britain is a title claimed by a number of settlements in Great Britain.-Thatcham:Thatcham in Berkshire is often claimed as the oldest town in Britain, since its occupation can be traced back to a mesolithic hunting camp, which was discovered there beside a Post-glacial rebound...
, with people having lived there for at least 6,000 years. It was part of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
until the 1974 boundary changes
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
transferred it to Oxfordshire.
Geography and transport
Abingdon is 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south of OxfordOxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and 5 miles (8 km) north of Didcot
Didcot
Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
in the flat valley of the Thames on its west (right) bank, where the small river Ock
River Ock
The River Ock is a small English river which is a tributary of the River Thames. It has as its catchment area the Vale of White Horse, a low-lying and wide valley in South Oxfordshire and flows into the River Thames, at Abingdon on the reach above Culham Lock.-Course:The River Ock rises near the...
flows in from the Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
. It is on the A415 between Witney
Witney
Witney is a town on the River Windrush, west of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England.The place-name 'Witney' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 969 as 'Wyttannige'; it appears as 'Witenie' in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means 'Witta's island'....
and Dorchester
Dorchester, Oxfordshire
Dorchester-on-Thames is a village and civil parish on the River Thame in Oxfordshire, about northwest of Wallingford and southeast of Oxford. Despite its name, Dorchester is not on the River Thames, but just above the Thame's confluence with it...
, adjacent to the A34 trunk road, linking it with the M4
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
and M40
M40 motorway
The M40 motorway is a motorway in the British transport network that forms a major part of the connection between London and Birmingham. Part of this road forms a section of the unsigned European route E05...
motorways. The B4017 and A4183 also link the town, both being part of the old A34 and often heavily congested.
Local bus services to Oxford and the surrounding areas are run by Stagecoach Oxfordshire, Thames Travel
Thames Travel
Thames Travel is a bus operator based in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, in England. It is the third largest bus company in the county It operates a fleet of around 34 vehicles, and employs 75 staff. Running services across the Thames region, the company carries approximately 1.25 million passengers a year...
, the Oxford Bus Company
Oxford Bus Company
Oxford Bus Company is a bus operator serving the city and surrounding area of Oxford, England and is the trading name of City of Oxford Motor Services Ltd. It is now a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group...
and smaller independent companies. The main local town bus service is operated by White's Coaches. The nearest railway stations are and , and the nearest major stations are and . All are managed by First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
.
History
The site has been occupied from the early to middle Iron AgeBritish Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
and the remains of a late Iron Age defensive enclosure (or oppidum
Oppidum
Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age...
) lies below the town centre. The oppidum was in use throughout the Roman occupation.
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery also known as St Mary's Abbey located in Abingdon, historically in the county of Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire, England.-History:...
was founded in Saxon times
History of Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...
, possibly the 7th century, but its early history is confused by numerous legends, invented to raise its status and explain the place name. The name seems to mean 'Hill of a man named Æbba, or a woman named Æbbe', possibly the saint to whom St Ebbe's Church in Oxford was dedicated (Æbbe of Coldingham or a different Æbbe of Oxford
Æbbe of Oxford
Æbbe was a saint venerated in medieval Oxfordshire. St Ebbe's church in the southern English city of Oxford had been verifiably dedicated to the saint by 1091...
). However Abingdon stands in a valley and not on a hill. It is thought that the name was first given to a place on Boars Hill
Boars Hill
Boars Hill is a hill hamlet southwest of Oxford, straddling the boundariy between the civil parishes of Sunningwell and Wootton. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-History:...
above Chilswell
Chilswell
Chilswell is a small settlement in the parish of Cumnor, Oxfordshire. It lies between the village of South Hinksey and Boars Hill. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire....
, and the name was transferred to its present site when the Abbey was relocated.
In 1084, William the Conqueror celebrated Easter at the Abbey and then left his son, the future Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
, to be educated there.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Abingdon was a flourishing agricultural centre with an extensive trade in wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
and a famous weaving and clothing manufacturing industry. The abbot seems to have held a market from very early times and charters for the holding of markets and fairs were granted by various sovereigns, from Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
to George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
. In 1337 there was a famous riot in protest at the Abbot's control of this market in which several of the monks were killed.
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
in 1538, the town sank into decay and, in 1555, upon receiving a representation of its pitiable condition, Mary I
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
granted a charter establishing a mayor, two bailiffs, twelve chief burgesses and sixteen secondary burgesses, the mayor to be clerk of the market, coroner and a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
. The present Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital of Abingdon
Christ's Hospital of Abingdon is a charity with a long history, based in Abingdon, England.Christ's Hospital was established in 1553 by royal charter under the full name of the Master and Governors of the Hospital of Christ of Abingdon. Sir John Mason, an Elizabethan diplomat, served as the first...
originally belonged to the Guild of the Holy Cross
Christian cross
The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...
, on the dissolution of which Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
founded the almshouses instead, under its present name.
The council was empowered to elect one burgess to parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
and this right continued until the Redistribution of Seats Act
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...
of 1885. A town clerk and other officers were appointed and the town boundaries described in great detail. Later charters, from Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
, George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
and George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
, made no considerable change. James II changed the style of the corporation to that of a mayor, twelve aldermen and twelve burgesses.
Abingdon Lock
Abingdon Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England, less than 1 mile east and upstream of Abingdon, Oxfordshire on the opposite bank of the river...
was built, replacing navigation to the town via the Swift Ditch. In 1810, the Wilts and Berks Canal
Wilts and Berks Canal
The Wilts & Berks Canal is a canal in the historic counties of Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington, near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon. The North Wilts Canal merged with it to become a branch to the Thames and Severn Canal at Latton near...
opened, linking Abingdon with Semington
Semington
Semington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about south of Melksham and about northeast of Trowbridge.The parish includes the hamlets of Littlemarsh and Littleton....
on the Kennet and Avon Canal
Kennet and Avon Canal
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is commonly used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section...
. Abingdon became a key link between major industrial centres such as Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and the Black Country
Black Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
. In 1856 the Abingdon Railway opened, linking the town with the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
at . The Wilts and Berks Canal
Wilts and Berks Canal
The Wilts & Berks Canal is a canal in the historic counties of Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington, near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon. The North Wilts Canal merged with it to become a branch to the Thames and Severn Canal at Latton near...
was abandoned in 1906 but a voluntary trust is now working to restore and re-open it. Abingdon railway station
Abingdon railway station
Abingdon railway station was a station which until 1963 served the town of Abingdon, then in Berkshire, now in Oxfordshire, in England.-History:...
was closed to passengers in September 1963. The line remained open for freight until 1984, including serving the MG
MG (car)
The MG Car Company is a former British sports car manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés....
car factory, which opened in 1929 and closed in October 1980 as part of a British Leyland rationalisation plan.
The nearest railway station is Radley, two miles (3 km) away. Abingdon was served by a branch line however the line and Abingdon Railway Station
Abingdon railway station
Abingdon railway station was a station which until 1963 served the town of Abingdon, then in Berkshire, now in Oxfordshire, in England.-History:...
were closed in 1963. Much of the original Abingdon branch line is now a cyclepath, whilst the land on which the station stood has been extensively redeveloped, and is now the site of a large Waitrose
Waitrose
Waitrose Limited is an upmarket chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership. Its head office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, England...
store and surrounded by a large number of new flats and houses.
Abingdon became the county town of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
sometime after receiving its Royal Charter in 1556. Assize courts were held in Abingdon from 1570 but in the 17th century it was vying with Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
for County Town status. The county hall and court house were built between 1678 and 1682, to assert this status. The building, now the Abingdon County Hall Museum
Abingdon County Hall Museum
Abingdon County Hall Museum is a local museum in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England.- Building :The museum is housed in a Grade I listed 17th century County Hall building, located in the Market Place in the centre of the town. Nikolaus Pevsner said of the building: "Of the free-standing town halls of...
, was supposedly designed by Christopher Kempster
Christopher Kempster
Christopher Kempster was an English master stonemason and architect who trained with Sir Christopher Wren, working on St Paul's Cathedral.Kempster was from Burford in Oxfordshire, England....
, who worked with Sir Christopher Wren. However, Abingdon's failure to engage fully with the railway revolution, accepting only a branch line, sidelined the town in favour of Reading which became the County Town in 1869. The corporation was reformed, under the Municipal Reform Act 1835 and was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
. In 1974, under local government reorganisation, Abingdon became part of the non-metropolitan shire county
Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England
Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of subdivisions of England used for the purposes of local government outside Greater London. As originally constituted, the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties each consisted of multiple districts, had a county council and...
of Oxfordshire and the seat of the new Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
District Council, with Abingdon becoming a civil parish with a town council.
Since the 1980s, Abingdon has played host to a number of information communication companies, with many based in the town's respective business and science parks. With this, and the result of Abingdon's proximity to academic and scientific institutions in Oxford, the town has seen an influx of young professionals taking residence in the town's many residential areas such as Peachcroft.
Local councillors voted in November 2011 to rename the town "Abingdon-on-Thames", though this would need approval from the Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
council.
Leisure and media
For a town of its size, Abingdon could be considered to be somewhat bereft of leisure facilities. The Regal Cinema closed in the 1980s and has never been replaced — as with many other parts of the town centre it has now been demolished and the site redeveloped into housing. However, sports and recreation are well catered for in the town, with the purpose-built White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre, Tilsley Park and the Southern Town Park providing adequate facilities.The local newspapers are the Oxford Mail
Oxford Mail
Oxford Mail is a daily tabloid newspaper in Oxford, England owned by Newsquest. It is published six days a week. It is a sister paper to the weekly tabloid The Oxford Times.-History:...
, The Oxford Times
The Oxford Times
The Oxford Times is a weekly newspaper, published each Thursday in Oxford, England. It is published from a large production facility at Osney Mead, west Oxford, and is owned by Newsquest, the UK subsidiary of US-based Gannett Company....
and the Abingdon Herald. The Oxford Journal
Oxford Journal
The Oxford Journal is a free newspaper distributed throughout the city of Oxford and county of Oxfordshire, UK. It is published by TriMedia, who also publish other free newspapers including the Oxfordshire Guardian, Basingstoke Observer, Oxford Property Weekly and Auto Weekly Papers.-Early...
, a free newspaper, has been based in Abingdon for many years and was formerly called the South Oxfordshire Courier
South Oxfordshire Courier
The South Oxfordshire Courier was a free newspaper distributed throughout the towns of Abingdon, Wantage, Faringdon, Wallingford and Didcot in Oxfordshire, UK...
. Local radio and television stations are shared with Oxford, although ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
retains a ‘news gathering’ centre in the town, formerly a broadcasting studio, for ITV Meridian. Traditionally, the ITV franchise was ITV Central. Local radio is provided by BBC Radio Oxford
BBC Radio Oxford
BBC Radio Oxford is the BBC Local Radio station for the English county of Oxfordshire, broadcasting on 95.2 FM via the Oxford transmitter and online. The station broadcasts live from the BBC's Summertown studios in Oxford between 5am and 7pm each weekday, for over 13 hours on Saturdays & 19 hours...
, Jack FM
Jack FM
JACK FM is the alternative name and on-air brand of 60 radio stations in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Jack stations play a mix of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s hits with some current hot adult contemporary singles. Jack's slogan "playing what we want" can also be...
, Glide FM and Heart Thames Valley
Heart Thames Valley
Heart Thames Valley is an Independent Local Radio Station serving Berkshire, Oxfordshire, north Hampshire and parts of west Buckinghamshire from studios in Reading, southern England...
. There was also a SIX TV
Six TV
Six TV was the sixth free to air terrestrial television channel in the UK, broadcast in Oxford, Southampton, Reading and Portsmouth. It operated under a set of Restricted Service Licences and broadcast on UHF channel 47 in Oxford and UHF channel 29 in Southampton...
local TV channel until 2009.
Shopping in Abingdon fares poorly in comparison to developments in nearby Didcot
Didcot
Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
, Wantage
Wantage
Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....
and Witney
Witney
Witney is a town on the River Windrush, west of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England.The place-name 'Witney' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 969 as 'Wyttannige'; it appears as 'Witenie' in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means 'Witta's island'....
. The Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
Extra store to the west of the town is the largest supermarket in Abingdon and one of the most profitable Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
stores in the country. Nearby is the Fairacres Retail Park, recently redeveloped, which includes Homebase
Homebase
Homebase is a British home improvement store and garden centre, with 350 stores across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is well known by its green and orange colour scheme. Together with its sister company Argos , it forms part of Home Retail Group. Homebase recorded sales figures...
, Argos
Argos (retailer)
Argos is the largest general-goods retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 800 stores. It is unique amongst major retailers in the UK in that it is a catalogue merchant...
, Subway
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
, Dreams, HomeStore&More and Pets at Home
Pets at Home
Pets at Home is a large pet supplies retail chain in the United Kingdom. With 300 stores nationwide, it is the largest pet supplies retail chain in the United Kingdom Pets at home currently have over 5000 employees...
stores as well as several retailers that are part of Anglia Regional Co-operative Society
Anglia Regional Co-operative Society
Anglia Regional Co-operative Society Limited is the fifth largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the merger of the Greater Peterborough Regional and Anglia Co-operative Societies in 1987. The Society has a wide-ranging and extensive portfolio with over 100 stores,...
. It was originally home to two long established Abingdon retailers — Vineys Home Furnishings (now part of the Lee Longlands chain) and Mays Carpets (now part of the Carpetright
Carpetright
Carpetright plc is one of the largest British retailers of floor coverings. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
chain and has re-branded accordingly). In the town centre, many independent stores, estate agents and charity shops make up the Bury Street shopping precinct as major high street names have chosen to go to other towns. However, this may change following earmarked redevelopment here.
The town centre of Abingdon was refurbished in 2007 as part of the council's redevelopment plan. The roads around the area have been changed: notably the one-way system around the centre has been partially changed to two-way. While this has slightly reduced traffic within the historic town centre, congestion has greatly increased elsewhere. Local businesses have also complained that the increased traffic has driven shoppers away. Also planned for the town centre is a roof over the pre-1970s shopping precinct and the removal of two kiosks. The market square was repaved and a new tourist information centre is planned.
In 2010, further refurbishment was planned; the Bury Street Precinct has a new owner/landlord, its name has been changed to Abbey Shopping Centre and it is to get another "facelift" plan: instead of a roof (always promised), the covered walkways are to be removed and the flat roofs replaced. A few shops have been knocked together for larger shops; W H Smith
W H Smith
WHSmith plc is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It is best known for its chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, and entertainment products...
have moved in. When Woolworths went into administration, the shop was empty for a while, then Cargo returned to Abingdon on a short-term lease. The current occupants of the former Woolworths store are Poundland
Poundland
Poundland is a British-based variety store chain which sells every item in its stores for £1. Established in April 1990 by Dave Dodd and Stephen Smith, Poundland stock a variety of around 3,000 home and kitchen-ware, gifts, healthcare and other products, across 16 categories many of which are brand...
. Proposed plans show demolition of the buildings in the Charters. The GP practice and public library are to be relocated, with the latest plans being to move them into the second floor of the building where Woolworths used to be.
The Old Gaol redevelopment has started: the first stage was demolishing the 1970s additions and swimming pool extension. The Gaol is to become luxury flats, shops and restaurants, with promised access to the riverside. Part of the old Police Station will be demolished to access the older building of the Old Gaol.
Abingdon is one of the few towns in the UK to have its own annual air display — the Abingdon Air & Country Show
Abingdon Air & Country Show
The Abingdon Air & Country Show is an annual air display staged in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The show takes place at the semi-active Abingdon Airfield, the former RAF Abingdon now operated by the British Army as Dalton Barracks....
, which takes place every May at Dalton Barracks, the former RAF Abingdon
RAF Abingdon
RAF Abingdon was a Royal Air Force station near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It is now known as Dalton Barracks and is used by the Royal Logistic Corps....
(see below).
Economy
Industrially, Abingdon is best known for the manufacture of MGMG (car)
The MG Car Company is a former British sports car manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés....
cars, who opened a factory there in 1929. 1,155,032 cars were made at the plant over the next 51 years before British Leyland closed it down on 24 October 1980.
The Pavlova and Gloria leather works, now both closed, used to be major employers. Abingdon was home to the Morland Brewery
Morland Brewery
Morland was a brewery in Abingdon in the English county of Oxfordshire . They first brewed in West Ilsley in 1711. It was purchased and closed by Greene King in 2000; and production of the Morland beers was moved to their brewery in Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk.-History:West Ilsley in Berkshire was...
, whose most famous ale was Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen is an English ale from the Morland Brewery, now owned by Greene King Brewery. Old Speckled Hen was first brewed in 1979 in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory there. Since 2000, when Greene King bought Morland and closed down the...
, named after an early MG car. Greene King Brewery
Greene King Brewery
Greene King is a British brewery established in 1799 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It has grown to become one of the largest British owned breweries in the UK through a series of takeovers which have been the subject of some criticism. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent...
bought Morland for £182 million in 1999, closed the brewery and moved production to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. The site of the brewery has been redeveloped into residential housing. The Maltings was demolished and is now a mixed residential area and council offices.
Abingdon is close to several major scientific employers: the UKAEA at Culham
Culham
Culham is a village and civil parish on the north bank of the River Thames, just over south of Abingdon in Oxfordshire.-Manor:The toponym comes from the Old English Cula's hamm, referring to the village's position in a bend of the Thames...
(including the Joint European Torus
Joint European Torus
JET, the Joint European Torus, is the largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment worldwide currently in operation. Its main purpose is to open the way to future nuclear fusion experimental tokamak reactors such as ITER and :DEMO....
(JET) fusion research project), Harwell Laboratory, the STFC
Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council is a UK government body that carries out civil research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy .-History:It was formed in April 2007 as a merger of the Particle...
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...
and the new Diamond Light Source
Diamond Light Source
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. Its purpose is to produce intense beams of light whose special characteristics are useful in many areas of scientific research...
synchrotron
Synchrotron
A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator in which the magnetic field and the electric field are carefully synchronised with the travelling particle beam. The proton synchrotron was originally conceived by Sir Marcus Oliphant...
, which is the largest UK-funded scientific facility to be built for over 40 years. Many inhabitants work in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
or commute by rail to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, from nearby Didcot
Didcot
Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
. The Army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
now occupies Dalton Barracks, which, prior to 1993, was the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
station RAF Abingdon
RAF Abingdon
RAF Abingdon was a Royal Air Force station near Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It is now known as Dalton Barracks and is used by the Royal Logistic Corps....
.
Abingdon has a business park which has offices for several national and international companies including Northern Rock
Northern Rock
Northern Rock plc is a British bank, best known for becoming the first bank in 150 years to suffer a bank run after having had to approach the Bank of England for a loan facility, to replace money market funding, during the credit crisis in 2007. Having failed to find a commercial buyer for...
bank. Until recently, Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
had offices in the town, acquired as part of its takeover of Mannesmann
Mannesmann
Mannesmann AG was a German corporation with headquarters in Düsseldorf. The company was founded in 1890 originally to produce seamless steel tubes. It was traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company had 130,860 employees worldwide and revenues of €23.27 billion.Over time, Mannesmann...
in 2000. The Science Park is home to the headquarters of Sophos
Sophos
Sophos is a developer and vendor of security software and hardware, including anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, network access control, encryption software and data loss prevention for desktops, servers, email systems and other network gateways....
, the anti-virus company. RM
RM plc
RM plc is a British company specialising in providing products and services to schools, colleges, universities and government education departments & agencies...
, an educational computing supplier, commonly refer to themselves as being Abingdon-based, which is technically true — even though their HQ is actually in nearby Milton Park
Milton Park
Milton Park is a mixed use business park operated by MEPC plc. It is just south of the village of Milton, Oxfordshire, about west of Didcot. It is on the site of a former Ministry of Defence depot between the A34 and Didcot Power Station. Although closer to Didcot, it lies within the Abingdon...
, Milton, they have an Abingdon post code (as does the rest of Milton Park). Penlon Ltd, a medical equipment company, have their premises on the outskirts of Abingdon (their previous site, close to the former railway station, has been redeveloped as residential housing). Another major employer is the British head office of the German appliance company Miele
Miele
Miele is a manufacturer of high-end domestic appliances, commercial equipment and fitted kitchens, based in Gütersloh, Germany. Miele has always been a family-owned and -run company, founded in 1899 by Carl Miele and Reinhard Zinkann.-History:...
.
In 1924, carmaker MG
MG (car)
The MG Car Company is a former British sports car manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés....
was founded and moved its business alongside the Pavlova Leather Factory in 1929. By the outbreak of the Second World War , MG was established as one of the most popular brands of sports car in Britain. After the war, the MG factory continued to churn out increasing volumes of popular sports car which were available at competitive prices. But the factory closed in October 1980 on the demise of the ageing but still popular MG MGB
MG MGB
The MGB is a sports car launched by MG Cars in May 1962 to replace the MGA. Introduced as a four-cylinder roadster, a coupé with 2+2 seating was added in 1965...
range, and was demolished within months. The headquarters of the MG Car Club
MG Car Club
The MG Car Club is an international club founded in 1930 for owners and enthusiasts of MG cars. The club headquarters are based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire and are located adjacent to the now defunct MG factory site where cars were produced between 1930 - 1980...
, founded in 1930, is at 11 & 12 Cemetery Road, next to the old factory offices.
A police
Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police, formerly known as Thames Valley Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley area covered by the ceremonial counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire....
station was built in its place, currently being extended with the addition of more cells, as Oxford's police station could not be extended further.
Sites of interest
Abingdon Abbey
Abingdon Abbey was a Benedictine monastery also known as St Mary's Abbey located in Abingdon, historically in the county of Berkshire but now in Oxfordshire, England.-History:...
there remains a beautiful Perpendicular gateway (common local knowledge, however, is that it was actually rebuilt out of the rubble of the original, and a little cursory examination of the patternation of the stonework will apparently divulge this) and ruins of buildings such as the mainly Early English prior's house, the guest house and other fragments. Other remains from the former abbey include the Unicorn Theatre and Long Gallery, which are still used for plays and functions including an annual craft fair.
The most distinguished landmark in Abingdon is probably the building that now houses the Abingdon County Hall Museum
Abingdon County Hall Museum
Abingdon County Hall Museum is a local museum in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England.- Building :The museum is housed in a Grade I listed 17th century County Hall building, located in the Market Place in the centre of the town. Nikolaus Pevsner said of the building: "Of the free-standing town halls of...
, which was formerly the county hall of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
(the town was the county town until it ceded that title to Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
in 1867): a building hailed as the "grandest town hall in Britain" and built by Christopher Kempster, who worked with Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
on St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
. The hall stands on pillars, leaving a sheltered area beneath for a market or other municipal functions, and overlooks the main market square. The museum and town hall is run by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.
The picturesque narrow-arched Abingdon Bridge
Abingdon Bridge
Abingdon Bridge consists of a pair of bridges across the River Thames at the town of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It carries the A415 road from Abingdon to Dorchester, Oxfordshire – and crosses the Thames on the reach above Culham Lock, just below Abingdon Lock.The bridge is actually two...
over the Thames, near St Helen's Church, dates originally from 1416. St Helen's Church dates from around 1100 and is the second widest church in England, having five aisles and being 10 ft(3 m) wider than it is long. The tower of St Helen's Church is home to a new ring of ten bells, cast by The Whitechapel Bellfoundry in 2005 and hung in a new frame with new fittings by Whites of Appleton Church Bellhangers in 2006.
The Abbey Gateway between the Abingdon County Hall Museum and the Guildhall remains a point of local importance. Although it is unclear how far back this tradition dates, some people from families that have lived in the town for generations follow the superstition that in walking under the gateway one should hold one's breath to stop the gargoyles that decorate the gateway from stealing it.
A large gaol, built by prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
in 1811, stands on the south edge of town next to the Thames. It has had various uses, most recently as a leisure centre, but is now being partially demolished and developed into residential and commercial premises.
The Roysse Room was the site of Abingdon School
Abingdon School
Abingdon School is a British day and boarding independent school for boys situated in Abingdon, Oxfordshire , previously known as Roysse's School. In 1998 a formal merger took place between Abingdon School and Josca's, a preparatory school four miles to the west at Frilford...
(then 'Roysse's School') from 1563 until it moved to its current site after an indenture by John Roysse
John Roysse
John Roysse was a Mercer, , who was born in 1500 or 1501 and raised in Abingdon, Berkshire . He is best known as being the benefactor of Abingdon School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.- Biography :...
, who had been born and educated in Abingdon before he moved to London . The room is now part of the civic offices.
Culture and folklore
A long-standing tradition of the town has local dignitaries throwing bunBun
A bun is a small, usually sweet, bread. Commonly they are hand-sized or smaller, domed in shape, with a flat bottom. A bun can also be a savory bread roll similar to a bap or barmcake....
s from the roof of the Abingdon County Hall Museum
Abingdon County Hall Museum
Abingdon County Hall Museum is a local museum in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England.- Building :The museum is housed in a Grade I listed 17th century County Hall building, located in the Market Place in the centre of the town. Nikolaus Pevsner said of the building: "Of the free-standing town halls of...
for crowds assembled in the market square on specific days of celebration (such as royal marriages, coronations and jubilee
Jubilee
-Anniversaries and celebrations:*Jubilee , Royal Jubilee years are depicted in Egyptian history*Jubilee , the Jubilee year specified in the Torah*Jubilee , a special year for the remission of sins and universal pardon...
s). The museum has a collection of the buns, dried and varnished, dating back to bun throwings of the 19th century. Since 2000, there have been bun-throwing ceremonies to commemorate the Millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
, the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, 450th anniverary of the town's being granted a Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
in 2006, and the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
The wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton took place on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London. Prince William, the eldest son of Charles, Prince of Wales, first met Catherine Middleton in 2001, when both were studying at the University of St Andrews. Their...
on the 29th April 2011.
The centre of town and the whole of Ock Street (half a mile) are closed every October for two days for the Ock Street Michaelmas Fair
Fair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
, once a hiring fair but now maybe Britain's longest and narrowest funfair. The much smaller Runaway Fair, the following Monday, was traditionally for workers who had found their new employers too much to stomach within the first week.
Abingdon has a very old and still active Morris Dancing
Morris dance
Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers. Implements such as sticks, swords, handkerchiefs and bells may also be wielded by the dancers...
tradition, passed on by word of mouth since before the folk dance and song revivals of the 1800s. Every year a Mayor of Ock Street
Mayor of Ock Street
The Mayor of Ock Street is a Mock Mayor tradition from Abingdon in the English county of Oxfordshire .An ancient tradition, common to many towns in this area of England, involved the election of a “mock mayor”, usually a well known local character, whose job it was to speak up for the local people,...
is elected by the inhabitants of Ock Street; he then parades through the town preceded by the famous Horns of Ock St
Horns of Ock St
The Horns of Ock Street are the insignia of the Abingdon Traditional Morris Dancers from the English county of Oxfordshire ....
, a symbol of Abingdon's Morris Dance troupe.
The Friends of Abingdon's Unicorn Theatre, housed in the old Abbey buildings, is the site of first productions of many stage adaptations of Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
's Discworld
Discworld
Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
novels, by Stephen Briggs
Stephen Briggs
Stephen Briggs is a British writer of subsidiary works and merchandise surrounding Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy Discworld. The Streets of Ankh-Morpork, the first Discworld map, was co-designed by Briggs and Pratchett and painted by Stephen Player in 1993...
.
Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen is an English ale from the Morland Brewery, now owned by Greene King Brewery. Old Speckled Hen was first brewed in 1979 in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the MG car factory there. Since 2000, when Greene King bought Morland and closed down the...
ale
Ale
Ale is a type of beer brewed from malted barley using a warm fermentation with a strain of brewers' yeast. The yeast will ferment the beer quickly, giving it a sweet, full bodied and fruity taste...
was originally brewed by Morlands of Abingdon to commemorate the MG factory in the town.
Twinned towns
Abingdon is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Argentan
Argentan
Argentan is a commune, and the seat of two cantons and of an arrondissement in the Orne department in north-western France.Argentan is located NE of Rennes, ENE of the Mont Saint-Michel, SE of Cherbourg, SSE of Caen, SW of Rouen and N of Le Mans....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Lucca
Lucca
Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany, central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plainnear the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Schongau
Schongau, Bavaria
Schongau is a small town in Bavaria, near the Alps. It is located along the Lech, between Landsberg am Lech and Füssen. It has about 12,000 inhabitants...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Sint-Niklaas
Sint-Niklaas
Sint-Niklaas is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Sint-Niklaas proper and the towns of Belsele, Nieuwkerken-Waas, and Sinaai....
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
It also has links (through the Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
District) with: Colmar
Colmar
Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Notable Abingdonians
- See also Abbot of AbingdonAbbot of AbingdonThe following is a list of abbots of Abingdon. The Abbey of Abingdon was in northern Berkshire. The site is now in Oxfordshire.-Fictional abbots:Historian Susan E...
, Abingdon SchoolAbingdon SchoolAbingdon School is a British day and boarding independent school for boys situated in Abingdon, Oxfordshire , previously known as Roysse's School. In 1998 a formal merger took place between Abingdon School and Josca's, a preparatory school four miles to the west at Frilford...
and List of notable Old Abingdonians.- Ælfric of Abingdon, 10th-century Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
- Saint Edmund of AbingdonEdmund RichEdmund Rich was a 13th century Archbishop of Canterbury in England...
, 13th-century Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
: He was born in Abingdon, as were his sisters, Saint Alice of Catesby and the Blessed Margaret Rich. - Alexander of Abingdon, late 13th-/early 14th-century sculptor.
- Stephen of Abingdon, 14th-century Lord Mayor of the City of London.
- John Creemer ClarkeJohn Creemer ClarkeJohn Creemer Clarke was an English merchant and manufacturer and a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1885....
(1821–1895), clothing manufacturer (Hyde and Clarke), JP, MP, benefactor - Sammy ChungSammy ChungCyril "Sammy" Chung is an English former football player and manager. His father was Chinese and his mother English.-Playing career:...
, BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
former football manager. - Oswald CouldreyOswald CouldreyOswald Jennings Couldrey was a British artist, poet and author.The son of Frederick Knight Couldrey of Abingdon, Oswald Couldrey attended Abingdon School and Pembroke College, Oxford...
(1882–1958), British artist, poet and author. - Gerald Charles DickensGerald Charles Dickens (actor)Gerald Rhoderick Charles Dickens is a British actor and performer known in the United Kingdom and the United States for his one man shows based on the novels of his great great grandfather, Charles Dickens...
, actor and great great grandson of Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, lives in Abingdon - Geoff Dunbar, director and animator of Rupert and the Frog SongRupert and the Frog SongRupert and the Frog Song is a 1984 animated film written and produced by Paul McCartney and directed by Geoff Dunbar and Raymond 'George' Taylor. The making of Rupert and the Frog Song began in 1981 and ended in 1983. The film was released theatrically as an accompaniment to McCartney's feature...
, and The World of Peter Rabbit and FriendsThe World of Peter Rabbit and FriendsThe World of Peter Rabbit and Friends is an animated television series based on the works of Beatrix Potter, featuring Peter Rabbit and other anthropomorphic animal characters created by Potter. It was originally shown in the UK on BBC between 1992 and 1995 and subsequently broadcast in the USA on...
, born in Abingdon, and attended Larkmead SchoolLarkmead SchoolLarkmead School is a state secondary school situated on Faringdon Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It is one in a four-way partnership of Abingdon schools known as 14:19 Abingdon. The other members are John Mason School, Fitzharrys School and Abingdon and Witney College...
. - Kate GarrawayKate GarrawayKathryn Mary Garraway is an English journalist currently employed by ITV Breakfast.She has presented the UK version of The Biggest Loser.-Early life:...
, former GMTV and now Daybreak presenter, born in Abingdon and attended FitzharrysFitzharrys SchoolFitzharrys School, is a state secondary school located in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in England. Currently there are about 900 students attending. The current headteacher is Jonathan Dennett who took over from Susan Tranter in January 2011...
school. - Tom HingleyTom HingleyTom Hingley is a musician best known as the lead vocalist of the English rock band Inspiral Carpets.-Life:...
, lead singer of Manchester band Inspiral CarpetsInspiral CarpetsInspiral Carpets are an alternative rock band from Oldham in Greater Manchester, England formed by Graham Lambert and Stephen Holt in 1983. The band is named after a clothing shop on their Oldham estate... - Francis MaudeFrancis MaudeFrancis Anthony Aylmer Maude is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he currently serves as the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, and as a Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Horsham...
, Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP, born in Abingdon and attended Abingdon SchoolAbingdon SchoolAbingdon School is a British day and boarding independent school for boys situated in Abingdon, Oxfordshire , previously known as Roysse's School. In 1998 a formal merger took place between Abingdon School and Josca's, a preparatory school four miles to the west at Frilford...
. - Alain MenuAlain MenuAlain Menu is a Swiss racing driver. He was one of the most successful touring car drivers of the 1990s, winning the prestigious British Touring Car Championship twice . He currently races for Chevrolet in the World Touring Car Championship.- BTCC :He is the son of a farmer...
, World Touring Car ChampionshipWorld Touring Car ChampionshipFor the video game, known as World Touring Car Championship in Japan, see TOCA World Touring CarsThe FIA World Touring Car Championship is an international Touring Car championship sanctioned by the FIA.-History:...
driver, lives in Abingdon - David MitchellDavid Mitchell (actor)David James Stuart Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is half of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo star in the...
, actor and comedian, attended Abingdon School in his teens - RadioheadRadioheadRadiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, the rock band, formed when studying at Abingdon School, although they are commonly associated with OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, as that is where they played most of their gigs prior to being signed - Dorothy RichardsonDorothy RichardsonDorothy Miller Richardson was a British author and journalist.-Biography:Richardson was born in Abingdon in 1873. Her family moved to Worthing, West Sussex in 1880 and then Putney, London in 1883...
, novelist, born in Abingdon. She was the first writer to publish an English-language novel using what was to become known as the stream-of-consciousness technique. - Matthew TaylorMatthew Taylor (footballer)Matthew Simon "Matty" Taylor is an English footballer who plays for West Ham United. He is noted for his powerful long-range strikes.-Early career:...
, PremiershipFA Premier LeagueThe Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
footballer: plays for West Ham United F.C.West Ham United F.C.West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
, grew up in the town and attended John Mason SchoolJohn Mason SchoolJohn Mason School, or JMS, is a state secondary school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It has a specialist Arts College status.-History:Established as an old grammar school in 1960, JMS has now grown considerably, with, as of 2007, approximately 1000 students. Ms Di Mashiter began as the... - Thomas TesdaleThomas TesdaleThomas Tesdale was an English maltster, benefactor of the town of Abingdon in the English county of Berkshire and the primary founding benefactor of Pembroke College, Oxford.-Life and career:...
, 16th-century local benefactor and eventual founder of Pembroke College, OxfordPembroke College, OxfordPembroke College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located in Pembroke Square. As of 2009, Pembroke had an estimated financial endowment of £44.9 million.-History:... - Henry TombsHenry TombsMajor General Sir Henry Tombs VC KCB was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
VC KCB (1825–1874), a recipient of the Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories.... - Oliver TompsettOliver TompsettOliver Tompsett is a British stage actor and singer best known for his portrayal of Fiyero in the West End production of the musical Wicked.- Biography :...
, West EndWest End theatreWest End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
star, currently starring as Fiyero in the musical WickedWicked (musical)Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London - Dean WhiteheadDean WhiteheadDean Whitehead is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Stoke City.Whitehead joined his local non-league club Abingdon Town before he signed for Football League side Oxford United in 1999. He impressed in the lower divisions and was signed by Championship side...
, PremiershipFA Premier LeagueThe Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
footballer: plays for Stoke City F.C.Stoke City F.C.Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
and was born in Abingdon
- Ælfric of Abingdon, 10th-century Archbishop of Canterbury
Education
- Abingdon and Witney CollegeAbingdon and Witney CollegeAbingdon and Witney College is a further education college based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It was formed in 2001 after the mergers of Abingdon College and West Oxfordshire College and offers teaching and training to young people, adults and businesses. It has campuses in Abingdon, Witney...
: provides further education. - Abingdon SchoolAbingdon SchoolAbingdon School is a British day and boarding independent school for boys situated in Abingdon, Oxfordshire , previously known as Roysse's School. In 1998 a formal merger took place between Abingdon School and Josca's, a preparatory school four miles to the west at Frilford...
: private, boys, 11–18. The thirteenth, if not the sixth, oldest school in the country. - The Consortium: local authority, mixed, a partnership of schools including Fitzharrys SchoolFitzharrys SchoolFitzharrys School, is a state secondary school located in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in England. Currently there are about 900 students attending. The current headteacher is Jonathan Dennett who took over from Susan Tranter in January 2011...
, Larkmead SchoolLarkmead SchoolLarkmead School is a state secondary school situated on Faringdon Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It is one in a four-way partnership of Abingdon schools known as 14:19 Abingdon. The other members are John Mason School, Fitzharrys School and Abingdon and Witney College...
, John Mason SchoolJohn Mason SchoolJohn Mason School, or JMS, is a state secondary school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It has a specialist Arts College status.-History:Established as an old grammar school in 1960, JMS has now grown considerably, with, as of 2007, approximately 1000 students. Ms Di Mashiter began as the...
. The Consortium also includes Abingdon and Witney College. - Our Lady's AbingdonOur Lady's AbingdonOur Lady's Abingdon is an independent day school in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. It was founded in 1860 by the Sisters of Mercy as Our Lady's Convent School but was then changed to Our Lady's Abingdon in 2008....
(formerly Our Lady's Convent): private, partly girls only. - School of St Helen and St KatharineSchool of St Helen and St KatharineThe School of St Helen & St Katharine is an English independent girls' school, located in Abingdon.- History :The School of St Helen & St Katharine was originally two separate girls' schools, St Helen's School and St Katharine's School, founded in the early years of the twentieth century...
: private, girls, 9–18. - LarkmeadLarkmead SchoolLarkmead School is a state secondary school situated on Faringdon Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It is one in a four-way partnership of Abingdon schools known as 14:19 Abingdon. The other members are John Mason School, Fitzharrys School and Abingdon and Witney College...
: secondary school - John MasonJohn Mason SchoolJohn Mason School, or JMS, is a state secondary school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It has a specialist Arts College status.-History:Established as an old grammar school in 1960, JMS has now grown considerably, with, as of 2007, approximately 1000 students. Ms Di Mashiter began as the...
: secondary school - FitzharrysFitzharrys SchoolFitzharrys School, is a state secondary school located in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in England. Currently there are about 900 students attending. The current headteacher is Jonathan Dennett who took over from Susan Tranter in January 2011...
: secondary school
See also
- The Abingdon SwordThe Abingdon SwordThe Abingdon Sword is a late Anglo-Saxon iron sword and hilt of the late 9th or early 10th century.The sword was found in the 19th century at Bog Mill , near the town of Abingdon on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England...
- Albert Park, AbingdonAlbert Park, AbingdonAbingdon Park is a park in the northwest of the town of Abingdon, Oxfordshire , England.- Overview :The park is surrounded by large residential houses and, to the east, Abingdon School, an independent school. Abingdon Bowls Club is located in the park...
- Christ's Hospital of AbingdonChrist's Hospital of AbingdonChrist's Hospital of Abingdon is a charity with a long history, based in Abingdon, England.Christ's Hospital was established in 1553 by royal charter under the full name of the Master and Governors of the Hospital of Christ of Abingdon. Sir John Mason, an Elizabethan diplomat, served as the first...