Shillingford is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 on the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 in Warborough

Warborough

Warborough is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, about north of Wallingford and about south of Oxford. The parish also includes the hamlet of Shillingford, south of Warborough beside the River Thames.-History:...

 civil parish in South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....

, England. It lies on the main road (A4074) between 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...

 and 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....

, at the junction with the A329

A329 road

The A329 is an east-west road in Southern England that runs from Wentworth in Surrey to Thame in Oxfordshire. The A329 starts at the A30 in Surrey and passes through the towns of Ascot, Bracknell, Wokingham, Earley, Reading, the village of Pangbourne, and Wallingford in Oxfordshire...

.

History

At various times the river crossing at Shillingford has been a ford, a ferry or a bridge. The present bridge

Shillingford Bridge

Shillingford Bridge is a road bridge near Shillingford, Oxfordshire, carrying an unclassified road across the River Thames in England on the reach above Benson Lock. The bridge provides access between Shillingford to the north of the river and Wallingford to the south...

 was built in 1827, replacing a previous one built in 1767.

The river crossing has long made Shillingford an important junction.

• The main road between 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...
  
   and Henley-on-Thames
  Henley-on-Thames
  Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
  
   through Shillingford was made a turnpike
  Toll road
  A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
  
   in 1736. It was disturnpiked in 1873. It became the A415 in 1922, renumbered to the A423
  A423 road
  The A423 road is a primary A road in England which leads from central Banbury to the A45 near Coventry. It starts in Banbury town centre as Southam Road and goes through the Southam Road Industrial Estate, then just north of Banbury it crosses over the M40, from there it passes close to several...
  
   in the 1930s, and now forms part of the A4074 and A4130
  A4130 road
  The A4130 is a British A road which runs from a junction with the A404 at Burchetts Green, Berkshire to the A417 at Rowstock in Oxfordshire. It passes through Henley-on-Thames, and Nettlebed, and bypasses Wallingford and Didcot....
  
   roads.
• The main road between Reading and Shillingford through Wallingford and over the bridge was made a turnpike in 1764. It was disturnpiked in 1874. It became the main road between Reading and Oxford, part of the A42
  A42 road
  The A42 is a major trunk road in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. It links junction 23A of the M1 motorway to junction 11 of the M42 motorway. The A42 is in effect a continuation of the M42, and its junctions are numbered accordingly....
  
   when roads were first classified in 1922, renumbered the A329
  A329 road
  The A329 is an east-west road in Southern England that runs from Wentworth in Surrey to Thame in Oxfordshire. The A329 starts at the A30 in Surrey and passes through the towns of Ascot, Bracknell, Wokingham, Earley, Reading, the village of Pangbourne, and Wallingford in Oxfordshire...
  
   in 1935. In 1993, when the new Winterbrook Bridge enabled traffic to by-pass Wallingford, the section between Wallingford and Shillingford was downgraded to become an unclassified road
• The road between Aylesbury
  Aylesbury
  Aylesbury is the county town of Buckinghamshire in South East England. However the town also falls into a geographical region known as the South Midlands an area that ecompasses the north of the South East, and the southern extremities of the East Midlands...
  
  , Thame
  Thame
  Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
  
   and Shillingford was made a turnpike in 1770. It was disturnpiked in 1875. It became the B4013, upgraded to become the A329 when the M40 motorway
  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...
  
   was opened in the 1970s.

The artist and performer Vivian Stanshall

Vivian Stanshall

Vivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for narrating Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.-The great...

 (1943–1995) was born in Shillingford.

Shillingford has a public house

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

, the Kingfisher Inn.