West Lockinge Explained

Official Name:West Lockinge
Static Image Name:West Lockinge village.png
Static Image Caption:West Lockinge from The Ridgeway
Coordinates:51.587°N -1.392°W
Os Grid Reference:SU4287
Label Position:top
Civil Parish:Lockinge
Shire District:Vale of White Horse
Shire County:Oxfordshire
Region:South East England
Country:England
Constituency Westminster:Didcot and Wantage
Post Town:Wantage
Postcode District:OX12
Postcode Area:OX
Dial Code:01235
Website:Ardington and Lockinge Parish Council

West Lockinge is a village in and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lockinge, in the Vale of White Horse district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 local authority boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. The village is about 1.5miles east of Wantage and is included within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). In 1931 the parish had a population of 60.[1]

Geography

A chalk stream Goddard's Brook emerges in the village, feeding into Ginge Brook, which eventually joins the River Ock near Abingdon.[2] In 1993 a mixed conifer and deciduous woodland was planted behind the village, the area is named Christopher's Wood after Christopher Loyd, previous manager of the Lockinge Estate. National Cycle Route 544 passes through the village.[3]

History

The route of the ancient Icknield Way passes through the village.[4] Arnhill and the nearby vicinity behind the village was an Iron Age fortification and Anglo-Saxon burial ground. Although a barrow was destroyed by ploughing, in approximately 1863 remains and artefacts were recovered from the summit of the hill.[5] [6] West Lockinge had a tithe barn for several centuries but no trace of it now survives. An open field system of farming also prevailed in West Lockinge parish until it was enclosed in 1808. One cottage in the village is half-timbered and bears the date 1666.

West Lockinge Farm has a Georgian farmhouse of five bays. It is built of blue and red brick and has a hipped roof. A record from 1770 of a "new erected messuage" at West Lockinge may refer to this house, which has been enlarged by later alterations. The farm is now run by Henrietta Knight and formerly Terry Biddlecombe, trainers of the racing horse Best Mate.[7] Since 1958 there has been a Lockinge Stakes horse race at Newbury Racecourse.

On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished to form "Lockinge".[8]

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Population statistics West Lockinge Hmlt/CP through time. A Vision of Britain through Time. 19 August 2023.
  2. Web site: Ginge Brook. Riverlevels.uk. River Levels UK. 28 October 2017.
  3. Web site: Didcot, Wantage and The Ridgeway. Sustrans.org.uk. Sustrans. 28 October 2017.
  4. Book: Thomas. Edward Jr.. The Icknield Way. 1916. Constable & Company Ltd.. London. 978-1447471929. 51. 22 July 2015.
  5. Book: Dickinson. Tania Maruerite. Tania Dickinson. The Anglo-Saxon burial sites of the upper Thames region, and their bearing on the history of Wessex, circa AD 400-700. 1977. University of Oxford, Faculty of Anthropology and Geology. Oxford. 147. 21 July 2015.
  6. Book: Hallam. WH. History of the Parish of East Lockinge Berks. 1900. London. 96. 2013. 21 July 2015.
  7. http://www.henandterry.com/ West Lockinge Farm
  8. Web site: Relationships and changes West Lockinge Hmlt/CP through time. A Vision of Britain through Time. 19 August 2023.