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″..I speak not of this .. or that, but of (Oxford) as a whole; and, Gentlemen, what a whole Oxford is!″
~ John Duke, 1st Baron Coleridge

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Red door to a property acquired by Equerry Homesearch. Home search agent covering Oxfordshire since 2000.

Oxfordshire county

Introduction

Equerry have provided home search services throughout Oxfordshire since September 2000.

It is a wonderful county located in south-east England with a population of around 620,000.  The population is mainly concentrated in the city of Oxford, famous for its University and, increasingly, its concentration of both performance motor sport companies and biotechnology companies.  Other significant settlements are Bicester, Banbury, Chipping Norton, Witney, Thame, Abingdon, Wantage, Didcot and Henley-on-Thames.  

Historically the area has long been important, resting as it does between the main southern cities of England and containing the prestigious settlement of Oxford.  It contains valuable agricultural land and formed a significant part of the Cotswold wool trade from the 13th century.  Now however, the importance of agriculture as an employer has declined rapidly and although over half the people in the county live in settlements of less than 10,000 people, under one per cent of them are involved in the business of agriculture.

40 per cent of Oxfordshire, including the Chiltern Hills, the Cotswolds and the North Wessex Downs is designated as an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ or an ‘Area of High Landscape Value’.

Interesting Facts & Figures about Oxfordshire

  • Alfred the Great was born in Wantage
  • Oxfordshire’s county flower is the Snake’s-head Fritillary
  • The highest point in the county is Whitehorse Hill, reaching 856 feet
  • The University of Oxford was founded in 1096
  • In 2004 the auditors refused to sign off social services accounts for which £11m had not yet been accounted for
  • The name Oxford comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘Oxenaford’ which means ‘ford for oxen’,
  • The ‘Ox and Bucks’ Light Infantry were based at the Barracks on Bullingdon Green, Cowley until they were disbanded in 1958
  • Celebrity Oxfordites include Jeremy Clarkson,
  • Oxfordshire has the lowest population density in the South East region

Oxfordshire’s key road and rail transit routes

There are good road connections to the London via the M40 south and to Birmingham via the M40 north.  There are also good trunk road links to the rest of the country. 

Travelling by car from Oxford to London takes approximately 1 hour 30 minutes and to Birmingham, 1 hr 20 minutes.  Further approximate car journey times are as follows:

  London Birmingham
Burford 1 hr 50 mins 1 hr 25 mins
Henley-on-Thames 1 hr 10 mins 1 hr 50 mins
Banbury 1 hr 50 mins 55 mins

There are regular rail services through the county.

Airport locations and routes

There is a local airport at Kidlington in Oxfordshire that specializes in general and business aviation and is home to the largest European Air Training School.  It is the only civil airport in Oxfordshire. 

Oxfordshire Schools

Oxfordshire has many excellent Independent and State Schools within its boundaries.  Equerry has contacts with many of these schools – and can, unofficially, help you with the kind of ‘local view’ that is not always portrayed in a prospectus!

A few examples of ISCis-recommended independent schools in Oxfordshire follow:

Oxfordshire Hotels, Pubs and Places to Stay

  • The Bay Tree Hotel, Sheep Street, Burford Oxfordshire OX18 4LW
  • Burford House, 99 High Street, Burford, Oxfordshire OX18 4QA
  • Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, Church Road, Great Milton, Oxfordshire OX44 7PD.
  • Chequers, Churchill, Oxfordshire OX7 6NJ.  01608 659393
  • Half Moon, Cuxham, Oxfordshire OX49 5NF.  01491 614151
  • The White Hart, Fyfield, Oxfordshire OX13 5LW.  01865 390585
  • Gate Hangs High, Hook Norton, Oxfordshire.  01608 737387
  • The Trout, Tadpole Bridge, Oxfordshire SN7 8RF. 01367 870382