Watlington is a market town and civil parish regarding 7 miles (11 kilometres) south of Thame in Oxfordshire, near the region's eastern edge and less than 2 miles (3 km) from its border with Buckinghamshire. The parish consists of the communities of Xmas Common, Greenfield as well as Howe Hill, all of which are in the Chiltern Hills. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,727. The Watlington area is likely to have been settled at a very early day, encouraged by the proximity of the Icknield Way. The toponym means "settlement of Waecel's individuals" and also indicates profession from around the 6th century. A 9th-century charter by Æthelred of Mercia documents 8 'manses' or significant residences in Watlington. The Domesday Book of 1086 identified the location as a farming neighborhood valued at £ 610. Medieval files suggest that the modern street strategy remained in existence in the 14th century, as Cochynes-lane (Couching Street), and Brook Street are recorded. There are documents of inns in Watlington since the 15th century. In 1722 the town's market was provided as being held on a Saturday. By the end of the 18th century the community had six inns, every one of which were bought up in the next couple of years by a local developing family members, the Haywards. The number of qualified facilities raised until late in the 19th century when George Wilkinson, a Methodist got 6 of them and also closed them down. Today Watlington has 3 public houses: the Carriers Arms, The Chequers as well as The Fat Fox Inn. Parliamentarian soldiers were billeted at Watlington during the English Civil War. It is thought that John Hampden remained in the community the evening prior to the Battle of Chalgrove Field. In 1664-- 65 the Town Hall was built at the expense of Thomas Stonor. Its top space was granted by Stonor as a grade school for young boys, and also in 1731 Dame Alice Tipping of Ewelme offered a more endowment to increase the variety of students. In 1842 the community Vestry established a National School, which shared the same rooms in the Town Hall. In 1843 a National School for ladies was built alongside St Leonard's church. In 1872 the young boys' and also girls' schools were absorbed right into a brand-new Board institution, which like its precursors was affiliated to the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. In 1927 the school was divided right into separate junior and elderly colleges. In 1956 a new high school-- the Icknield Institution-- opened for elderly pupils as well as the primary school took over the old premises. The Icknield School is now Icknield Community College. By 1895 the City center, no longer made use of as an institution, remained in disrepair. In 1907 it was restored by public registration. It is a site at the meeting point of 3 roadways in the centre of the town. Considering that 1990 Watlington has actually been twinned with the community of Mansle in the Poitou-Charentes region of France. The Watlington Hoard, a collection of silver things going back to the time of Alfred the Great in the 9th century, was discovered in Watlington by James Mather, an amateur metal-detectorist, in 2015. The heap was consequently dug deep into, and also ultimately acquired by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for £ 1.35 m.