Watlington
Watlington is a market town as well as civil parish regarding 7 miles (11 kilometres) south of Thame in Oxfordshire, near the county's eastern side and less than 2 miles (3 kilometres) from its border with Buckinghamshire. The parish includes the districts of Christmas Common, Greenfield and Howe Hill, all of which are in the Chiltern Hills. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,727. The Watlington location is most likely to have been worked out at an early date, encouraged by the closeness of the Icknield Way. The toponym suggests "settlement of Waecel's individuals" as well as indicates profession from around the sixth century. A 9th-century charter by Æthelred of Mercia records 8 'manses' or major homes in Watlington. The Domesday Book of 1086 identified the area as a farming community valued at £ 610. Medieval documents indicate that the modern street strategy was in presence in the 14th century, as Cochynes-lane (Couching Street), and also Brook Street are recorded. There are records of inns in Watlington since the 15th century. In 1722 the community's market was listed as being held on a Saturday. By the end of the 18th century the town had six inns, every one of which were bought up in the next couple of years by a local brewing family members, the Haywards. The number of certified premises increased up until late in the 19th century when George Wilkinson, a Methodist purchased 6 of them and closed them down. Today Watlington has 3 pubs: the Carriers Arms, The Chequers and also The Fat Fox Inn. Parliamentarian troops were billeted at Watlington during the English Civil Battle. It is believed that John Hampden stayed in the community the evening prior to the Battle of Chalgrove Field. In 1664-- 65 the City center was built at the cost of Thomas Stonor. Its top area was endowed by Stonor as a grade school for children, and in 1731 Dame Alice Tipping of Ewelme gave a further endowment to increase the variety of pupils. In 1842 the town Vestry established a National School, which shared the same rooms in the City center. In 1843 a National College for women was developed beside St Leonard's church. In 1872 the young boys' and girls' institutions were absorbed into a new Board institution, which like its predecessors was affiliated to the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. In 1927 the school was split right into different junior and elderly institutions. In 1956 a new high school-- the Icknield School-- opened for elderly pupils and also the primary school took over the old premises. The Icknield School is currently Icknield Community College. By 1895 the Town Hall, no more made use of as an institution, remained in disrepair. In 1907 it was brought back by public membership. It is a spots at the meeting point of 3 roadways in the centre of the community. Because 1990 Watlington has actually been twinned with the town of Mansle in the Poitou-Charentes area of France. The Watlington Hoard, a collection of silver items going back to the time of Alfred the Great in the 9th century, was rediscovered in Watlington by James Mather, an amateur metal-detectorist, in 2015. The stockpile was consequently excavated, and at some point bought by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for £ 1.35 m.