Watlington is a market town and civil parish about 7 miles (11 km) south of Thame in Oxfordshire, near the region's eastern edge and also less than 2 miles (3 kilometres) from its boundary with Buckinghamshire. The parish includes the districts 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 worked out at a very early day, motivated by the proximity of the Icknield Way. The toponym implies "settlement of Waecel's individuals" and indicates profession from around the 6th century. A 9th-century charter by Æthelred of Mercia documents eight 'manses' or significant residences in Watlington. The Domesday Book of 1086 identified the area as an agricultural community valued at £ 610. Medieval files show that the contemporary road plan remained in existence in the 14th century, as Cochynes-lane (Couching Street), and Brook Street are recorded. There are records of inns in Watlington considering that the 15th century. In 1722 the town's market was detailed as being held on a Saturday. By the end of the 18th century the town had 6 inns, all of which were bought up in the next few years by a neighborhood developing family, the Haywards. The variety of licensed properties boosted up until late in the 19th century when George Wilkinson, a Methodist bought six of them and also closed them down. Today Watlington has 3 pubs: the Carriers Arms, The Chequers and also The Fat Fox Inn. Parliamentarian soldiers were billeted at Watlington during the English Civil Battle. It is thought that John Hampden remained in the community the evening before the Battle of Chalgrove Field. In 1664-- 65 the Town Hall was developed at the expense of Thomas Stonor. Its top room was enhanced by Stonor as a grammar school for kids, as well as in 1731 Dame Alice Tipping of Ewelme gave a more endowment to enhance the number of students. In 1842 the town Vestry developed a National School, which shared the very same rooms in the Town Hall. In 1843 a National College for women was developed alongside St Leonard's church. In 1872 the boys' and also girls' institutions were absorbed into a brand-new Board college, which like its precursors was affiliated to the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. In 1927 the school was separated right into separate junior and senior colleges. In 1956 a new high school-- the Icknield College-- opened for senior pupils and the primary school took over the old facilities. The Icknield School is currently Icknield Community College. By 1895 the City center, no longer used as an institution, was in disrepair. In 1907 it was restored by public subscription. It is a spots at the meeting point of three roads in the centre of the community. Given that 1990 Watlington has been twinned with the community 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 found in Watlington by James Mather, an amateur metal-detectorist, in 2015. The stockpile was subsequently dug deep into, as well as at some point acquired by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for £ 1.35 m.