Watlington
Watlington is a market town as well as civil parish about 7 miles (11 km) south of Thame in Oxfordshire, near the area's eastern side as well as less than 2 miles (3 kilometres) from its boundary with Buckinghamshire. The parish consists of the hamlets of Xmas Common, Greenfield and Howe Hillside, every one of which remain in the Chiltern Hills. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,727. The Watlington location is likely to have been settled at a very early day, motivated by the closeness of the Icknield Way. The toponym indicates "negotiation of Waecel's people" and also suggests occupation from around the 6th century. A 9th-century charter by Æthelred of Mercia records eight 'manses' or significant homes in Watlington. The Domesday Book of 1086 identified the area as a farming area valued at £ 610. Medieval files indicate that the contemporary street strategy remained in presence 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 six inns, every one of which were bought up in the next couple of years by a neighborhood developing family members, the Haywards. The number of licensed properties boosted until late in the 19th century when George Wilkinson, a Methodist bought 6 of them and also shut them down. Today Watlington has 3 public houses: the Carriers Arms, The Chequers and also The Fat Fox Inn. Parliamentarian troops were billeted at Watlington throughout the English Civil Battle. It is thought that John Hampden stayed in the town the night prior to the Battle of Chalgrove Field. In 1664-- 65 the Town Hall was constructed at the expenditure of Thomas Stonor. Its top space was endowed by Stonor as a grade school for boys, and also in 1731 Dame Alice Tipping of Ewelme gave a more endowment to enhance the number of pupils. In 1842 the community Vestry established a National School, which shared the same rooms in the City center. In 1843 a National Institution for girls was developed beside St Leonard's church. In 1872 the young boys' as well as girls' schools were soaked up into a new Board school, which like its predecessors was associated to the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. In 1927 the institution was divided right into separate junior and also elderly schools. In 1956 a brand-new secondary school-- the Icknield School-- opened up for senior students and also the primary school took over the old properties. The Icknield School is now Icknield Community College. By 1895 the Town Hall, no longer used as an institution, was in disrepair. In 1907 it was brought back by public subscription. It is a spots at the meeting point of three roadways in the centre of the town. Considering that 1990 Watlington has actually been twinned with the community of Mansle in the Poitou-Charentes area of France. The Watlington Hoard, a collection of silver items dating 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 heap was subsequently excavated, and ultimately purchased by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for £ 1.35 m.
