Appleton, Oxfordshire

Appleton-with-Eaton is a civil parish in the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England, south west of Oxford. Historically it was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. It consists of Appleton and Eaton, on the south bank (here the east bank) of the River Thames. Its area is 8.38 km². According to the 2011 census the parish had a 915 residents, an increase of 18 over ten years.

Besselsleigh or Bessels Leigh is an English village and civil parish about 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) southwest of Oxford. Besselsleigh was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The village is just off the A420 road between Oxford and Swindon.

Parklands Campus was an independent Non-Maintained residential special school for boys and girls aged 11 to 19, near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. It closed in 2016, and has since this date been vacant. In 2018, Millgate Homes proposed a new development for the land, which is now completed. It was run by the children's charity Action for Children.Formerly Bessels Leigh School, it was taken over by children's charity Action for Children and relaunched as Spires School during the summer of 2009. In 2011 it was rebranded as Parklands Campus. It specialised in educating children with autism and related emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Northmoor Lock is a lock on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, on the northern bank about a mile from Northmoor. The lock was built in 1896 by the Thames Conservancy to replace a flash lock at Hart's Weir, also known as Ridge's Weir, about a mile upstream and another at Ark Weir downstream. The lock house, lock and weir are relatively little changed since they were built and they can be viewed as a group from the Thames Path and from the river The weir is just the other side of the lock island and is one of only two remaining complete Paddle and rymer (or rimer) manually operated weirs. It is thought that there are no other such weirs in the world.

Eaton is a hamlet about 4.5 miles (7 km) west of Oxford and about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Abingdon. Eaton is in the civil parish of Appleton-with-Eaton, which is traditionally part of Berkshire, and now in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire.

Hitchcopse Pit is a 3-hectare (7.4-acre) nature reserve north-west of Abingdon-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is part of Frilford Heath, Ponds and Fens, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.This former sand quarry has heath, woodland, scrub, grassland and a pond. There are many solitary bees and wasps, which create burrows in the soft sand walls of the quarry. The ground has many lichens and grassland plants, and there are scattered boulders which are covered with mosses.

Appleton Lower Common is a 47.3-hectare (117-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Appleton in Oxfordshire.The common has diverse broadleaved woodland on Oxford Clay with rides and glades. The shrub layer has a rich variety of species, such as primrose, goldilocks buttercup, early purple orchid, twayblade and wood anemone. Invertebrates include the rare club-tailed dragonfly.The site is private land but it is crossed by two public footpaths.

Tubney is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Fyfield and Tubney, in the Vale of White Horse district, in Oxfordshire, England (in Berkshire until 1974). It lies about 3 miles (5 km) west of Abingdon-on-Thames, just south of the A420 road from Oxford to Faringdon, 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Oxford. In 1951 the parish had a population of 215.

Bablock Hythe is a hamlet in Oxfordshire, England, some five miles (8 km) west of Oxford city centre. There was a ferry across the River Thames at Bablock Hythe from the 13th century. The hand-propelled cable ferry was said to be the first along the Thames and was still in use for cars and other road vehicles up until 1959.

Frilford Heath, Ponds and Fens is a 108.8-hectare (269-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Frilford, west of Abingdon in Oxfordshire. An area of 3 hectares (7.4 acres), separate from the main site is Hitchcopse Pit, a nature reserve managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.Natural England describes the acid grassland, heathland and valley fens of this site as unique in southern England. Over 400 vascular plants have been recorded, including some which are nationally rare. There are unusual insects such as the wasp Microdynerus exilis, which was only recognised as native to Britain in the late twentieth century, the red data book of threatened species fly Cheilosia mutabilis, and the nationally uncommon Epistrophe diaphana.There is no public access the main site, which is almost all on Frilford Heath Golf Course, but Hitchcopse Pit is open to the public.

Fyfield and Tubney is a civil parish in The Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England. It includes the village of Fyfield which is about 4.5 miles (7 km) west of Abingdon and Tubney, which is about 4 miles (6 km) west of Abingdon. The parish was formed in 1952 when the parish of Fyfield was merged with the parish of Tubney. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.

Cothill Fen is a 43.3-hectare (107-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Abingdon-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. It is a Special Area of Conservation and parts of it are a Geological Conservation Review site, a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 1, and a National Nature Reserve. It also includes two areas which are nature reserves managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, Lashford Lane Fen and Parsonage Moor.This site has nationally rare calcareous fen and moss-rich mire habitats and a rich invertebrate fauna, including 25 species in the Red Data Book of Invertebrates. More than 330 vascular plants have been recorded. It is a nationally important site geologically because the sampling the peat gives a picture of the vegetation over the early Holocene, between 10,000 and 6,500 years ago.