Shirburn

Shirburn Castle is a Grade I listed, moated castle located at the village of Shirburn, near Watlington, Oxfordshire. Originally constructed in the fourteenth century, it was renovated and remodelled in the Georgian era by Thomas Parker, the first Earl of Macclesfield who made it his family seat, and altered further in the early nineteenth century. The Earls of Macclesfield remained in residence until 2004, and the castle is still (2022) owned by the Macclesfield family company. It formerly contained an important, early eighteenth century library which, along with valuable paintings, sculptures, and other artifacts including furniture, remained in the ownership of the 9th Earl and were largely dispersed at auction following his departure from the property; notable among these items were George Stubbs's 1768 painting "Brood Mares and Foals", a record setter for the artist at auction in 2010, the Macclesfield Psalter, numerous rare and valuable books, and personal correspondence of Sir Isaac Newton. On account of its "fairy tale" external appearance and unmodernised interior, the castle has been used on occasion for film and television settings and is possibly best known to the outside world via that route, since it remains in private hands, no roads pass it, and it is generally not open to the public for visiting. In addition, any history of the castle is somewhat obscured by lack of permitted access to scholars of medieval architecture over the past one (to two) hundred years as well as by conflicting statements in available published accounts; these include that the present castle has Norman origins and/or is on the site of a Norman precursor (not supported by any evidence), that the castle is an early example of brick construction (based on a mis-interpretation), and that the castle was badly damaged during the English Civil War prior to its rebuilding in the eighteenth century (no evidence exists for this assertion). A further piece of apparently deliberate misinformation was a claim that "Shirburn Castle" was visited by a tutor of Dante at the end of the thirteenth century, before the present structure was known to exist; the 1802 document upon which this assertion was based was subsequently shown to be a forgery.

All Saints' Church is the redundant Church of England parish church of the parish of Shirburn, Oxfordshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The church is at the west end of the village, immediately south of Shirburn Castle, the seat of the Earls of Macclesfield since 1715. The north chapel of the church is the mausoleum of the Parker family, Earls of Macclesfield.

Watlington railway station in Oxfordshire was the terminus of the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway and opened in 1872. Watlington station was not in Watlington itself, but in the parish of Pyrton half a mile from Watlington. The line was always single track. The facilities at Watlington station included a stone-built passenger building, a goods shed, and locomotive and carriage sheds. The line was projected to be extended to Wallingford, where it would complete a cross-country line between Cholsey and Princes Risborough. Due to financial difficulties the Watlington - Wallingford section was never built. British Railways closed the Watlington and Princes Risborough Railway to passengers in 1957 and to goods in 1961. Remains of the buildings exist, heavily overgrown, on private land.

St Mary's Church is the Church of England parish church of Pyrton, Oxfordshire, England. Its parish is part of the benefice of Icknield, in the deanery of Aston and Cuddesdon, the archdeaconry of Oxford and the diocese of Oxford. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

Pyrton is a small village and large civil parish in Oxfordshire about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the small town of Watlington and 5 miles (8 km) south of Thame. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 227. The toponym is from the Old English meaning "pear-tree farm".

South Weston is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Lewknor, in the South Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is about 4.5 miles (7 km) south of Thame. There are about 19 households in South Weston. In 1951 the parish had a population of 61. On 1 April 1954 the parish was abolished and merged with Lewknor.

Icknield Community College is a coeducational secondary school located in Watlington, Oxfordshire, England. It offers tuition for years 7-11 (ages 11–16), culminating in the GCSE exams, and has humanities specialist status. The school is situated next to Watlington Primary School. Icknield admits students from its catchment area covering, in addition to Watlington itself, the nearby Oxfordshire villages of Chinnor, Chalgrove, Benson and others, as well from Stokenchurch across the county border in Buckinghamshire.In its March 2015 Ofsted inspection, the school was rated "Good".In 2017, Icknield converted to academy status, and joined the Acer Trust, a multi-academy trust of Oxfordshire schools.

Watlington Chalk Pit is a 1.6-hectare (4.0-acre) Local Nature Reserve east of Watlington in Oxfordshire. It is owned by South Oxfordshire District Council and managed by Watlington Parish Council and Watlington Environment Group. It is part of Watlington and Pyrton Hills Site of Special Scientific Interest.This site has floristically rich chalk grassland and scrub. There are many lichens, mosses and liverworts, and twenty species of butterfly have been recorded. Wintering birds include fieldfares, redwings, yellowhammer and linnets.There is access from Hill Road.

Orange Bakery is an artisanal bakery and baked goods shop located in Watlington, Oxfordshire, UK. It was started in 2019 by Kitty Tait with the help of her father, Alex, when she was aged 15 and battling with mental health issues.What began as a private pastime and a form of self-care grew into a business, first in the form of a weekly pop-up shop, followed by the crowdfunded opening of a full-time bakery store in May 2019.The Taits have written a book, Breadsong: How Baking Changed Our Lives (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022), based on their experiences, which also includes baking recipes.

Watlington Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in Watlington, Oxfordshire, England. The building, which is used as a community events venue, is a Grade II* listed building.

The London Parachute School is a BPA affiliated parachuting centre and skydiving drop zone at Chiltern Park Aerodrome at Ipsden, near Wallingford, Oxfordshire The drop zone operates a Turbine Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. The centre provides student training in the Ram Air Progression System, Accelerated Freefall (AFF) and tandem skydiving.

Watlington and Pyrton Hills is a 112.7-hectare (278-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Watlington in Oxfordshire. An area of 1.6 hectares (4.0 acres) is Watlington Chalk Pit, which is a Local Nature Reserve.This site has floristically diverse chalk grassland, chalk scrub, broadleaved woodland and yew woodland. Watlington Hill has short turf which is grazed by rabbits, with flowering plants including yellow-wort, dropwort, horseshoe vetch, squinancywort and the nationally rare candytuft.