Ashbury, Oxfordshire

Idstone is a hamlet in the civil parish of Ashbury in the Vale of White Horse. Idstone was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. Idstone is about 6 miles (10 km) east of Swindon in neighbouring Wiltshire.

Wayland's Smithy is an Early Neolithic chambered long barrow located near the village of Ashbury in the south-central English county of Oxfordshire. The barrow is believed to have been constructed about 3600 BC by pastoral communities shortly after the introduction of agriculture to the British Isles from continental Europe. Although part of an architectural tradition of long barrow building that was widespread across Neolithic Europe, Wayland's Smithy belongs to a localised regional variant of barrows - found only in south-west of Britain - known as the Severn-Cotswold group. Wayland's Smithy is one of the best surviving examples of this type of barrow. The site's appearance is a result of restoration following excavations undertaken by archaeologists, Stuart Piggott and Richard Atkinson, in 1962–63. Their research of the site showed it had been built in two different phases. First as a timber-chambered oval barrow built around 3590 and 3550 BC and then later as a stone-chambered long barrow in around 3460 to 3400 BC. The barrow is on the same hill range as Uffington White Horse and Uffington Castle; it is also close to The Ridgeway, the ancient trackway across the Berkshire Downs. The barrow, which is a scheduled monument, is under the guardianship of English Heritage and open all year round. It has been used as a ritual site in modern Paganism since the late 20th century.

Compton Beauchamp is a hamlet and civil parish 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Shrivenham in the Vale of White Horse, England. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2001 Census recorded the parish's population as 50.

Bishopstone is a village and civil parish in the Swindon unitary authority of Wiltshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) east of Swindon, and on the county border with Oxfordshire. Since 1934 the parish has included the village of Hinton Parva. Bishopstone lies on the north slope of the Lambourn Downs, overlooking the Vale of White Horse. It is between Wanborough and Ashbury on the historic Icknield Way. The village has a public house, the Royal Oak, and a number of thatched cottages, centred on a mill-pond. The village is often used as a base for walkers on the Ridgeway National Trail. The Ridgeway above Bishopstone is a byway open to motor vehicles between April and October. On the downs above Bishopstone are medieval field systems known as lynchets and many other historic earth-workings.

Alfred's Castle is a small Iron Age hill fort, situated at grid reference SU277822, behind Ashdown Park in the civil parish of Ashbury in Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire). It lies 2–3 km south of the Ridgeway and is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.It has a large enclosure attached that shows as a cropmark. Excavation has shown this to be contemporary with the small enclosure, started in the 6th century BC. The hill fort was established within a series of late Bronze Age linear ditches and revealed much evidence for occupation within it. In the late 1st century, a Romano-British farmhouse was built within the abandoned prehistoric enclosure. King Alfred won a great victory against the Danes at the Battle of Ashdown, in AD 871. Being located just to the west of Ashdown House, Victorian antiquaries associated Alfred's Castle with the King's troop movements before the battle. The exact site of Alfred's battle has not yet been determined, however, so is a matter for debate. The most likely sites are near Compton and Aldworth in Berkshire. Excavations were carried out at Alfred's Castle from 1998 to 2000 by archaeologists from Oxford University. A final analysis was published in 2014.

Hardwell Castle or Hardwell Camp is an Iron Age valley fort in the civil parish of Compton Beauchamp in Oxfordshire (previously Berkshire).

Ashdown House (also known as Ashdown Park) is a 17th-century country house in the civil parish of Ashbury in the English county of Oxfordshire. Until 1974 the house was in the county of Berkshire, and the nearby village of Lambourn remains in that county. It is a Grade I listed building and the grounds are included in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens at Grade II*.

Ashdown Park is a 9.3-hectare (23-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) south of Ashbury in Oxfordshire. The SSSI is part of the park of Ashdown House. The park has been designated an SSSI because of the lichens on its many sarsen boulders. These are in parkland which is heavily grazed to ensure that the lichens, which have taken centuries to grow, do not become shaded. Noteworthy species include Aspicilia caesiocinerea, Buellia saxorum, Candelariella coralliza, Rinodina atrocinerea and Parmelia loxodes.The park is owned by the National Trust and is open to the public.

The Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) was a British postgraduate school, research institution and training provider with origins dating back to 1772. It became part of the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom in 2009, and ceased to exist as an independent unit in 2015.

The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom provides higher education for personnel in the British Armed Forces, Civil Service, other government departments and service personnel from other nations. The Director General of the Defence Academy is Air Marshal Ian Gale, a senior Royal Air Force officer.

Beckett Hall (or Beckett House) is a country house at Shrivenham in the English county of Oxfordshire (formerly in Berkshire). The present house dates from 1831.

The Royal Army Chaplains' Museum (formerly the Museum of Army Chaplaincy) tells the story of British Army chaplaincy from earliest times to the present day, with the help of archive material and historical relics from several centuries. Its collection is dedicated to the work of Army Chaplains throughout history in peacetime, under fire, and in captivity. The museum archives also hold material relating to the department and its history, including information on the four chaplains who have been awarded the Victoria Cross. There is a linked charity, The Museum Of The Royal Army Chaplains' Department, which was first registered in 1979.The museum was housed in Bagshot Park, Surrey, until 2001 when it was rehoused in a converted stable block at Amport House in Hampshire which was the home of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department within the Tri-Service Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre.The new energy-efficient building for the museum at the Defence Academy, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire was designed by Hewitt Studios of Bath, and opened by the Countess of Wessex on 17 May 2022.The museum's collections include the remaining records of the Royal Army Temperance Association and the records of the Churches' Work for Women in the Forces.