Boarstall Tower

Boarstall is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, about 12 miles (19 km) west of Aylesbury. The parish is on the county boundary with Oxfordshire and the village is about 5.5 miles (9 km) southeast of the Oxfordshire market town of Bicester.

The Boarstall Duck Decoy is a 17th-century duck decoy located in Boarstall, Buckinghamshire, England, and now a National Trust property. The system took advantage of a two-acre lake with pipe-cage tunnels running out of it.At one time a common sight in the English countryside, only four duck decoys now remain. The Boarstall Duck Decoy is still in working order, and is surrounded by 13 acres (53,000 m2) of natural woodland. The intent of the decoy was to catch large numbers of waterfowl. A decoy or fake duck was used to attract birds onto a small patch of water. The pond was equipped with a long cone-shaped wickerwork tunnel. A "decoyman" with a trained dog then herded the birds into the tunnel. Once the birds had been trapped in the tunnel, they could then be caught as required. Originally, the birds trapped here were a source of food. The advantage over simply shooting the birds was that ducks caught by this method did not have pellets or lead shot in their bodies that would have to be removed prior to consumption, allowing them to command higher prices. Today, the National Trust organise demonstrations, and any birds caught are ringed for ornithological study. One duck apparently traveled as far away as Turkey.

Honeyburge is a hamlet in the civil parish of Boarstall in Buckinghamshire, England. The hamlet is on Dane's Brook next to Boarstall Wood. Honeyburge is less than 0.5 miles (800 m) south of Boarstall village and about 8 miles (13 km) by road south of the market town of Bicester in neighbouring Oxfordshire. It has nine 9 houses, soon to be 12 (depending on planning permission).

Muswell Hill is a 0.2-hectare (0.49-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Brill in Buckinghamshire. The local planning authorities are Buckinghamshire County Council and Aylesbury Vale District Council. It is listed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee as a Geological Conservation Review site.This site has sandstones and sandy ironstones. It is problematic as their precise age and the circumstances of deposition are uncertain, but they are thought to be early Cretaceous, with late Jurassic underlying layers. There is considerable potential for further research on dating the transition between the two periods.

Stoke Common is an 83.1-hectare (205-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest in Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire. It is registered common land, and it is owned by a charitable trust, with the City of London Corporation as the main funder and trustee.The site is a last remnant of a large heath, and is on glacial gravel over London clay, with some parts permanently waterlogged. Periodic burning helps to manage the land. There are small areas of birch, pine and mixed woodland, with several ponds. There is a rich invertebrate fauna, especially moths, and the dusky cockroach and rare bog bush cricket have also been recorded.There is access from Stoke Common Road and Gerrards Cross Road.

HM Prison and Young Offenders Institute Bullingdon is a prison in Oxfordshire, England. It is a public sector prison operated by HM Prison and Probation Service (an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice). Located near MoD Bicester, it is a local and resettlement prison accepting Security Category B male prisoners. (New admissions from courts are generally sent to 'local' prisons and are considered as a Category B prisoner until their initial security assessment.) Prisoners must be over the age of 18 (as a Young Offender (YO)). As YO prisoners are not subject to the same 4 level security category, they are either considered 'YOI Closed' or 'YOI Open' - depending on whether they are suitable for transfer to open conditions. The prison generally only holds prisoners on short sentences (under 12 months) and those on remand. With the additional resettlement function, prisoners in the local area of the prison should be transferred for their 12-week pre-release period. HMP & YOI Bullingdon also has a dedicated 'Vulnerable Prisoners' unit which holds several hundred sex offenders who are at Bullingdon in order to complete a Sex Offender Treatment Programme (SOTP).

Bernwood Forest is a forest in England. Historically it was one of several forests of the ancient Kingdom of England and was a Royal hunting forest. It is thought to have been set aside as Royal hunting land when the Anglo-Saxon kings had a palace at Brill and church in Oakley, in the 10th century and was a particularly favoured place of Edward the Confessor, who was born in nearby Islip. From about 1217 through to the 17th century the forest went through a gradual period of deforestation. King Henry II (reigned 1154–1189) prepared a map of the forest at the time which is an invaluable tool in helping define its ancient boundaries; however, his purpose for drawing up the map was to divide the forest amongst his nobles. By the 16th century, another map of the forest had been drawn up by which time it had been reduced greatly in size. Again, the map was drawn up under the aegis of the Crown as an audit to what revenue could be made from selling off the forest. By the reign of King James I (reigned 1603–1625), the forest had lost its Royal status and had completely disappeared. Today the name refers to the area of Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire where the forest was at the time of King Henry II, covering 400 km². The approximate boundaries of the designated area today fall within the River Great Ouse, the Padbury Brook, the Claydon Brook and the River Thame. The small modern Bernwood Forest in Buckinghamshire is approximately 1 km² and is contiguous with Hell Coppice, York's Wood, Oakley Wood and Shabbington Wood. A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) called Shabbington Woods Complex, it supports a wide variety of wildlife and is one of the most important butterfly sites in the United Kingdom. Its manager, Forestry England, originally had a more commercial approach. Aerial spraying of pesticides occurring up until the late 1960s:firstly DDT to control Hylobius abietis then 2,4,5-T to clear broad-leafed plants (including oak saplings) before planting commercial pine stands. Holly Wood, Holton Wood, Stanton Great Wood and Waterperry Wood, all in Oxfordshire, and Ham Home-cum-Hamgreen Woods in Buckinghamshire, are also remnants of Bernwood Forest which are SSSIs. Another fragment in Buckinghamshire is Rushbeds Wood, an SSSI which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Oakley is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It has an area of 2,206 acres (893 ha) and includes about 400 households. The 2011 Census recorded the population as 1,007.At one time it was thought Oakley held a rare (and possibly unique) double distinction, in that a Victoria Cross recipient, Edward Brooks, and a Medal of Honor recipient, James J. Pym, were both born in the village. However, the latter, a namesake of a contemporary James Pym from Oakley, has been found to be from Garsington, a village 10 miles (16 km) away in Oxfordshire. In 1963 Oakley was centre of national and international news, when Leatherslade Farm, near Oakley, was used as a hideout by the criminal gang involved in the Great Train Robbery.

Shabbington Woods Complex is a 305.6-hectare (755-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest ((SSSI) between Horton-cum-Studley and Worminghall in Buckinghamshire. It comprises Shabbington Wood, Bernwood Forest, Hell Coppice, Oakley Wood and York's Wood. Shabbington Wood is owned by the Forestry Commission, and a small area of 7.5 hectares called Bernwood Meadows is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.The site is the largest remnant of the former Royal Forest of Bernwood. Other remnants are SSSIs in Oxfordshire. In this site only a small area of ancient woodland survives, and the main interest is the rich insect fauna. There are also two unimproved meadows, bounded by mature hedges, and several ponds. Over forty species of butterfly have been recorded, including the rare Duke of Burgundy.

Whitecross Green and Oriel Woods is a 63-hectare (160-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Oxford and Bicester in Oxfordshire. It is owned and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust under the name Whitecross Green Wood.These ancient woods are part of two former royal forests, Shotover and Bernwood. They are crossed by herb-rich and grassy rides, some of which are bordered by ditches, and there is also a pond and a marsh. Twenty-four species of butterfly have been recorded including the nationally rare black hairstreak.

Arncott or Arncot is a village and civil parish about 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) southeast of Bicester in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,738.There are two neighbourhoods: Lower and Upper Arncott. Upper Arncott is the larger neighbourhood and includes the village green, recreation ground, shop and most of Arncott's housing. Lower Arncott is close to River Ray and includes the Tally Ho hotel and the Plough public house. Upper and Lower Arncott are separated by the Bicester Military Railway.

Little London is a hamlet consisting of approximately 70 houses located immediately east of the village of Oakley in Buckinghamshire and about 5.5 miles (9 km) northwest of the market town of Thame in neighbouring Oxfordshire. Little London Green is the largest area of common land in the parish of Oakley.