Charlton-on-Otmoor

Otmoor RSPB Reserve is a nature reserve, managed by the RSPB, between Beckley and Oddington, within the wider area of Otmoor, in Oxfordshire, England. The reserve was established in 1997 and restored large areas of marshland from what had previously been farmland. The RSPB reserve covers around 1,000 acres (400 ha).Otmoor is primarily wetland and in winter provides a home to thousands of waterfowl. It is increasingly becoming a wintering ground for thousands of wildfowl and waders. Over a thousand wigeon and teal have been recorded, while birds of prey such as merlins and peregrines are regularly seen. Large areas of Otmoor have benefited from extensive agriculture using traditional methods, resulting in good numbers of songbirds that are otherwise declining in the UK, including bullfinch, skylark, reed bunting, grasshopper warbler and European turtle dove.Spring and autumn both produce good numbers of passage migrants, including waders in the spring and common redstarts and whinchats in the autumn. The best time for marsh harriers is late April to mid-May. There are good numbers of breeding waders and recent RSPB work has increased the number of pairs of northern lapwings and common redshanks. The site has become well known for murmurations (roosting displays) of starlings in winter.Bitterns were recorded as breeding in 2016.A diverse selection of other wildlife has been recorded at the reserve. Many rare plants have been reported from the area, including fen violet, downy-fruited sedge, dyer's greenweed, heath spotted orchid and green-winged orchid. The butterflies include three species of hairstreak: the black, brown and White-letter in the hedgerows, and in the meadows there are populations of marbled white and orange tip. Odonata include hairy dragonfly and variable damselfly. Mammals living on the reserve include the brown hare, European badger and Reeves's muntjac.

Wendlebury Meads and Mansmoor Closes is a 73.2-hectare (181-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Wendlebury in Oxfordshire.Wendlebury Meads consists of several meadows which have been traditionally managed, and have complex and varied flora. Calcareous pastures were common in southern England at the beginning of the twentieth century, and these meadows are among the few have survived agricultural improvements. Almost all show evidence of medieval ridge and furrow ploughing. Mansmoor Closes were enclosed very early, before 1622, and are important from both a landscape and archaeological point of view. More than 160 plant species have been recorded, including 11 of dandelion. There are birds such as snipe and curlew, and many common butterflies. The site is private land, but it is crossed by a public footpath between Charlton-on-Otmoor and Wendlebury.

Fencott is a hamlet between the River Ray and Otmoor in the civil parish of Fencott and Murcott, about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England.

Fencott and Murcott is a civil parish about 4 miles (6 km) south of Bicester in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England. The parish is bounded on the north and west by the River Ray and has an area of just over 3,300 acres (1,300 ha) being 13.49 square kilometres (5.21 sq mi) inclusive of roads and watercourses. It includes the villages of Fencott and Murcott and had a population of about 285 residents in 2011. There are no shops or post offices but there is one public house, the Nut Tree Inn at Murcott. The M40 motorway passes through the northern part of the parish. The parish covers most of Otmoor, including the Otmoor RSPB nature reserve.

Oddington is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) south of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The village is close to the River Ray on the northern edge of Otmoor. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 129.

Charlton Halt was a railway station on the Varsity Line 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Charlton-on-Otmoor. The London and North Western Railway opened the halt in 1905 and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway closed it in 1926.

Woodsides Meadow is a 4-hectare (9.9-acre) nature reserve south of Wendlebury in Oxfordshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. It is part of Wendlebury Meads and Mansmoor Closes, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.This meadow still has medieval ridge and furrow marks, showing that it has not been farmed by modern methods. More than 100 species of wild flower have been recorded, such as pepper-saxifrage, sneezewort, green-winged orchid, cuckooflower and ragged-robin. Skylarks and brown hares are often seen on the site.

Otmoor or Ot Moor is an area of wetland and wet grassland in Oxfordshire, England, located halfway between Oxford and Bicester. It is about 60 metres (200 ft) above sea level, and has an area of nearly 400 hectares (990 acres). It is encircled by the "Seven Towns" of Otmoor: Beckley, Noke, Oddington, Charlton-on-Otmoor, Fencott, Murcott and Horton-cum-Studley. Part of it is a nature reserve, RSPB Otmoor, which adjoins a Ministry of Defence firing range, which is part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Merton is a village and civil parish near the River Ray, about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 424.

Otmoor SSSI is a 213-hectare (530-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Oxford in Oxfordshire. It is adjacent to RSPB Otmoor, and they are both part of Otmoor, an area of wetland and wet grassland which was enclosed in the early nineteenth century. This site in the floodplain of the River Ray has herb-rich damp grassland, wet sedge, coarse grassland, woodland, pools and ditches. More than sixty species of bird breed on the site, such as curlew and lapwing, while wintering birds include teal, wigeon, snipe, golden plover and short-eared owl.Much of the site is an MOD firing range and is closed to the public.

Alice's Meadow is the name given to a small field in the Oxfordshire parish of Fencott and Murcott, England. It became the focus of a campaign by local people and Friends of the Earth in the 1980s, who opposed government plans to route the M40 motorway across Otmoor. The name 'Alice's Meadow' is a reference to Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking-Glass, which is said to have been partly inspired by the 'chessboard-like' field pattern of Otmoor. It lies to the north of Otmoor, between Fencott and Murcott, and was directly on a proposed route for the motorway, which would then have continued, bisecting Otmoor. Conventional campaigning and action under the planning process led to a public inquiry. Although this ruled in favour of the objectors its decision was not binding on the Department of Transport, which decided to proceed with its original route. While the planning appeals process had been exhausted, landowners of plots along the proposed route still had grounds to appeal through the compulsory purchase procedure. Joe Weston, one of the campaigners, had the idea of taking advantage of this by identifying and purchasing a plot of land on the route, as close to Otmoor as possible. The field was purchased by Wheatley Friends of the Earth and then sold off to supporters in small plots. This was intended to delay the construction of the motorway significantly by allowing protesters formally to appeal the compulsory purchase of each of the 3500 individual plots.This tactic was possible only because under the HM Land Registry regulations then in effect for England and Wales, transactions involving small plots of unregistered land were exempt from registration. The regulations have since been revised; any unregistered plot, regardless of size, must now be registered on transfer. The Land Registry charges that would be payable under the current regulations would make a similar sale of micro-plots prohibitively expensive today. Under the regulations for the Land Registries Northern Ireland small "souvenir plots" are still specifically excluded from registration. In Scotland, souvenir plots cannot be sold.The motorway was eventually built on an alternative route (avoiding Otmoor) that had been recommended by the public inquiry. The field is currently managed by the Fencott and Murcott Parish Council, which lets out the grazing rights.

Oddington Halt was a railway station on the Varsity Line 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of the village of Oddington, Oxfordshire. The London and North Western Railway opened the halt in 1905 and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway closed it in 1926.