Whitecross Green and Oriel Woods

Horton-cum-Studley is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about 6+1⁄2 miles (10.5 km) northeast of the centre of Oxford and bordering Otmoor, and is one of the "Seven Towns" of Otmoor. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 455. A majority of residents in the village work in the Healthcare and Educational Sectors.

Studley Priory was a small house of Benedictine nuns, ruled by a prioress. It was founded some time before 1176 in the hamlet of Studley in what is now the village of Horton-cum-Studley, 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England, at 1 Horton Hill Road. In 1176, the priory received a grant from Bernard of St. Walery. The nuns were unhappy to be served poor beef and new beer on Thursday and Sunday nights, and no mutton. The priory was declared closed by 1536, but appears to have experienced a brief revival before its suppression in 1539. The priory lands were sold to the Croke family. The family built the house now known as Studley Priory, which still stands in its 10 acres (4.0 ha) of grounds, in 1587; a member of the Croke family was a judge in the 1649 trial of Charles I. The house and its estate (which comprised most of the village of Horton-cum-Studley) was owned by the Croke family until around 1870 when it was sold to the Henderson family, who occupied it until World War II. During the war, it was a sanatorium for Royal Air Force officers. In 1947 the priory was leased by Raymond and Tessa Bawtree, who (with their partner, Wilma Hessey) ran it as a country-house hotel for the next 14 years. During that time, many eminent guests stayed there (including Adrian Boult, Gilbert Murray, Beverley Nichols and Sandy Wilson; it was a favourite hostelry of C.S. Lewis, who came regularly for a Sunday-morning beer after church and in later years stayed there with his wife Joy. The Bawtrees did not renew their lease in 1961; that year the Hendersons auctioned off their estate, including the priory. The priory was bought by the Parke family, who continued to run it as a hotel until 2004 when the business was placed in receivership due to mounting financial losses. The business failed to find a buyer and the Priory was sold for reconversion to a private house.The monastery is mentioned in the historical novel Blanket In The Dark by John Buchan who lived at nearby Elsfield. It was used as a filming location for the exterior of Sir Thomas More's Chelsea home in the 1966 version of Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons (interior shots were done in a studio, not at Studley Priory).

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.

Murcott is a village 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.

Bernwood Meadows is a 7.5-hectare (19-acre) nature reserve near Oakley in Buckinghamshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.This traditional hay meadow has over 100 plant species, including lady's bedstraw, green winged orchids and cuckooflowers. It also has many species of butterfly, such as orange tip and rare black and brown hairstreaks. other wildlife includes brown hares, kestrels and moths.There is access from the road between Stanton St. John and Oakley.

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.

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).

Boarstall Tower is a 14th-century moated gatehouse located in Boarstall, Buckinghamshire, England, and now, with its surrounding gardens, a National Trust property.Until March 2020, the National Trust offered tours on Wednesday afternoons. The tower was closed during the Covid pandemic but recently reopened for selective dates in the summer.

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.

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.

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.