place

Western Valley

Civil parishes in OxfordshireOxfordshire geography stubsVale of White Horse
Zulu Farm near Harwell geograph.org.uk 1315521
Zulu Farm near Harwell geograph.org.uk 1315521

Western Valley is a civil parish in the eastern part of the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire, England, to the east of Harwell and the west of Didcot. Historically it was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. It consists of the western part of the Great Western Park housing estate on the edge of Didcot, and will also include the proposed Valley Park development. The parish was created in April 2023 by splitting the Harwell civil parish where it was crossed by the A34 road, which runs along most of the western boundary of Western Valley, and the Great Western Main Line runs along the northern boundary. It is bordered by the civil parishes of Harwell, Milton and Sutton Courtenay in Vale of White Horse; and by: Didcot and West Hagbourne, both being in South Oxfordshire. The parish lies wholly within the Blewbury & Harwell ward of Vale of White Horse District Council, the Hendreds & Harwell Division of Oxfordshire County Council, and the Wantage parliamentary constituency. Elections to the eight seats on the new parish council were to be held on 4 May 2023, but only one valid nomination was received by the returning officer. Nominations were reopened, and a further four candidates were elected unopposed on 14 June 2023.The parish contains two secondary schools: Aureus School and UTC Oxfordshire. These are on the western edge of the only substantial settlement, the Great Western Park housing estate, part of which is within Didcot. In the centre of this, and also partially within Didcot, is a large open space known as Boundary Park.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Western Valley (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Western Valley
Cow Lane, Vale of White Horse Great Western Park

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.61 ° E -1.28 °
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Address

Cow Lane

Cow Lane
OX11 0DP Vale of White Horse, Great Western Park
England, United Kingdom
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Zulu Farm near Harwell geograph.org.uk 1315521
Zulu Farm near Harwell geograph.org.uk 1315521
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Didcot Girls' School

Didcot Girls' School (also known as DGS) is a secondary school with academy status for students in Didcot, Oxfordshire and the surrounding rural area. The school has been awarded with Language College and Enterprise College status (as of 2006). The mixed sixth form, known as Didcot Sixth Form, is shared with St Birinus School. The school is made up of seven houses which are named after famous women who are considered potential role models for the students. These are Adie House, Bussell House, Ennis House, Greenfield House, Kennedy House, MacArthur House and Wilson House. Each house group has a different colour; red for Adie, pink for Bussell, orange for Ennis, yellow for Greenfield, purple for Kennedy, navy for MacArthur and green for Wilson. There were eight houses, but Roddick House and Plazas House were removed in September 2010 to make six. In September 2012, following Jessica Ennis' success at the London 2012 Olympics, Ennis house was created, bringing the number of houses to seven. The school has four main building blocks; St. Frideswide's (also known as Frids), Austen, Sherwood (formerly New Building) and Cockcroft. A large, modern sports hall is sited next to St. Frideswide's, and the canteen in St. Frideswide's is rated five stars. The executive headteacher, Rachael Warwick, was previously the Deputy Head at Bartholomew School. The current headteacher is Georgina Littler, having been appointed from May 2020. The "Friends of DGS" charitable committee was relaunched in 2015 by parent and staff member Lisa Turner to raise funds for the school. They have a monthly 'lottery' and September 26, 2015, saw the first ever "DGS Fest", a music, craft and beer festival within the school grounds.

The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay
The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay

The Abbey in Sutton Courtenay is a medieval courtyard house in the English county of Oxfordshire (formerly Berkshire). It is located in the Vale of White Horse near the River Thames, across the road from the twelfth-century Norman Hall and the Manor House. The Abbey has been recognised as a building of outstanding historic and architectural interest and is considered to be a 'textbook' example of an English medieval manor house. It has been a Grade I-listed building since 1952.The Abbey has its origins in the thirteenth century as a rectory of Abingdon Abbey, a Benedictine monastery up north in Abingdon-on-Thames. Several construction phases took place during the Middle Ages, carried out by prominent figures like Solomon of Rochester, Thomas Beckington and William Say, but it was not until the seventeenth century that the current plan was completed. It was probably during the Victorian era that the house obtained the name 'The Abbey'. From 1495 to 1867, The Abbey was in possession of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, who leased the estate among others to John Fettiplace. After being inhabited by Eve Fleming, the estate was bought by David Astor in 1958, who leased it to the Ockenden Venture which offered sanctuary to refugees and displaced children. In the 70s, The Abbey was lent to the exiled Bishop Colin Winter to house the Namibia International Peace Centre. In 1978, the Astor family sold the house and in 1980 it came into possession of The New Era Centre, a non-profit charity led by Fred Blum and Bishop Stephen Verney. The New Era Centre used The Abbey as a spiritual retreat and conference centre, and changed its name to The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay in the 1990s. The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay is a "residential centre in which a spiritual community offers hospitality to people" who are seeking spiritual refreshment, personal growth and healing. The Abbey also organises public events concerning spirituality, personal development, education, music and the arts.