Burcot is a hamlet in
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
,
England on the left bank of the
River Thames, in the
civil parish of
Clifton Hampden
Clifton Hampden is a village and civil parish on the north bank of the River Thames, just over east of Abingdon in Oxfordshire. Since 1932 the civil parish has included the village of Burcot, east of Clifton Hampden. The 2011 Census recor ...
. Until 1932, it lay in the civil parish of
Dorchester.
Heritage
Burcot in the 17th century was an important trans-shipment point on the Thames. The river at that time had become almost unnavigable between
Oxford and Burcot, so that goods for Oxford had to be unloaded at Burcot and taken on by road. This led in 1605 to the formation of the
Oxford-Burcot Commission, with the task of improving navigation.
[
The village, lying mainly between the main road and the Thames, became a desirable Thames-side residential area in the late 19th century. Almost all the earlier housing was pulled down. The only survivors from before the Victorian era are the ]Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
Old Cottage, thought to be Tudor, The Tudor Cottage and the 16th-century pub premises. No other building dates from before 1888.[ The poet laureate John Masefield lived at Burcote Brook from 1932 until his death in 1967. Shortly afterwards, the house burnt down and was replaced by a Cheshire Home, which is named after him.
]
Governance
The village belongs to Clifton Hampden and Burcot parish, whose population was recorded in the 2011 Census as 662.
Facilities
Burcot lies on the main road from Dorchester to Abingdon, now the A415. Bus services are confined to schooldays.
The village has a thatch-roofed pub, ''The Chequers'', which has developed into a restaurant.[Pub websit]
Retrieved 12 May 2018.
The nearest retail facilities are at the shopping centre in Dorchester, less than two miles away.
The former school is now a private house. The nearest primary school and church are at Clifton Hampden.
References
Hamlets in Oxfordshire
Populated places on the River Thames
Inland navigations
{{Oxfordshire-geo-stub