Frilford is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

about west of Abingdon, at the junction of the A415 and A338 roads. It lies in the traditional county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, but since

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

has been administered as part of

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 ...

Archaeology

The parish of Frilford has two significant archaeological sites: a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

, and a cemetery on Frilford Heath that appears to include both Roman and Saxon burials. A further complex of remains, including a Roman shrine and amphitheatre, is often referred to as being in Frilford but lies to the south of the village, just inside the boundary of

Marcham Marcham is a village and civil parish about west of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,905. The parish includes the hamlets of Cothill east-northeast of the village, and Gozzard's Ford northeast of ...

parish.

Churches

Frilford is part of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

parish of

. It has no

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

of its own, but a

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

chapel was built at Frilford in 1841.

Amenities

Frilford Heath Golf Club Frilford Heath Golf Club is a 54-hole golf club in Frilford, Oxfordshire, set amongst 500 acres of heathland to the southwest of Oxford city. History Frilford Heath was founded in 1908 by Dr Harry Challenor (a local physician), A.E. Preston, a ...

is to the east of the village. Abingdon Preparatory School at Frilford, formerly Joscas, is a preparatory school.

Transport

Three

Stagecoach in Oxfordshire Stagecoach in Oxfordshire is the trading name of Thames Transit Ltd. It is a bus operator serving the county of Oxfordshire, England. Since 1997 has been a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, and since February 2021 it has been part of Stagecoac ...

bus routes serve Frilford. Route 15 to

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as ...

and Abingdon. Routes S8 (via Abingdon) and S9 (via

Cumnor Cumnor is a village and civil parish 3½ miles (5.6 km) west of the centre of Oxford, England. The village is about 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Botley and its centre is west of the A420 road to Swindon. The parish includes Cumn ...

) to

Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic county of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire since 1974. T ...

and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

People

Notable people from Frilford include Dr

Gary Botting Gary Norman Arthur Botting (born 19 July 1943) is a Canadian legal scholar and criminal defense lawyer as well as a poet, playwright, novelist, and critic of literature and religion, in particular Jehovah's Witnesses. The author of 40 published b ...

, born at Oakley House Maternity Hospital on 19 July 1943, who became a noted Canadian extradition lawyer.

References

Sources & further reading

*Akerman, 1865. ''Report on excavations in an ancient cemetery at Frilford.'' Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 3, 136–41 * *Haverfield, F. 1897. ''A Roman villa at Frilford.'' Archaeological Journal, 54, 340–54 * * *Rolleston, G. 1869. ''Researches and excavations at an ancient cemetery at Frilford. ''Archaeologia, 42, 417-85 *Rolleston, G. 1880. ''Further researches in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Frilford.'' Archaeologia, 45, 405-10

External links

Royal Berkshire History websiteOxford University School of Archaeology website
Villages in Oxfordshire Roman sites in England Archaeological sites in Oxfordshire Civil parishes in Oxfordshire {{Oxfordshire-geo-stub