Southmoor is a village in the

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 ...

Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor is a civil parish in the English county of Oxfordshire, England. The two principal settlements in the parish are the adjacent villages of Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor. The parish extends north of the villages t ...

, about west of

Abingdon, Oxfordshire Abingdon-on-Thames ( ), commonly known as Abingdon, is a historic market town and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England, on the River Thames. Historically the county town of Berkshire, since 1974 Abingdon has been admin ...

. Historically part 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 ...

, the 1974 boundary changes transferred local government to Oxfordshire. Southmoor village is just south of the A420 between

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 ...

and

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

History

Southmoor was historically the southern part of the township of Draycot Moor (also spelt Draycott Moor), a manor of the ancient parish of

Longworth Longworth is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, England. The 1974 boundary changes transferred it from Berkshire to Oxfordshire. The village lies between Faringdon, to its west, and Oxford, to the north-east. The 2011 Cen ...

. At the time of the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

the manor was held by

Abingdon Abbey Abingdon Abbey ( '' " St Mary's Abbey " '' ) was a Benedictine monastery located in the centre of Abingdon-on-Thames beside the River Thames. The abbey was founded c.675 AD in honour of The Virgin Mary. The Domesday Book of 1086 informs ...

and Draycot Moor was listed as being in Berkshire. In 1574 the manor passed to

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, who still own it today. John Blandy the Elder left money in his will of 1736 to found the Blandy educational charities.Page & Ditchfield, 1924, pages 349-353 John Blandy the Younger left money to augment the charities in his will of 1791. In 1874 a scheme was established under the

Endowed Schools Act 1869 The Endowed Schools Act 1869 (32 & 33 Vict c 56) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was one of the Endowed Schools Acts 1869 to 1948. It was passed during William Ewart Gladstone’s first ministry, to restructure endowed gr ...

for the Blandy charities to provide an elementary school, scholarships, a public lending library and extra playground facilities. The school is now a primary school, John Blandy

Voluntary Controlled School A voluntary controlled school (VC school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a Christian denomination) has some formal influence in the running of the school. Such schools have less autonomy than ...

. A

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

chapel was built in Southmoor in 1841. It was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

church in the Wantage and Abingdon

Methodist Circuit The organisation of the Methodist Church of Great Britain is based on the principle of connexionalism. This means that British Methodism, from its inception under John Wesley (1703–1791), has always laid strong emphasis on mutual support, in ...

but is now a private dwelling. Draycot Moor became a separate civil parish in 1866. On 1 April 1971 the two parishes of

Kingston Bagpuize Kingston Bagpuize () is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor, about west of Abingdon. It was part of Berkshire, England, until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the ...

and Draycot Moor merged into one civil parish forming

Amenities

Southmoor has a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, the Waggon and Horses. There is also a village hall. Southmoor's retailers are One Stop, the Co-op, Aquarius hairdressers and Crossroads garage. John Blandy VC Primary School teaches children from the ages of 4 to 11 and has about 180 pupils. It also has a nursery situated in the grounds. There is also a tennis club, cricket club, drama group, village newspaper and many other activities and events.

Transport

The village is served by

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

and other smaller bus company services. There are services up to every 20 minutes to Oxford or Swindon on route S6 running Mondays to Saturdays and hourly services on Sundays. There are services to the towns Abingdon and Witney on the 15 service running Monday to Saturday. Frequent public transport facilities make Southmoor a convenient dormitory for working and shopping in Oxford.

Famous resident

Dr. David Kelly, microbiologist and distinguished UN-sponsored weapons inspector, was a Southmoor resident; Dr. Kelly disappeared in July 2003, and the finding of his body soon afterwards on nearby Harrowdown Hill led to a public enquiry concluded by the Hutton Report.

References

Sources

External links

{{authority control Villages in Oxfordshire