Wantage () is a historic
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
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 ...
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. Although within the boundaries of the
historic 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 ...
, it has been administered as part of the
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway Nat ...
district of Oxfordshire since 1974. The town is on
Letcombe Brook, south-west of
Abingdon, north-west of
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, south-west of
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 north-west of
Newbury.
It was the birthplace of
King Alfred the Great in 849.
History
![St Peter and St Paul, Wantage - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/St_Peter_and_St_Paul%2C_Wantage_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1547576.jpg)
Wantage was a small
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
settlement
but the origin of the
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
is somewhat uncertain. It is generally thought to be from an
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
phrase meaning "decreasing river".
King
Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great (alt. Ælfred 848/849 – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who bot ...
was born at the royal palace there in the 9th century,
in what was originally known as Wanating. Wantage appears in 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 ...
of 1086. Its value was £61 and it was in the king's ownership until
Richard I passed it to the
Earl of Albemarle in 1190. Weekly trading rights were first granted to the town by
Henry III in 1246.
Markets are now held twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
troops were stationed in Wantage during the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
.
In the 19th century,
Lord Wantage
Brigadier General Robert James Loyd-Lindsay, 1st Baron Wantage, (17 April 1832 – 10 June 1901) was a British soldier, politician, philanthropist, benefactor to Wantage, and first chairman and co-founder of the British National Society for Aid t ...
became a notable local and national benefactor.
He was very involved in founding the
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with more ...
Society.
In 1877 he paid for a marble statue of King Alfred by
Count Gleichen to be erected in Wantage market place, where it still stands today.
He also donated the
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
Gallery to the town.
This contained paintings by
Louis William Desanges
Louis William Desanges; Chevalier Desanges (1822–1905) was an English artist of French background, known today for his paintings of Victoria Cross winners.
Life
Born in Bexley, Kent, he was the great grandson of a French nobleman who had sett ...
depicting deeds which led to the award of a number of
VCs, including his own gained during the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
. It is now a shopping arcade.
Wantage is home to the
Community of Saint Mary the Virgin
The Community of St Mary the Virgin (CSMV) is an Anglican religious order based at Wantage in Oxfordshire, England. It was founded in 1848 by the vicar of Wantage, the Reverend William John Butler and is one of the oldest surviving religious comm ...
, founded by the vicar of Wantage
William John Butler
William John Butler (1818–1894) was an English churchman, Dean of Lincoln from 1885 until his death. He was previously Vicar of the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Wantage from 1847 to 1881, where he founded the Community of St Mary the Virgi ...
in 1848; it was once one of the largest communities of
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
nuns in the world. Wantage once had two breweries which were taken over by
Morlands of Abingdon. In 1988 the town was thrust into the headlines after a ''Brass Tacks'' programme entitled "Shire Wars" exposed the drunken violence that plagued the town and surrounding villages at that time.
Governance
![Former Wantage UDC (Council) Offices, Portway, Wantage, Oxon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Former_Wantage_UDC_%28Council%29_Offices%2C_Portway%2C_Wantage%2C_Oxon.jpg)
Wantage has a
town council
A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.
Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions.
Republic of Ireland
Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...
consisting of 16 councillors, 15 of whom (as of 2022) are
Liberal Democrats with the remaining being a
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
councillor. It is also part of the district of the
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway Nat ...
.
Until 1974, Wantage had two local government councils:
Wantage Rural District
Wantage was a rural district of Berkshire, England from 1894 to 1974.
It was created in 1894 as a successor to the Wantage rural sanitary district. It was named after Wantage, which formed a separate urban district entirely surrounded by the r ...
, which had its headquarters in Belmont,
Wantage and
Wantage Urban District
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 ...
, which had its headquarters in Portway.
These bodies were both abolished as part of the
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
and became part of the
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway Nat ...
District Council.
The
Wantage constituency is currently represented by Conservative MP
David Johnston who was first elected in the
2019 general election after former MP
Ed Vaizey announced that he would not stand for re-election.
The nearby towns of
Didcot,
Faringdon and
Wallingford are also part of the Wantage constituency. At the time of the 2019 general election, the Wantage constituency had a total electorate of 90,876.
Geography
Wantage is at the foot of the
Berkshire Downs escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...
in the
Vale of the White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway N ...
. There are gallops at Black Bushes and nearby villages with racing stables at
East Hendred
East Hendred is a village and civil parish about east of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse and a similar distance west of Didcot. The village is on East Hendred Brook, which flows from the Berkshire Downs to join the River Thames at Sutton C ...
,
Letcombe Bassett,
Lockinge and
Uffington Uffington is the name of several places:
; England
*Uffington, Lincolnshire
:* Uffington and Barnack railway station
:* Uffington Rural District
*Uffington, Oxfordshire
:* Uffington railway station (Uffington Junction)
*Uffington, Shropshire
;Un ...
. Wantage includes the suburbs of Belmont to the west and Charlton to the east.
Grove to the north is still just about detached and is a separate parish. Wantage parish stretches from the northern edge of its housing up onto the Downs in the south, covering
Chain Hill, Edge Hill, Wantage Down, Furzewick Down and Lattin Down. The Edgehill Springs rise between Manor Road and Spike Lodge Farms and the
Letcombe Brook flows through the town. Wantage is home to the
Vale and Downland Museum
The Vale and Downland Museum is a local museum in the market town of Wantage, Oxfordshire, England. Its galleries present the cultural heritage of the Vale of White Horse region around Wantage. A Victorian kitchen, Iron Age skeleton and a bust ...
. There is a large market square containing a statue of King Alfred, surrounded by shops some with 18th-century facades. Quieter streets radiate from it, including one towards the large
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 ...
. Wantage is the "Alfredston" of
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...
's ''
Jude the Obscure''.
Transport
Wantage is at the crossing of the B4507 valley road, the
A417 road
The A417 is a main road in England running from Streatley, Berkshire to Hope under Dinmore, Herefordshire. It is best known for its section between Cirencester and Gloucester where it has primary status and forms part of the link between the ma ...
between
Streatley and
Cirencester, the
A338 road between
Hungerford (and junction 14 of the
M4 motorway
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...
) and Oxford, and the B4494 road to
Newbury.
Wantage is well connected by bus services linking the town with Oxford and other nearby towns and villages.
Stagecoach West run the S9 service up to every 20 minutes between Oxford and Wantage.
Oxford Bus Company run the cityX1 service up to every 30 minutes between Oxford, Abingdon and Wantage.
Thames Travel
Thames Travel is a bus operator serving the southern part of the English county of Oxfordshire. It is based in Didcot, Oxfordshire, Didcot and is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group.
In May 2011 the Go-Ahead Group bought Thames Travel.
Branded ...
run the connector X32 service up to every 30 minutes between Oxford, Didcot,
Harwell Campus and Wantage, the connector X36 service up to every 30 minutes between Didcot,
Milton Park
Milton Park is a mixed use business and technology park in Oxfordshire, England, operated by MEPC plc.
It is just south of the village of Milton, about west of Didcot. It is on the site of a former Ministry of Defence depot between the A34 ...
and Wantage, and the 67 service up to every 60 minutes between
Faringdon and Wantage. Monday to Saturday daytimes, there are up to seven buses per hour operating between Wantage and Oxford, and up to four buses per hour operating between Wantage and Didcot.
Night buses NS9 and cityNX1 also operate on Friday and Saturday evenings, providing late night services between Wantage, Abingdon and Oxford.
![Wantage Tramway Company](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Wantage_Tramway_Company.jpg)
Wantage does not have a railway station;
Didcot Parkway, 8 miles to the east, is the nearest station, with services towards Reading, Oxford, London, Bristol and Cheltenham. The
Great Western Main Line
The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington to . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. Opened in 1841, it was the or ...
is just north of Grove (2 miles North of Wantage) where the former
Wantage Road railway station
Wantage Road railway station was a railway station on the Great Western Main Line in the Vale of White Horse district in Oxfordshire. The station was actually at the village of Grove, Oxfordshire (then part of Berkshire), more than two miles n ...
used to be. It was closed during the Beeching cuts in 1964. The
Wantage Tramway
The Wantage Tramway Company was a two-mile tramway that carried passengers and freight between the Oxfordshire town of Wantage and Wantage Road Station on the Great Western Main Line in England. Formed in 1873 to link Wantage Road station with ...
used to link Wantage with Wantage Road station. The tramway's Wantage terminus was in Mill Street and its building survives, but little trace remains of the route. One of the tramway's locomotives, ''Shannon'', alias ''Jane'', is preserved at
Didcot Railway Centre.
Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council is the county council (upper-tier local authority) for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire in the South East of England. It is an elected body responsible for some local government services in the county, includ ...
have ambitions to open a railway station on the former Wantage Road site. In 2018 a feasibility study was carried out for a new Wantage & Grove Parkway station with the hope that the proposed station could be served by a new service operating between
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and Oxford. The proposed station received backing from
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
in 2021 after a new Oxfordshire rail study was published, which recommended a new station at Wantage/Grove, subject to additional main line infrastructure.
The nearest public airport to Wantage is
London Heathrow
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...
, approximately east of the town.
A section of the
Wilts & Berks Canal passes through the parish.
Education
![King Alfred's School - geograph-2577522-by-Bill-Nicholls](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/King_Alfred%27s_School_-_geograph-2577522-by-Bill-Nicholls.jpg)
There is one state secondary school in Wantage,
King Alfred's Academy
King Alfred's Academy is a Secondary school in Wantage, Oxfordshire, recognised as an Academy. It is named after King Alfred the Great, who ruled Wessex from 871 to 899 and was born in Wantage in 849 AD. The school has approximately 140 teachers ...
, and approximately ten primary schools. The secondary school converted into an academy in 2011 and was rated Outstanding by
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...
in that year.
Between 1873 and 2006, an Anglican private girls' school,
St Mary's School, was located in Wantage. The school closed in 2006 when St. Mary's merged with
Heathfield School, Ascot. A former independent preparatory school, St Andrew's, established in 1926, closed permanently in 2010.
Fitzwaryn School, a school catering for pupils with special needs, is situated in Wantage. The school caters for children aged 3–19 and was rated Outstanding by Ofsted in 2014. It is named after the ancient
lords of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...
of Wantage, the
FitzWarin family, powerful
Marcher Lord
A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales.
A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in F ...
s seated at
Whittington Castle
Whittington Castle is a castle in northern Shropshire, England, owned and managed by the Whittington Castle Preservation Fund. The castle was originally a motte-and-bailey castle, but this was replaced in the 13th century by one with buildings ar ...
in Shropshire.
In October 2013, the Vale Academy Trust was created when King Alfred's Academy, Charlton Primary School and Wantage CE Primary School came together to form a partnership. The trust was founded by local heads, governors and other stakeholders in the hope of creating quality partnerships among the schools to ensure higher quality education for the area. Since the trust was formed in 2013, three other primary schools in the area have joined. The Vale Academy Trust announced plans in September 2016 to build a brand new
free school
Free may refer to:
Concept
* Freedom, having the ability to do something, without having to obey anyone/anything
* Freethought, a position that beliefs should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism
* Emancipate, to procure ...
in Grove for children from the ages of two to sixteen. The school is planned to have a capacity of up to 1,000 students and hoped to open in 2019 in preparation for large scale housing developments that are planned for Wantage and Grove but has not yet been built (March 2021).
Architecture
![HSBC Bank in Market Square - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/HSBC_Bank_in_Market_Square_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2018045.jpg)
Wantage has been the site of a church since at least the 10th century and the present
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 church of Saints Peter and Paul dates from the 13th century, with many additions since.
Saints' Peter and Paul contains seventeen 15th-century
misericords.
King Alfred's Grammar School was designed by the architect
J. B. Clacy[Pevsner, 1966, page 254] of
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
and built in 1849–50
[ but incorporates a highly carved ]Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
doorway[ from a demolished chantry chapel that formerly stood in the churchyard.][ The ]Old Town Hall
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
in Wantage was completed in 1878.
Developments
In recent years four or more significant housing developments have been constructed. At least one development (including the new health centre) has been on a greenfield
Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to:
Engineering and Business
* Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation
* Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist
* Greenf ...
site adjacent to the A338 road towards Oxford. The other three, however, have been on brownfield
In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...
sites, converting a scrapyard next to the Letcombe Brook.
In 2006, a commercial development began construction with a Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...
supermarket as a focus. This supermarket is double the size of the previous one and was intended to have a significant impact on the town by drawing more visitors from outlying villages. The impact was projected as being positive, aimed at preventing the town becoming a commuter town
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
and retaining some commercial activity. An action group, ''Wantage Rejuvenated'', is being sponsored by the town's chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
to try to bring business back into the area and inject new life into the town.
There was activism in the town regarding development in 2011, with a campaign to stop the demolition of a building close to the town centre by Vanderbuilt Homes, who initially gained permission to convert an early Georgian bank of shops into a mixed commercial and residential block. Vanderbilt applied to have the buildings completely demolished, prompting a local petition and campaign for the application to be refused at the discretion of the Town Council, as although the building is old, it is not listed.
Another area of development which has provoked local protest has been on the north of the town, where a 1,500-home estate is proposed, increasing housing in the town by 35%. Residents have raised petitions and the local MP, Ed Vaizey, has raised concerns, especially about the ability of local road infrastructure to cope. The town is served by the A338 and A417, which are single-carriageway roads. The proposed Wantage development is one mile from a similar mass of 2,500 homes proposed for the village of Grove and which will use the same road network.
In 2014 Wantage was nominated for the Government's Great British High Street Award whereby Wantage won the award for Britain's Best Town Centre beating several other towns nominated for the award.
Sport and leisure
Wantage has a non-League football
Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...
club: Wantage Town F.C.
Wantage Town Football Club is a football club based in Wantage, Oxfordshire that currently play in the . The club is affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association.
History
The club was formed in 1892. The club started playing in the Swind ...
, who play at Alfredian Park
Alfredian Park is a football ground in Wantage, Oxfordshire, England, and the home of Wantage Town Football Club. With a capacity of about 1,500.
History
The ground was built in 1892, it was named after King Alfred the Great, who was born in Wa ...
in the Southern Football League
The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...
. Grove is also the home to Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
constructor Williams Grand Prix Engineering.
Wantage & Grove Cricket Club's first recorded match was in 1863. The club has three teams and play in Charlton, Wantage.
On 12 September 2014, cyclists competing in the 2014 Tour of Britain
The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time.
The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...
passed through Wantage during Stage 6 of the event. The participants entered Wantage via the B4494 road and left via the A417
The A417 is a main road in England running from Streatley, Berkshire to Hope under Dinmore, Herefordshire. It is best known for its section between Cirencester and Gloucester where it has primary status and forms part of the link between the m ...
towards Harwell Harwell may refer to:
People
* Harwell (surname)
* Harwell Hamilton Harris (1903–1990), American architect
Places
* Harwell, Nottinghamshire, England, a hamlet
*Harwell, Oxfordshire, England, a village
**RAF Harwell, a World War II RAF airfield, ...
and then on towards the end of the stage at Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a ne ...
.
White Horse Harriers AC is an athletics club based in Wantage and Grove. They organise the annual White Horse Half Marathon, which starts and finishes in Grove.
Corallian Cycling Club was founded in 2016 and organises regular sociable cycle rides from Wantage Market Place.
Notable people
* King Alfred the Great was born in Wantage in 849.
*Leigh Bedwell
Leigh Andrew Bedwell (born 8 January 1994) is an English professional footballer who played for Swindon Town between 2012 and 2014 as a goalkeeper. After leaving Swindon Town, Bedwell dropped into non-league football with Banbury United and Di ...
, former goalkeeper for Swindon Town (currently playing for Didcot Town
Didcot Town Football Club are a football club based in Didcot in Oxfordshire, England. The club is affiliated to the Berks & Bucks Football Association
They won the FA Vase in 2005 and are currently members of Division One Central of the Southe ...
), was born in Wantage in 1994.
*John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture, ...
, Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ...
from 1972 to 1984, lived in Wantage and his book ''Archie and the Strict Baptists'' is based in the town. Wantage has a memorial park named after him, which includes extracts from his poems in a peaceful wooded area.
* Roy Burton, former Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...
and Witney Town goalkeeper, was born in Wantage in 1951.
* Joseph Butler (1692–1752), Bishop of Bristol, Bishop of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
, and author of ''The Analogy of Religion'', was born and educated in Wantage.
*William John Butler
William John Butler (1818–1894) was an English churchman, Dean of Lincoln from 1885 until his death. He was previously Vicar of the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Wantage from 1847 to 1881, where he founded the Community of St Mary the Virgi ...
, Vicar of Wantage, Dean of Lincoln.
*Edward Cawston
Edward Cawston (16 January 1911 – 5 September 1998) was an English cricketer. A right-handed batsman and right-arm medium-fast bowler, he played first-class cricket for Sussex County Cricket Club and Cambridge University between 1928 and 19 ...
, former English cricketer, born in Wantage in 1911.
*Alice FitzWarin, wife of Dick Whittington
Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London, was an English merchant and a politician of the late medieval period. He is also the real-life inspiration for the English folk tale ''Dick ...
, three-time Lord Mayor of the City of London, grew up in Wantage. Her father's brass memorial is in the church.
*Hugh Johns
Hugh Richard Lewis Johns (6 September 1922 – 27 June 2007) was an English football commentator, best known for his appearances for ITV. During his career, he covered 1,000 matches including four FIFA World Cup finals.
Early life and career
...
, former ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
football commentator, was born in Wantage in September 1922.
*Isaac Kimber
Isaac Kimber (1692–1755) was an English General Baptist minister, biographer, and journalist.
Life
Kimber was born at Wantage, Berkshire, on 1 December 1692. He studied languages under John Ward (academic), John Ward, and took a course of philo ...
, born in Wantage, on 1 December 1692, English General Baptist minister, biographer, historian and journalist.
*Archie Kirkman Loyd
Archie Kirkman Loyd KC (22 January 1847 – 1 December 1922) was a British barrister and twice Member of Parliament for Abingdon.
Early life
Loyd was born on 22 January 1847 in Agra in the North-Western Provinces of India, the third son of Th ...
, former MP, lived in Wantage during the 19th century.
* Robert Loyd-Lindsay, 1st Baron Wantage
*Mother Maribel of Wantage
Mother Maribel of Wantage (16 January 1887–29 January 1970) was an Anglican nun, artist and sculptor who was Mother General of the Community of St Mary the Virgin in Wantage from 1940 to 1953. Her artistic works, particularly her sculptures ...
, Anglican nun, artist and sculptor
*Frances O'Connor
Frances Ann O'Connor (born 12 June 1967) is a British–born Australian actress and director. She is known for her roles in the films ''Mansfield Park'' (1999), '' Bedazzled'' (2000), ''A.I. Artificial Intelligence'' (2001), ''The Importance of ...
, Anglo-Australian actor, was born in Wantage in 1967 where she lived for two years before moving to Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Australia.
*Lester Piggott
Lester Keith Piggott (5 November 1935 – 29 May 2022) was an English professional jockey and trainer. With 4,493 career flat racing wins in Britain, including a record nine Epsom Derby victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest f ...
, jockey, was born in Wantage in 1935.
*Thomas William Shore
Thomas William Shore, sometimes given as William Thomas Shore (5 April 1840 – 15 January 1905) was an English geologist and antiquarian.
Life
Born on 5 April 1840 at Wantage, he was son of William Shore, architect, by his wife Susannah Carter. ...
, former geologist and antiquarian, was born in Wantage in 1840.
*Caroline Voaden
Caroline Jane Voaden is a British politician and international journalist, who served as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament from 2019 to 2020, and was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South West England ...
, British Liberal Democrat former MEP MEP may refer to:
Organisations and politics
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, a political party in Sri Lanka
* Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1956), a former political alliance in Sri Lanka
* Maison européenne de la photographie, a photography centre ...
.
Twinning
Wantage is twinned with:
* Mably in France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
since 1990
* Seesen in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
since 1979
Nearby places
See also
* Icknield Way Morris Men, a traditional dance troupe in Wantage.
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
Wantage Town Council
wantage.com Welcome to Wantage
Love Wantage: Places to Eat, Drink, Shop, Stay, & Things to See & Do
{{Authority control
Market towns in Oxfordshire
Vale of White Horse
Civil parishes in Oxfordshire