Islip, Oxfordshire

Islip (pronEng|ˈaɪslɪp) is a village in Oxfordshire, England. It is situated on the western edge of the fens of Otmoor, on the River Ray and River Cherwell, just east of Kidlington, and about 10 km south west of Bicester.

The remains of a Romano-British villa are in the village. There was a rout at Islip on April 15 1645 during the English Civil War.

The village is the birthplace of King Edward the Confessor. Another famous resident from history was geologist William Buckland.

Robert Graves and Nancy Nicholson lived here in the early 1920s and Graves describes their life in "Goodbye to All That".

Islip's railway service has a chequered history. The London and North Western Railway opened a branch from Bletchley to Oxford in 1850 including a station at Islip. The line was closed in 1967 and later Islip station was demolished. Passenger trains between Oxford and Bicester Town were reinstated in 1987 and Islip station was rebuilt and reopened in 1989. Plans to reopen the line between Bicester Town and Bletchley to restore through-services between Oxford and Bedford are currently the subject of a feasibility study.

Islip has two pubs—The Red Lion and The Swan.

The Channel Four (TV) archaeology programme Time Team visited Islip in 2006 to attempt to locate a medieval chapel [ [http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/2006_islip.html channel4.com —Time Team 2006—Islip, Oxfordshire ] ] .

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