- Stanford in the Vale
Stanford in the Vale is a large
village with approximately 2,000 residents situated in theVale of White Horse ,Oxfordshire ,England . Until the administrative county boundary changes of1974 , the village was inBerkshire .Geography
Stanford is located at gbmapping|SU342935. It lies on the
A417 road , four miles fromFaringdon and six fromWantage . It has two churches, one primary school, twopub s, shops and businesses, as well as numerous clubs and societies. The parish church of St Denys dominates 'Church Green'. The village is built onCorallian Limestone and there is heavy quarrying activity, extractingsand s andgravel s.History
Stanford in the Vale takes its name from the ancient crossing of the
River Ock , which flows into theRiver Thames at Abingdon. In Saxon times, the crossing was known as "stony ford". It is often assumed that this ford once served where the bridge now spans the river on the A417, near Stanford Mill, however others speculate that it was actually a crossing ofFrogmore Brook . Inmediaeval times, the village rivalled Abingdon as a market centre, having the unusual feature of two village greens. During1644 and1645 , theEnglish Civil War came toFaringdon andRadcot (a strategic river crossing over the Thames). According to local legend, Cromwell’sCavalry was billeted in the village.Trivia
*The poet
Pam Ayres was born in the village.
*The village was twinned withSt Germain du Corbeis (France ) in1989 .
*Stanford in the Vale featured on national UK news inAugust 2005 because of a serious fire affecting a row ofthatch ed cottages on the village green. [http://www.stanford-in-the-vale.co.uk/200508fire.shtml]
* Stanford has had its own community bus service, set up and operated by volunteers, since 1982. It provides regular services to the local towns of Faringdon and Wantage, and also serves the surrounding villages Lyford,Denchworth ,West Challow ,Hatford ,Gainfield ,Shellingford andCharney Bassett .External links
* [http://www.stanford-in-the-vale.co.uk Stanford in the Vale] — community website
* [http://www.faringdon.org/hycivilwar.htm Civil War detail]
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