Marcham

Coordinates: 51°39′58″N 1°20′38″W / 51.666°N 1.344°W / 51.666; -1.344

Marcham
All Saints Church, Marcham
Marcham  Marcham shown within Oxfordshire
Population	1,811 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid reference	SU4596
Parish	Marcham
District	Vale of White Horse
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Abingdon
Postcode district	OX13
Dialling code	01865
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Wantage
Website	Marcham Parish Council
List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire

Marcham is a village and civil parish about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.

Archaeology

In Trendles Field behind the former Noah's Ark Inn, in the extreme south-west of the parish, the remains of an Iron Age and Roman village have been excavated.^[2] Evidence has been found of round huts and grain storage pits, to which a celtic religious shrine was later added.^[2] At the end of the first century AD a stone-built Romano-British temple was built on the site of one of the huts and a smaller stone building, possibly a shrine, was built on the site of the Iron Age shrine.^[3] The temple seems to have remained in use well into the 5th century.^[2]

This site is subject to an ongoing Oxford University research project, with excavations being conducted each July. In 2009 it was announced that the remains of a possible amphitheatre had been found.^[4]

History

The toponym Marcham is derived from the Old English Merceham, in which ham is a homestead and merece is a place where wild celery grows.^[5][6]

The tower of the Church of England Parish Church of All Saints dates from early in the 13th century. It has a ring of six bells.^[7] The remainder of the church was rebuilt in 1837.^[8]

Amenities

Marcham has a Church of England Primary School.^[9]

The National Federation of Women's Institutes has Denman College, its residential adult education college, in Marcham.^[10]

Marcham Football Club^[11] plays in North Berks Football League Division Two.^[12]

References

1. ^ "Area: Marcham CP (Parish): Parish Headcounts". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=798752&d=16&e=15&g=481397&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1299074751734&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779. Retrieved 22 March 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Pevsner, 1966, page 146
3. ^ Pevsner, 1966, page 147
4. ^ "School of Archaeology, University of Oxford: The Vale and Ridgeway Project". http://www.arch.ox.ac.uk/research/research_projects/marcham. Retrieved May 18, 2009. 
5. ^ "Domesday place-names of Berkshire". Archived from the original on July 15, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070715015318/http://www.gwp.enta.net/berknames.htm. Retrieved April 6, 2008. 
6. ^ "Royal Berkshire History - Marcham". http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/marcham.html. Retrieved April 6, 2008. 
7. ^ "Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers, Old North Berks Branch". http://onb.org.uk/live/towers/index.html. Retrieved May 18, 2009. 
8. ^ "Francis Frith - Marcham". http://www.francisfrith.com/search/england/oxfordshire/marcham/. Retrieved April 6, 2008. ^{[dead link]}
9. ^ "Marcham C of E Primary School". http://www.marcham.oxon.sch.uk. Retrieved May 18, 2009. 
10. ^ "Women's Institute - About Denman College". http://www.womens-institute.co.uk/standard.aspx?id=209. Retrieved April 6, 2008. 
11. ^ "Marcham Football Club". http://www.marchamfc.co.uk/. Retrieved May 18, 2009. 
12. ^ "North Berks Football League". http://www.nbfl.co.uk/tables/tab2.htm. Retrieved May 18, 2009. 

Sources and further reading

• Hingley, R. 1985. Location, Function and Status: a Romano-British ‘religious complex’ at the Noah’s Ark Inn, Frilford (Oxfordshire). Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 4 (2), 201-14.
• Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds (1924). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4. Victoria County History. pp. 354–360. 
• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 146, 176, 177. 

External links

• Marcham and District News
• Marcham C of E Primary School
• Marcham Football Club
• Denman College
• Archaeology at Marcham
• Marcham Society