Oxfordshire - History, Towns and cities, Economy, Further reading

pop (2001e) 605 500; area 2608 km²/1007 sq mi. County in the S Midlands of England; Cotswold Hills to the NW, Chiltern Hills to the SW; county town, Oxford; agriculture, vehicles, paper, textiles; River Thames, Vale of the White Horse; Atomic Energy Authority laboratories at Culham.

Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in south-east England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire.

It is divided into five local government districts: Oxford, Cherwell, Vale of the White Horse (after the Uffington White Horse), West Oxfordshire and South Oxfordshire.

The highest point of the county is Whitehorse Hill, in the Vale of White Horse, reaching 856 feet (261m).

History

Main article: History of Oxfordshire.

Historically the area has always had some importance, it has been valuable agricultural land resting between the main southern cities and containing the prestigious settlement at Oxford (whose name came from Anglo-Saxon Oxenaford = "ford for oxen").

The Vale of the White Horse and parts of South Oxfordshire south of the River Thames are traditionally part of Berkshire but were added to the administrative county in 1974.

Towns and cities

Abingdon, (Berkshire) Banbury Bicester Burford Carterton Chipping Norton Didcot (Berkshire) Faringdon (Berkshire) Henley-on-Thames Oxford Thame Wallingford (Berkshire) Wantage Witney Woodstock

For a more complete list of settlements in the county see List of places in Oxfordshire.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Oxfordshire at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	7,607	120	2,084	5,404
2000	10,594	80	2,661	7,853
2003	12,942	93	2,665	10,184

↑  Princes Risborough Railway — A heritage railway operated with steam and diesel locomotives Cholsey and Wallingford Railway Didcot Railway Centre — Museum of the Great Western Railway Greys Court Kelmscott Manor — Home of William Morris Oxford River and Rowing Museum River Thames Rousham House and Gardens Wallingford Museum

Further reading

Philip Powell - The Geology of Oxfordshire (Dovecote Press, 2005) ISBN 1-904349-19-6