Watchfield

Coordinates: 51°36′43″N 1°38′28″W / 51.612°N 1.641°W / 51.612; -1.641
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Watchfield Free Festival
)

Watchfield
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSwindon
Postcode districtSN6
Dialling code01793
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteWatchfield Parish Council
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire
51°36′43″N 1°38′28″W / 51.612°N 1.641°W / 51.612; -1.641

Watchfield is a village and

civil parish in the Vale of White Horse in on the edge of southwest Oxfordshire, southern England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Highworth in neighbouring Wiltshire. Watchfield is about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the village of Shrivenham. Both villages used to be on the main road between Oxford and Swindon, which is now the A420 road. The Vale of White Horse was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes
administratively transferred it to Oxfordshire.

Toponym

Watchfield's toponym evolved from the Old English Wacenesfield in the 8th century via Wachenesfield in the 11th century, Wachenfeud in the 13th century, and Wachfeld, Wasshyngfeld and Watchyingfeld in the 16th century before reaching its present form.[2]

Churches

Watchfield was originally part of the Church of England parish of Shrivenham and therefore villagers were required to worship there at St. Andrew's parish church.

bellcote and a north aisle.[3] St. Thomas's is now part of the Shrivenham and Ashbury Benefice.[4] The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Alban was built in the 20th century.[when?
]

Economy and amenities

Watchfield consists partly of military accommodation for the

public houses, a Midcounties Co-operative convenience store, a unisex hairdresser, optician, a McDonald's, a Subway, and Shrivenham Hundred
Business Park which is host to a large number of businesses from small manufacturers to high end technology companies. The village Post Office closed in 2013.

A

Westmill Wind Farm Cooperative, came online in March 2008 and was formally opened in May 2008 on the site of the former RAF Watchfield near the village.[5][6] It consists of five 1.3 MW turbines, and is described by its promoters as the UK's largest community-owned wind farm. Nearby is Westmill Woodland Burial Ground, a natural burial ground. Adjacent to the wind farm, a solar farm, Westmill Solar Park has also been developed, and this was sold in 2012 to Westmill Solar Co-operative with local investment, to become the UK's first and world's largest community-owned solar farm.[7]

Watchfield Festival 1975

Strattenborough Castle

On 23–31 August 1975, a former military site at Watchfield became the location of the

Big Green Gathering
festival was held at Watchfield in 1994.

Landmarks

A little over a mile to the northwest of the village is Strattenborough Castle, built in 1792 as both a working farm and for the view from Coleshill House.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Area: Shrivenham CP (Parish): Parish Headcounts". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b Page & Ditchfield, 1921, pages 531-543
  3. ^ a b Pevsner, 1966, page 259
  4. ^ Shrivenham & Ashbury Benefice
  5. ^ "Westmill Wind Farm Celebrates Success of Public Share Launch". Energy4All. 5 December 2005. Retrieved 14 November 2006.[dead link]
  6. ^ "Westmill Wind Farm Celebrates Success of Public Share Launch". Energy4All. 2 June 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2008.[dead link]
  7. ^ Chan, Julia (1 November 2012). "Westmill Solar Park becomes world's largest co-operatively owned solar farm". Solar Power Portal. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Strattenborough Castle (1072498)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 26 May 2011.

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Watchfield.
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