Oxfordshire is a ceremonial county in the South East of England, on the upper Thames. It covers 1,006 square miles (2,605 km2) and had 726,727 residents at the 2021 census.
Oxford is the county town and the only city. The county is run by Oxfordshire County Council and five district councils, and its northern edge reaches the Cotswolds while its south-east corner climbs into the Chilterns.
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Region | South East England |
| Status | Ceremonial and administrative county |
| Area | 1,006 sq mi (2,605 km2) |
| Population (2021) | 726,727 |
| Density | 279 people per km2 (722 per sq mi) |
| County town | Oxford (about 162,000) |
| Districts | Oxford, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse, West Oxfordshire |
| Main rivers | Thames, Cherwell, Windrush, Evenlode, Ock, Thame |
| Postcode areas | OX, plus RG around Henley and parts of SN and HP |
Towns and Villages in Oxfordshire
The gazetteer records 471 named settlements in Oxfordshire. The 260 largest are listed below, alphabetically from Abingdon to Yarnton.
- Abingdon
- Adderbury
- Adwell
- Alkerton
- Alvescot
- Ambrosden
- Appleford
- Appleton
- Ardington
- Ardley
- Ascott under Wychwood
- Ashbury
- Asthall
- Asthall Leigh
- Aston
- Aston Rowant
- Aston Tirrold
- Aston Upthorpe
- Baldon Row
- Balscote
- Bampton
- Banbury
- Barford Saint John
- Barford St Michael
- Barnard Gate
- Baulking
- Baynard’s Green
- Bayworth
- Beckley
- Benson
- Berinsfield
- Berrick Salome
- Bicester
- Binfield Heath
- Bix
- Black Bourton
- Blackthorn
- Bladon
- Bletchingdon
- Blewbury
- Bloxham
- Boars Hill
- Bodicote
- Bould
- Bourton
- Bradwell
- Brighthampton
- Brightwell Baldwin
- Britwell Salome
- Brize Norton
- Broadwell
- Brookhampton
- Broughton
- Broughton Poggs
- Bruern Abbey
- Buckland
- Bucknell
- Bunkers Hill
- Burcot
- Burdrop
- Burford
- Buscot
- Cane End
- Carswell Marsh
- Carterton
- Cassington
- Catslip
- Caulcott
- Caversfield
- Chadlington
- Chalgrove
- Chalkhouse Green
- Charlbury
- Charlton on Otmoor
- Charney Basset
- Chastleton
- Chawley
- Chazey Heath
- Checkendon
- Chesterton
- Childrey
- Chilson
- Chilton
- Chinnor
- Chipping Norton
- Chislehampton
- Cholsey
- Christmas Common
- Church Hanborough
- Churchill
- Clanfield
- Clare
- Clattercote
- Claydon
- Cleveley
- Clifton
- Clifton Hampden
- Coleshill
- Collins End
- Combe
- Compton Beauchamp
- Cookley Green
- Cornwell
- Coscote
- Cote
- Cothill
- Cottisford
- Cowley
- Coxwell
- Crawley
- Cray’s Pond
- Crocker End
- Cropredy
- Crowell
- Crowmarsh Gifford
- Crowsley
- Cuddesdon
- Culham
- Cumnor
- Curbridge
- Cuxham
- Dane Hill
- Deddington
- Delly End
- Denchworth
- Didcot
- Ditchley
- Dorchester
- Dorchester on Thames
- Drayton
- Drayton Saint Leonard
- Dry Sanford
- Ducklington
- Duns Tew
- Dunsden Green
- East Challow
- East End
- East Ginge
- East Hagbourne
- East Hanney
- East Hendred
- Eaton Hastings
- Elsfield
- Emmington
- Enslow
- Enstone
- Epwell
- Ewelme
- Exlade Street
- Eynsham
- Faringdon
- Farmoor
- Fawler
- Fernham
- Fewcott
- Field Assarts
- Fifield
- Filchampstead
- Filkins
- Finmere
- Finstock
- Fordwells
- Forest Hill
- Freeland
- Frilford
- Frilford Heath
- Fringford
- Fritwell
- Fulbrook
- Fulwell
- Fyfield
- Gagingwell
- Gainfield
- Gallowstree Common
- Garford
- Garsington
- Glympton
- Godington
- Godstow
- Goosey
- Goring
- Goring Heath
- Gozzard’s Ford
- Great Bourton
- Great Haseley
- Great Milton
- Great Rollright
- Grove
- Hailey
- Harwell
- Henley-on-Thames
- Hook Norton
- Horley
- Hornton
- Islip
- Kidlington
- Kingham
- Kingston Bagpuize
- Kingston Blount
- Kingston Lisle
- Kirtlington
- Leafield
- Letcombe Regis
- Lewknor
- Little Milton
- Long Wittenham
- Longworth
- Lower Heyford
- Mapledurham
- Marcham
- Marsh Baldon
- Marston
- Merton
- Minster Lovell
- Nettlebed
- North Leigh
- North Moreton
- North Stoke
- Nuffield
- Oxford
- Piddington
- Pyrton
- Radley
- Rotherfield Peppard
- Shenington
- Shilton
- Shiplake
- Shipton under Wychwood
- Shrivenham
- Somerton
- Sonning Common
- Souldern
- South Moreton
- South Newington
- Stadhampton
- Standlake
- Stanford in the Vale
- Stanton Harcourt
- Steeple Aston
- Steventon
- Stonesfield
- Stratton Audley
- Sutton Courtenay
- Tackley
- Tadmarton
- Tetsworth
- Thame
- Upper Heyford
- Wallingford
- Wantage
- Warborough
- Wardington
- Watlington
- Wendlebury
- Weston on the Green
- Wheatley
- Witney
- Woodstock
- Wroxton
- Yarnton
Geography
The Thames crosses the county from Lechlade in the west to Henley in the south-east, joined at Oxford by the Cherwell. The Windrush, Evenlode, Ock and Thame are the other main rivers.
The north-west corner lies in the Cotswolds, around Chipping Norton and Burford. South of the Thames the Berkshire Downs rise above the Vale of White Horse, and the Chilterns run along the south-eastern boundary above Watlington and Henley-on-Thames. Otmoor, north-east of Oxford, is a low wetland kept as a bird reserve.
Oxfordshire borders Warwickshire to the north-west, Northamptonshire to the north-east, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, Wiltshire to the south-west and Gloucestershire to the west.
Demographics
The 2021 census counted 726,727 residents, about 8% more than in 2011. Growth has been fastest at Bicester and Didcot, both designated for large housing expansion.
Oxford holds about 162,000 people. The next largest towns are Banbury (about 49,000), Abingdon (about 38,700), Bicester (about 33,800), Didcot (about 29,300), Witney (about 29,100), Carterton (about 15,700), Kidlington (about 13,600) and Wantage (about 13,100).
Oxford’s population is unusually young and transient: the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University together enrol more than 45,000 students. Housing costs in the city are among the highest outside London relative to local earnings.
Economy and Local Life
Education and research anchor the county. The University of Oxford is the largest employer, Oxford University Press publishes from Jericho, and the teaching hospitals at Headington employ several thousand more.
South of Oxford, Harwell Campus and the Culham site host national laboratories in space, fusion energy and materials science, with Milton Park nearby as a business estate. Car making continues at Plant Oxford in Cowley, where Mini bodies and cars have been built since 1913 under successive owners.
Motorsport engineering clusters around Grove and Banbury, and Bicester Village draws several million retail visitors a year. Farming in the Vale and the Cotswolds is arable and sheep, and the market towns of Chipping Norton, Thame, Faringdon and Wallingford still hold regular markets.
History
Oxford grew at a ford on the Thames and had a scholarly community by 1096, making its university the oldest in the English-speaking world. Wantage was the birthplace of Alfred the Great in about 849, and the Uffington White Horse above the Vale was cut into the chalk in the late Bronze Age.
Charles I made Oxford his capital during the Civil War, from 1642 until the city surrendered in 1646. Blenheim Palace at Woodstock was built from 1705 for the first Duke of Marlborough and was Winston Churchill’s birthplace.
The county grew in 1974, when the Vale of White Horse and the Faringdon area were transferred from Berkshire. That is why Abingdon, Wantage and Didcot, all historically Berkshire towns, are now Oxfordshire.
Getting There
The M40 runs through the county between London and Birmingham, with junctions for Oxford, Bicester and Banbury. The A34 carries north-south traffic from Newbury past Oxford to the M40, and the A40, A44, A420 and A4074 link the market towns.
Trains from Oxford reach London Paddington in about an hour on Great Western services, and Chiltern trains run from Oxford and Oxford Parkway to Bicester Village and London Marylebone. Didcot Parkway sits on the Great Western Main Line, and Banbury and Charlbury are the other main stations. East West Rail has extended services east from Oxford towards Bletchley and Milton Keynes.
London Oxford Airport at Kidlington handles business flights. Heathrow is about 50 miles away by the M40 and M25, and Birmingham Airport about 60 miles north.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the population of Oxfordshire?
726,727 at the 2021 census, up about 8% on 2011.
What is the largest town in Oxfordshire?
Oxford, with about 162,000 residents. Banbury is the largest town outside the city, at roughly 49,000.
How many towns and villages are there in Oxfordshire?
The gazetteer lists 471 named settlements, from the city of Oxford down to single-street hamlets in the Cotswolds and Chilterns.
Which councils cover Oxfordshire?
Oxfordshire County Council, plus the district councils of Oxford, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and West Oxfordshire.
Why are Abingdon and Didcot in Oxfordshire?
Both were in Berkshire until the 1974 local government reorganisation, which moved the Vale of White Horse and the Faringdon area into Oxfordshire.
Where is Oxfordshire?
In south central England on the upper Thames, between Warwickshire and Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire and Wiltshire to the south and Gloucestershire to the west.