The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs to the River Thames at the Goring Gap, part of the Icknield Way which ran, not always on the ridge, from Salisbury Plain to East Anglia. The route was adapted and extended as a National Trail, created in 1972. The Ridgeway National Trail follows the ancient Ridgeway from Overton Hill, near Avebury, to Streatley, then follows footpaths and parts of the ancient Icknield Way through the Chiltern Hills to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. The National Trail is 87 miles (140 km) long.
Year 636 (DCXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 636 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Oxfordshire is a landlocked county in the far west of the government statistical region of South East England. The ceremonial county 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.
The Uffington White Horse is a prehistoric hill figure, 110 m (360 ft) long, formed from deep trenches filled with crushed white chalk. The figure is situated on the upper slopes of White Horse Hill in the English civil parish of Uffington, some 16 km (10 mi) east of Swindon, 8 km (5.0 mi) south of the town of Faringdon and a similar distance west of the town of Wantage; or 2.5 km (1.6 mi) south of Uffington. The hill forms a part of the scarp of the Berkshire Downs and overlooks the Vale of White Horse to the north. The best views of the figure are obtained from the air, or from directly across the Vale, particularly around the villages of Great Coxwell, Longcot and Fernham. The site is owned and managed by the National Trust and is a scheduled monument. The Guardian stated in 2003 that "for more than 3,000 years, the Uffington White Horse has been jealously guarded as a masterpiece of minimalist art." The Uffington Horse is by far the oldest of the white horse figures in Britain and is of an entirely different design from the others inspired by it.
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or kurgans, and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus.
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically a north-west projection of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of the White Horse'. It is crossed by the Ridgeway National Trail in its far south, across the North Wessex Downs AONB at the junction of four counties. The northern boundary is defined by the River Thames. The name refers to Uffington White Horse, a prehistoric hill figure.
Lambourn is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies just north of the M4 Motorway between Swindon and Newbury, and borders Wiltshire to the west and Oxfordshire to the north. After Newmarket it is the largest centre of racehorse training in England, and is home to a rehabilitation centre for injured jockeys, an equine hospital, and several leading jockeys and trainers. To the north of the village are the prehistoric Seven Barrows and the nearby long barrow, and in 2004 the Crow Down Hoard was found close to the village.
Inkpen is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southeast of Hungerford, most of the land of which is cultivated fields with scattered woodland was once part of a former forest of Savernake. Inkpen has boundaries with Wiltshire and Hampshire, including part of Walbury Hill, the highest point in South East England.
Chanctonbury Ring is a prehistoric hill fort atop Chanctonbury Hill on the South Downs, on the border of the civil parishes of Washington and Wiston in the English county of West Sussex. A ridgeway, now part of the South Downs Way, runs along the hill. It forms part of an ensemble of associated historical features created over a span of more than 2,000 years, including round barrows dating from the Bronze Age to the Saxon periods and dykes dating from the Iron Age and Roman periods.
Cock Marsh is an area of marsh land and steep chalk slope covering more than 150-acre (61-hectare) north of Maidenhead in Berkshire. It includes an 45-acre (18-hectare) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is also the location of a Round barrow cemetery and common land where livestock have grazed for hundreds of years. Cock Marsh is owned and managed by the National Trust.
Chain Hill is one of the hills of the North Wessex Downs, located in the civil parish of Wantage in the English county of Oxfordshire. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire. It is designated part of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty by the Countryside Agency and forms part of the Vale of White Horse.
East Hendred is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse and a similar distance west of Didcot. The village is on East Hendred Brook, which flows from the Berkshire Downs to join the River Thames at Sutton Courtenay. Historically in Berkshire, it has been administered as part of Oxfordshire, England, since the 1974 boundary changes. The westernmost parts of the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus are in the parish. The Ridgeway and Icknield Way pass through the parish. It was called "the most well connected village in Britain" because of its connections with the railway station in Didcot and the M4 motorway. Champs Chapel Museum of East Hendred is a small museum in a former 15th century wayside chapel.
The Champs Chapel Museum of East Hendred is a local village museum housed in the former Chapel of Jesus of Bethlehem, built in 1453 by Carthusian monks and now commonly called Champs Chapel, at East Hendred in the English county of Oxfordshire.
The Poem Tree was a beech tree with a poem carved into it by Joseph Tubb, located on Castle Hill at Wittenham Clumps in Oxfordshire, England. The tree was believed to be around 300 years old, with Tubb's poem being carved in the 1840s. The tree died in the 1990s and rotted completely while standing, before collapsing during a period of inclement weather in July 2012.
Overton Hill is a 571 ft hill at the southern edge of the Marlborough Downs in Wiltshire, England. It lies just west of the village of West Overton and about 4 miles (6 km) west from the town of Marlborough. The A4 road passes close to the north, and to the south is the River Kennet.
The Devil's Humps are four Bronze Age barrows situated on Bow Hill on the South Downs near Stoughton, West Sussex. They are situated on a downland ridgeway crossed by an ancient trackway, above Kingley Vale. The Devil's Humps are counted among the most impressive round barrows surviving on the South Downs. The Devil's Humps are within the Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve. The two bell barrows together with two pond barrows and a cross dyke are listed as Scheduled Ancient Monument 1008371, while the two bowl barrows are listed as Scheduled Ancient Monument 1008372.
Hackpen, Warren & Gramp's Hill Downs is a 71.4-hectare (176-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Letcombe Bassett in Oxfordshire.
Lodge Hill is a 31.8-hectare (79-acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest north of Bledlow Ridge in Buckinghamshire. The local planning authorities are Wycombe District Council and Buckinghamshire County Council. The site is in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and The Ridgeway long-distance footpath crosses it.
Swanborough Tump is a mound of earth in Manningford parish, Wiltshire, England. It has been considered to be a bowl barrow dating from the Bronze Age and is listed as a scheduled monument.
