View source for Vale of White Horse

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See {{Infobox settlement}} for the full list of available fields -->
<!-- Elements common to United Kingdom -->| timezone                        = [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]]
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<!-- Elements common to administrative division of this type (English two-tier district) -->| settlement_type                 = [[Non-metropolitan district]]
| subdivision_type                = [[List of sovereign states|Sovereign state]]
| subdivision_type1               = [[Countries of the United Kingdom|Constituent country]]
| subdivision_type2               = [[Regions of England|Region]]
| subdivision_type3               = [[Non-metropolitan county]]
| subdivision_type5               = Status
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| subdivision_name                = [[United Kingdom]]
| subdivision_name1               = [[England]]
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| government_type                 = Non-metropolitan district council
| established_title1              = Incorporated
| population_density_km2          = auto
| blank1_name                     = [[ONS coding system|ONS code]]
| blank2_name                     = [[Ordnance Survey National Grid|OS grid reference]]
| official_name                   = Vale of White Horse
| other_name                      = Vale of White Horse District
| image_skyline                   = Ginge.jpg
| imagesize                       = 
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| image_caption                   = Characteristic landscape of farmland, hills and woodlands
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| image_map                       = Vale of White Horse UK locator map.svg
| mapsize                         = 150px
| map_alt                         = 
| map_caption                     = Vale of White Horse shown within Oxfordshire
| subdivision_name2               = [[South East England]]
| subdivision_name3               = [[Oxfordshire]]
| subdivision_name4               = [[Berkshire]]
| subdivision_name6               = [[Milton, Vale of White Horse]]
| established_date1               = {{start date and age|1 April 1974}}
| governing_body                  = [[Vale of White Horse District Council]]
| leader_title                    = Executive 
| leader_name                    = [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]]
| leader_title2                   = [[List of MPs elected in the 2024 United Kingdom general election|MPs]]
| leader_name2                    = {{ubl|[[Olly Glover]]<!-- Didcot and Wantage constituency -->|[[Layla Moran]]<!-- Oxford West and Abingdon constituency -->|[[Charlie Maynard]]<!-- Witney constituency -->}}
| area_total_km2                  = 578.6
| area_rank                       = {{English district area rank|GSS=E07000180}} [[List of English districts by area|(of {{English district total}})]]
| population_total                = {{English district population|GSS=E07000180}}
| population_as_of                = {{English statistics year}}
| population_rank                 = {{English district rank|GSS=E07000180}} [[List of English districts by population|(of {{English district total}})]]
 <!-- demographics (section 1) -->
| demographics_type1      = Ethnicity <span style="font-weight:normal;">([[2021 United Kingdom census|2021]])</span>
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref name="2021 Nomis">{{NOMIS2021|id=E07000180|title=Vale of White Horse Local Authority|access-date=5 January 2024}}</ref>
| demographics1_title1    = [[Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom|Ethnic groups]]
| demographics1_info1     =
 {{Collapsible list
 | 90.8% [[White people in the United Kingdom|White]]
 | 4% [[British Asians|Asian]]
 | 2.5% [[Mixed (United Kingdom ethnicity category)|Mixed]]
 | 1.7% [[Black British people|Black]]
 | 1.1% [[Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom|other]]
 }}
<!-- demographics (section 2) -->
| demographics_type2      = Religion <span style="font-weight:normal;">(2021)</span>
| demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="2021 Nomis"/>
| demographics2_title1    = [[Religion in England|Religion]]
| demographics2_info1     = 
 {{Collapsible list
 | 48.6% [[Religion in England#Christianity|Christianity]]
 | 41.7% [[Irreligion in the United Kingdom|no religion]]
 | 6.1% not stated
 | 1.4% [[Islam in England|Islam]]
 | 0.9% [[Hinduism in England|Hinduism]]
 | 0.5% [[Buddhism in England|Buddhism]]
 | 0.5% [[Religion in England|other]]
 | 0.2% [[History of the Jews in England|Judaism]]
 | 0.2% [[Sikhism in England|Sikhism]]
 }} 
| blank1_info                     = 38UE (ONS)<br />E07000180 (GSS)
| blank2_info                     = {{gbmappingsmall|SU3462689188}}
| website                         = {{URL|http://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/}}
| name                            = 
}}

The '''Vale of White Horse''' is a [[Non-metropolitan district|local government district]] of [[Oxfordshire]] in England. It [[Historic counties of England|was historically]] part of [[Berkshire]]. 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]].

As well as being a local authority district, the Vale of White Horse is a geographical, historical and [[cultural region]]. The name "Vale of White Horse" predates the present-day local authority district, having been described, for example, in [[Daniel Defoe]]'s 1748 travel account ''[[A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HSgJAAAAQAAJ|title=A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain (1748)|website=Google Books|accessdate=31 May 2023 |last1=Defoe |first1=Daniel |date=30 April 2024 }}</ref> There are references to the name as early as the 17th century; the [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan]] antiquarian and historian [[William Camden]] referred to the "Vale of White Horse" in his 1610 topographical study on the British Isles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/travellers/Camden/11|title=Berkshire, Surrey and Sussex|website=A vision of Britain though time|accessdate=7 February 2023 }}</ref> Traditionally, the Vale has been understood to cover an area wider than the present-day local authority district, stretching from [[Buscot]], in the west, to [[Streatley, Berkshire|Streatley]], in the east.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fCaVWkVDljQC|title=General view of the agriculture of Berkshire. Drawn up for the consideration of the Board of Agriculture and internal improvement (1809)|website=Google Books|accessdate=8 February 2023 |last1=Mavor |first1=William Fordyce |date=30 April 2024 }}</ref> The [[Vale and Downland Museum]], based in [[Wantage]], stores and presents the [[cultural heritage]] of the region.

==History==
The area has been long settled as a productive fertile chalklands above well-drained clay valleys, and well-farmed with many small woodlands and hills between the [[Berkshire Downs]] and the [[River Thames]] on its north and east sides. It is named after the prominent and large [[Bronze Age]]-founded [[Uffington White Horse]] hill figure.

The local government district was formed as part of the [[Local Government Act 1972|1974 re-organisation]], taking in three small [[Berkshire]] towns – in descending size order [[Abingdon-on-Thames|Abingdon]], [[Faringdon]] and [[Wantage]] – and the surrounding rural parishes. There are [[List of civil parishes in Oxfordshire|68 parishes]] in the district. Previously, since the 19th century, the administrative areas had been the [[Municipal Borough of Abingdon]], [[Wantage Urban District]], [[Abingdon Rural District]], [[Faringdon Rural District]], and most of [[Wantage Rural District]].

==Politics==
{{Main|Vale of White Horse District Council elections|Oxfordshire County Council elections}}
The [[Vale of White Horse District Council]] is based in [[Milton Park]], [[Milton, Vale of White Horse|Milton]]. The council has been controlled by either [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] or [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] administrations since Vale of White Horse was created in 1973. The council was run by the Conservative Party from 2011 until the [[2019 Vale of White Horse District Council election|2019 UK local elections]], at which the Liberal Democrats regained control in a landslide, after having previously held the council from 1995 to 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-48144259 |title=Election results: Lib Dems win Oxfordshire Tory council |work=BBC News |date=3 May 2019 |access-date=3 May 2019 }}</ref>

==Geography==
The Vale is the valley of the [[River Ock|Ock]], a stream which joins the Thames from the west at Abingdon. It is almost flat and well wooded, its green meadows and foliage contrasting richly with the bald summits of the [[Berkshire Downs]], which flank it on the south. The numerous [[elm]] trees that once were a major feature of the Vale were lost to [[Dutch Elm Disease]]. To the north, a low ridge separates it from the upper [[Thames Valley]], holding back the soft [[Jurassic]] [[sedimentary]] and Cretaceous deposits ([[Greensand]], [[Gault]] and [[Kimmeridge Clay]]) behind a hard [[corallian limestone]] [[escarpment]] ridge, in what is technically a [[hanging valley]]; but local usage sometimes extends the vale to cover all the ground between the [[Cotswolds]] (on the north) and the Berkshire Downs. According to the geographical definition, however, the Vale is from two to five miles wide, and the distance by road from Abingdon to [[Shrivenham]] at its head is 18 miles.

Wantage is the only town in the foot or slopes of the vale (Faringdon, on the northwestern rim, is closely associated). Wantage is in a sheltered hollow at the foot of the hills, along which villages concentrate often in long [[strip parish]]es. Numerous springs, the run-off from the [[chalk]] hills were main local water sources, and an accessible water table enabled the growing of fruits, grains and vegetables.

==Sites of interest==
===White Horse Hill===
{{main|White Horse Hill}}
Towards the west, above [[Uffington, Oxfordshire|Uffington]], the hills reach a culminating point of 261&nbsp;m (856&nbsp;ft) in White Horse Hill. In its northern flank, just below the summit, a gigantic [[Uffington White Horse|figure of a horse]] is cut, consisting of deep trenches filled with crushed white chalk. This figure gives name to the hill, the range and the Vale. It is 114&nbsp;m (374&nbsp;ft) long and highly stylised, the neck, body and tail varying little in width.

[[File:Dragon Hill 20040424.jpg|thumb|none|500px|A panoramic view into the Vale; the White Horse is on the right and Dragon Hill centre right]]
The origin of the figure is unknown. Tradition asserted it to be the monument of a victory over the [[Viking|Danes]] by [[Alfred the Great|King Alfred]], who was born at Wantage, but the site of the [[Battle of Ashdown]] (871 [[Common Era|CE]]) has been variously located. Moreover, the figure has been dated to the Bronze Age, so it pre-dates the battle by many centuries. Many ancient remains occur in the vicinity of the Horse.

[[File:Vale of White Horse c.jpg|thumb|500px|none|Vale scene, with White Horse Hill on the horizon]]
[[File:White horse from air.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Uffington White Horse]], as seen from an altitude of about 600 m (2000 ft), from the cockpit of a [[Glider aircraft|glider]]]]
On the summit of the hill there is an extensive and well-preserved circular camp, apparently used by the Romans but of much earlier origin. It is an Iron Age [[hill fort]] named [[Uffington Castle]], after the village in the vale below. Within a short distance are [[Hardwell Castle]], a near-square work and, on the southern slope of the hills near [[Ashdown House, Oxfordshire|Ashdown House]], a small camp traditionally called [[Alfred's Castle]]. Further to the West, there is [[Liddington Castle]].

A smooth, steep gully on the north flank of White Horse Hill is called the Manger, and to the west of it rises a bald mound named [[Dragon Hill, Uffington|Dragon Hill]], the traditional scene of [[St George]]'s [[Saint George and the Dragon|victory]] over the [[European dragon|dragon]], the blood of which made the ground bare of grass for ever. But the name may derive from [[Celt]]ic ''Pendragon'' ("dragon's head"), which was a title for a king, and may point to an early place of burial.

The Vale as a whole appears at the beginning of ''[[Tom Brown's Schooldays]]'', as the scene of innocent Saxon boyhood adventures, before the eponymous hero is sent away to school at [[Rugby School|Rugby]].  [[Rosemary Sutcliff]]'s 1977 historical novel ''[[Sun Horse, Moon Horse]]'' takes place in the Vale, telling the tale of the White Horse's creation in [[Bronze Age Britain|ancient Celtic times]].

===Waylands Smithy===
To the west of White Horse Hill lies a [[long barrow]] called [[Wayland's Smithy]], said to be the home of a [[Wayland Smith|smith who was never seen]], but who shod the horses of travellers if they were left at the place with payment. The legend is elaborated, and the smith appears as a character, in [[Sir Walter Scott]]'s novel ''[[Kenilworth (novel)|Kenilworth]]'', and in [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s ''[[Puck of Pook's Hill]]''.

==The Ridgeway==
A grassy track represents the [[Ridgeway National Trail|Ridgeway]], claimed as the oldest road in Europe, perhaps five thousand years old or more. It travels along the crest of the hills, far above what would then have been marshy lowlands or forests, continuing [[Icknield Street]], from the [[Chilterns]] to [[Goring-on-Thames|Goring]] and [[Streatley, Berkshire|Streatley]] on the River [[Thames]]. It links [[The Wash]] and [[Salisbury Plain]], and would have been an important artery for trade.

Other earthworks, in addition to those near the White Horse, overlook the Vale, such as Letcombe Castle (also known as [[Segsbury Camp]]) above [[Wantage]]. At the foot of the hills, not far east of the Horse, is preserved the so-called [[Blowing Stone]] of [[Kingston Lisle]], a mass of [[sandstone]] (a [[sarsen]]) pierced with holes in such a way that, when blown like a trumpet, it produces a loud note. It is believed that, in earlier times, the stone served the purpose of a bugle.

Several of the village churches in the Vale are of interest, notably the fine [[Early English Period|Early English]] cruciform building at Uffington, that has an octagonal tower and is known as ''The Cathedral of the Vale''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/uffington.html |first=David |last=Nash Ford |title=Uffington: St. Mary's Church |work=Berkshire History |access-date=9 February 2016}}</ref>

==Economy==
{{more citations needed section|date=September 2011}}
[[File:Vale scenery.JPG|thumb|250px|right|Farmland and White Horse Hill]]
Farming is mostly [[agronomy|arable]]. In livestock the range is mixed.  The area had a large dairy industry, especially in the 1960s, but it was much reduced by the 21st century, with the large fertile fields supported by subsidies. The [[Lockinge Estate]] is a longstanding agricultural employer within the region.

Natural [[mineral]] resources are mined (quarried) in the Vale. These include [[sand]], [[gravel]] and (formerly) [[Fuller's Earth]].

With the closure of British Leyland's long-established [[MG (car)|MG]] works at Abingdon in 1980,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/news/archive/1980-10/the-mg-factory-at-abingdon-closes-today/ |title=The MG factory at Abingdon closes today |date=24 October 1980 |first=Clifford |last=Webb |publisher=Honest John |access-date=4 June 2018}}</ref> there is no motor industry, apart from some specialist car makers and component factories. Macdermid Autotype in Wantage remains one of the few large industrial employers in the region.

The length of the Vale is traversed by the [[Great Western Main Line]] and the [[Cherwell Valley Line]]. [[Appleford railway station]] and [[Radley railway station]] are now the only stations within the Vale, although there used to be stations at [[Challow railway station|Challow]], [[Uffington railway station|Uffington]], [[Wantage Road railway station|Grove (near Wantage)]], [[Abingdon railway station|Abingdon]] and [[Steventon railway station|Steventon]]. These all closed as part of the [[Beeching cuts]], in the early 1960s. The nearest mainline stations are now [[Swindon railway station|Swindon]], [[Oxford railway station|Oxford]] and [[Didcot Parkway railway station|Didcot Parkway]].

The [[Harwell Science and Innovation Campus]] is a large employer, particularly for scientists and engineers.

At one time [[Amey plc]] had its head office in [[Sutton Courtenay]], Vale of White Horse.<ref name="Oxmail">{{cite news |url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6637451.Amey_bids_for_high_flying_firm/?ref=arc |title=Amey bids for high-flying firm |newspaper=Oxford Mail |date=22 January 1999 |access-date=9 February 2016}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Oxfordshire}}
*[[Vale and Downland Museum]] - local museum for the region.
*[[Vale of the Red Horse]] – another vale of a similar name that once carried some 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 hill figures of a horse.
*[[Vale of White Horse Hunt]] - fox hunting pack named after the region.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|White Horse, Vale of}}
* [[Thomas Hughes]], ''The Scouring of the White Horse'' (1859).
* [[G. K. Chesterton]], "[[The Ballad of the White Horse]]" (1911).
* [[Rudyard Kipling]], "Puck of Pook's Hill".
* [[Tom Brown's Schooldays]]

{{Vale of White Horse}}
{{Oxfordshire}}
{{SE England}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Vale of White Horse| ]]
[[Category:Local authorities adjoining the River Thames]]
[[Category:Non-metropolitan districts of Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:Valleys of Oxfordshire]]