Wantage

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A small market town in the heart of Oxfordshire.
Wantage was once served by a tramway linking it to the Great Western Railway but little trace of this now remains apart from the former station building in Mill Street. One of the locomotives (Shannon, alias Jane) is preserved at Didcot Railway Centre.
Wantage is connected to Oxford, Didcot, Abingdon and Faringdon by regular bus services. These services also tend the intervening villages such as East Hanney and Grove.
The former Wantage railway station was about five kilometres (three miles) from the town, to the north on the A338. A very small portion of the Wilts & Berks Canal is still within the parish.

History

Wantage was a small Roman settlement, but the origins of the name are somewhat controversial. It is generally thought to be a Saxon phrase meaning 'Decreasing River'. King Alfred the Great was born at the Royal palace there, in the 9th century. Wantage appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. Its value was £61 and it was in the King's ownership until Richard I passed it to the Earl of Albemarle in 1190. Weekly trading rights were first granted to the town by Henry III in 1216. Markets are now held twice weekly, on Wednesday and Saturday.
Royalist troops were stationed in Wantage during the English Civil War, and in the 18th century it gained an unfortunate reputation as 'Black Wantage', the haunt of criminals and vagabonds. The following century, Lord Wantage became a notable local and national benefactor. He was very involved in founding the English Red Cross Society. In Wantage, he paid for a marble statue of King Alfred by Count Gleichen to be erected in the market-place, where still stands today. He also donated the Victoria Cross Gallery to the town. This contained paintings of deeds which led to the award of a number of Victoria Cross medals, including his own gained during the Crimean War.
Since 1848, Wantage has been home to the Community of Saint Mary the Virgin, one of the largest communities of Anglican nuns in the world.

Historic buildings

Wantage has been the site of a church since at least the 10th century, and the present building of the Church of St Peter and Saint Paul dates from the 13th century, with many additions since.
King Alfred's School has a highly carved Norman doorway from the old demolished chantry chapel which once stood in the churchyard.
A water-powered mill with an undershot water wheel still stands from the time that Wantage was a major centre of the wool trade following the building of the Wilts & Berks Canal in the late 18th century.

Famous people

The statue of Alfred the GreatKing Alfred the Great was born in Wantage in 849.
John Betjeman, Poet Laureate from 1972–1984, lived in Wantage and his book, 'Archie and the Strict Baptist' is based in the town. A memorial park has now been established in the town named after him, which includes extracts from his poems in a peaceful wooded area.
Joseph Butler (1692-1752), Bishop of Bristol and Bishop of Durham, and author of 'Analogy of Religion'. He was born and educated in Wantage.
Alice FitzWarin, wife of Dick Whittington, legendary medieval three times Lord Mayor of London, grew up in Wantage. Her father's brass memorial is in the church.
Robert James Loyd-Lindsay, Baron Wantage of Lockinge (see above).
Lester Piggott, noted jockey, went to school in the town (at King Alfred's School).
Richard Symonds lived in Wantage during the 1970s, founding the ill-fated Wantage Railway Enthusiast's Association