Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor
A Snapshot of an English Village ~ in the County of Oxfordshire
Welcome to an online history resource for Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor.
Kingston Bagpuize in Oxfordshire, England is best known for the various fruit it once grew, its hops, its pigs, the old A420 which once roared its way through our village, and the nick-name 'Kingston Bagpipes' which seems to have arisen from the time of the 2nd World War when we had a base camp for RAF and then USAF airmen.
In earlier times, except for a few inns and cottages straddled below the old coaching road running between London and the West country, the main village lay to the south.
It was inevitable as time progressed that this once quiet road became first a very busy thoroughfare and later a major trunk road the A420. Dwellings were built alongside it, so extending the village. These properties at first housed wheelwrights, a forge and inns and later garages and then many bungalows and houses. The village has now been relieved by a by-pass and the A420 now ploughs its way to the North, although cutting the direct access roads from this village to Longworth.
Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor as a whole, is perhaps not as picturesque as some local villages because of the once heavy traffic, but it is situated in lovely surroundings, with easy access to Oxford, Abingdon, Witney and Swindon and has become a very popular place in which to live. The village hosts many clubs and societies not found in the surrounding more attractive villages and there is, for a rural community an enormous amount of social activity.
In parts of Kingston and Southmoor several thatched cottages can still be found, reminding us of the much older settlement and of the people that once walked our streets and worked our lands.
These villages have changed from housing almost entirely agricultural workers to become a dormitory for many in city and town occupations. Our website heading displays in photos some of the types of fruit that were grown here on a large commercial basis which reflect these villages' once self sufficiency. We also grew soft fruits, had a turkey farm and although we now do not have the large international pig farm that once employed many residents, pigs are still reared locally. Our surrounding farms have beef, pigs lambs and hops.
Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor is conveniently situated for visitors to Oxford, with the city centre only 10 miles away. The towns of Abingdon, Witney and Wantage are also close by. The M40 and M4 motorways are 15 and 25 miles away respectively and the centre of London is 57 miles distant. There are many tourist attractions in the area, including the historic university city of Oxford, Blenheim Palace, the Ridgeway and the Thames towpath.