31-514: The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus is a 700-acre science and technology campus in Oxfordshire , England. Over 6,000 people work there in over 240 public and private sector organisations, working across sectors including Space, Clean Energy, Life Sciences and Quantum Computing. The site is 2 miles (3 km) outside Didcot , about 15 miles (24 km) south of Oxford and roughly 6 miles (10 km) east of Wantage . A large part of
62-455: A building of outstanding historic and architectural interest. It is considered to be a 'textbook' example of the English medieval manor house and is a Grade I-listed building. 51°45′N 1°17′W / 51.75°N 1.28°W / 51.75; -1.28 European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications Too Many Requests If you report this error to
93-598: A large number of leading independent schools, including public schools such as Radley College . The county has two universities: the ancient University of Oxford and the modern Oxford Brookes University , which are both located in Oxford. In addition, Wroxton College , located in Banbury , is affiliated with Fairleigh Dickinson University of New Jersey . The "dreaming spires" of the University of Oxford are among
124-508: Is a ceremonial county in South East England . The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to the west. The city of Oxford is the largest settlement and county town . The county is largely rural, with an area of 2,605 km (1,006 sq mi) and a population of 691,667. After Oxford (162,100),
155-836: Is operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and its facilities include the ISIS neutron source . In 2004, RAL Space engineered the Ptolemy instrument for the Philae lander on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta expedition Between 2003 and 2007 the Diamond synchrotron was constructed on the RAL site, the UK's largest scientific investment for 30 years. As
186-477: Is responsible for the most strategic local government functions, including schools, county roads and social services . The county is divided into five local government districts : Oxford , Cherwell , Vale of White Horse (after the Uffington White Horse ), West Oxfordshire and South Oxfordshire , which deal with such matters as town and country planning , waste collection and housing. In
217-668: The 2016 European Union referendum , Oxfordshire was the only English county as a whole to vote to remain in the European Union by a significant margin, at 57.06% (70.27% in the City of Oxford), despite Cherwell (barely) voting to leave at 50.31%. Oxfordshire has a comprehensive education system with 23 independent schools and 35 state secondary schools. Only eight schools do not have a sixth form ; these are mostly in South Oxfordshire and Cherwell districts. Oxfordshire has
248-702: The Caversham area of Reading , now administratively in Berkshire , was historically part of Oxfordshire, as was the parish of Stokenchurch , now administratively in Buckinghamshire . The areas of Oxford city south of the Thames, such as Grandpont , were transferred much earlier, in 1889. Oxfordshire includes parts of three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty . In the north-west lie the Cotswolds ; to
279-491: The battle of Blenheim . The gardens, which can be visited, were designed by the landscape gardener "Capability" Brown , who planted the trees in the battle formation of the victorious army. Sir Winston Churchill was born in the palace in 1874. It is open to the public. Chastleton House , on the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire borders, is a great country mansion built on property bought from Robert Catesby , who
310-631: The 10th century and lies between the River Thames to the south, the Cotswolds to the west, the Chilterns to the east and the Midlands to the north, with spurs running south to Henley-on-Thames and north to Banbury . Although it had some significance as an area of valuable agricultural land in the centre of the country, it was largely ignored by the Romans and did not grow in importance until
341-773: The Campus was formerly the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, which was created after the Second World War on the site of RAF Harwell . It was the main centre for atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1990s, latterly being amalgamated into the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. A number of test nuclear reactors were sited on the Campus over
SECTION 10
#1732780811916372-643: The Harwell IBC also has numerous amenities such as a bank, post office, hairdresser, sports facilities including a cricket pitch, and its own bus station. In March 2006 the government announced plans to transform the Harwell International Business Centre into the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus. In August 2006 the government announced an investment of £26.4 million to construct new research facilities on
403-622: The Middle Ages and early modern period. The area was part of the Cotswolds wool trade from the 13th century, generating much wealth, particularly in the western portions of the county in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds. Morris Motors was founded in Oxford in 1912, bringing heavy industry to an otherwise agricultural county. The role of agriculture as an employer declined rapidly in the 20th century; currently under one per cent of
434-482: The Midlands and follows the Cherwell from Banbury via Kidlington into the city of Oxford, where these join the navigable Thames. About 15% of the historically named Wilts & Berks Canal , in sporadic sections, has been restored to navigability, including the county-relevant 140 metres near Abingdon-on-Thames where it could, if restored, meet the Thames. Oxfordshire contains a green belt area that fully envelops
465-776: The campus and the creation of a joint venture partnership. The European Space Agency moved into Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in May 2013. It was the first ESA base in the UK. ESA then constructed and opened the Roy Gibson Building (named after ESA's first Director General) in July 2015. The ESA facility, named European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications or ECSAT focuses upon three key areas: combining data and images from space to create new applications for everyday life; observations and research on climate change (the facility hosts ESA's Climate Office); and
496-548: The city in the middle, runs the Thames with its flat floodplains. This river forms the historic limit with Berkshire , remaining so on some lowest reaches. The Thames Path National Trail follows the river from upper estuary to a source. Many smaller rivers in the county feed into the Thames, such as the Thame , Windrush , Evenlode and Cherwell . Some of these have trails running along their valleys. The Oxford Canal links to
527-607: The city of Oxford and extends for some miles to protect surrounding towns and villages from inappropriate development and urban growth. Its border in the east extends to the Buckinghamshire county boundary, while part of its southern border is shared with the North Wessex Downs AONB . It was first drawn up in the 1950s, and all of the county's districts contain some portion of the belt. The Oxfordshire County Council , since 2013 under no overall control ,
558-565: The county's population are involved due to high mechanisation. Nevertheless, Oxfordshire remains a very agricultural county by land use, with a lower population than neighbouring Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, which are both smaller. During most of its history, the county was partitioned as fourteen divisions called hundreds , namely Bampton , Banbury , Binfield , Bloxham , Bullingdon , Chadlington , Dorchester , Ewelme , Langtree , Lewknor , Pyrton , Ploughley , Thame and Wootton . The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry ,
589-667: The development of novel power sources and innovative robotic technologies to explore space. Harwell Campus is now a significant part of the UK space sector and over 100 space organisations are based there including the European Space Agency, RAL Space, Satellite Applications Catapult, Thales Alenia Space, Astroscale, ClearSpace Today and the UK Space Agency. 51°35′N 1°19′W / 51.58°N 1.31°W / 51.58; -1.31 Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( / ˈ ɒ k s f ər d ʃ ər , - ʃ ɪər / OKS -fərd-shər, -sheer ; abbreviated Oxon )
620-557: The formation of a settlement at Oxford in the 8th century. Alfred the Great was born across the Thames in Wantage , in the Vale of White Horse. The University of Oxford was founded in 1096, although its collegiate structure did not develop until later on. The university in the county town of Oxford (whose name came from Anglo-Saxon Oxenaford = "ford for oxen ") grew in importance during
651-520: The former UKAEA site was being decommissioned, a new role became necessary to maintain levels of employment in the area, building on the site's reputation for pioneering research, and ensuring that Harwell remained one of the UK's major centres for science and technology. Therefore, in 1996, it was relaunched as a business park . One of the businesses on-site is the UKAEA spin-off company AEA Technology . As well as attracting numerous other hi-tech businesses,
SECTION 20
#1732780811916682-476: The largest settlements are Banbury (54,355) and Abingdon-on-Thames (37,931). For local government purposes Oxfordshire is a non-metropolitan county with five districts. The part of the county south of the River Thames , largely corresponding to the Vale of White Horse district, was historically part of Berkshire . The lowlands in the centre of the county are crossed by the River Thames and its tributaries,
713-638: The main army unit in the area, was based at Cowley Barracks on Bullingdon Green, Cowley . The Vale of White Horse district and parts of the South Oxfordshire administrative district south of the River Thames were historically part of Berkshire , but, in 1974, Abingdon , Didcot , Faringdon , Wallingford and Wantage were added to the administrative county of Oxfordshire under the Local Government Act 1972 . Conversely,
744-612: The reasons for which Oxford is the sixth most visited city in the United Kingdom by international visitors. Among many notable University buildings are the Sheldonian Theatre , built 1664–68 to the design of Sir Christopher Wren , and the Radcliffe Camera , built 1737–49 to the design of James Gibbs . Blenheim Palace , close to Woodstock , was designed and partly built by the architect John Vanbrugh for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough , after he had won
775-466: The site include: Space Cluster Organisations Life Sciences and HealthTech Organisations Energy Organisations The National Quantum Computing Centre will also be built at Harwell Campus. The campus is owned by the UKAEA, the Science and Technology Facilities Council and Public Health England. It is managed by the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus joint venture partnership. The northern part of
806-520: The site was formerly the main research establishment of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority , but it has seen a transition to its new role as a science and business park as the nuclear facilities have been decommissioned. Over 6,000 people work on the campus in some 240 organisations representing a multidisciplinary range of advanced scientific and technological disciplines. Major companies and organisations on
837-610: The south and south-east are the open chalk hills of the North Wessex Downs and the wooded hills of the Chilterns . The north of the county contains the ironstone of the Cherwell uplands. Long-distance walks within the county include the Ridgeway National Trail , Macmillan Way , Oxfordshire Way and the D’Arcy Dalton Way. From the mid-point western edge to the southeast corner of Oxfordshire, via
868-530: The valleys of which are separated by low hills. The south contains parts of the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills , and the north-west includes part of the Cotswolds ; all three regions are Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty . The county's highest point is White Horse Hill (261-metre (856 ft)), part of the Berkshire Downs. Oxfordshire was recorded as a county in the early years of
899-866: The world's first experimental ‘fast’ reactor, ZEPHYR, was built in 1954. In 1957 the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory (now the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, RAL) was established on a site immediately south of the AERE. This was followed in 1961 by the Atlas Computer Laboratory , absorbed into the Rutherford in 1974. The southern site, including the RAL, became known as the Chilton/Harwell Science Campus. RAL
930-536: The years. The nuclear facilities are in the hands of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority . As parts of the site are decommissioned, they are delicensed and dedesignated and no longer secured hence the area "inside the fence" is gradually shrinking. It is planned that the entire site will be decommissioned by 2025. Achievements on the campus at this time included the creation of the world's first transistorised computer, CADET, in 1953 and
961-652: Was one of the men involved in the Gunpowder Plot with Guy Fawkes . Stonor Park , another country mansion, has belonged to the recusant Stonor family for centuries. Mapledurham House is an Elizabethan stately home in the south-east of the county, close to Reading . The Abbey in Sutton Courtenay is a medieval courtyard house . It has been recognised by the Historic Building Council for England (now Historic England ) as