Уффингтон: История и достопримечательности оксфордширской деревни

Uffington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about 4 mile (6 km) south of Faringdon and 6 mile (10 km) west of Wantage. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 783. Lying within the historic county boundaries of Berkshire, in 1974 it was transferred for local government purposes to Oxfordshire under the Local Government Act 1972. Uffington is most commonly known for the Uffington White Horse hill figure on the Berkshire Downs in the south of the parish.

The village is about 1 mile (2 km) north of the foot of the Berkshire Downs escarpment and north of the B4507 road that links Wantage and Ashbury. Its older houses are built of chalk blocks and thatched. The parish church is nicknamed "The Cathedral of the Vale". The village is in the middle of the Vale of White Horse, which is the valley of the River Ock. Like many parishes in the Vale, Uffington parish is long and thin, running north–south, so that it includes both low lying arable land and grazing upland on the Berkshire Downs. It measures about north – south, and almost east – west at its widest point. In 1924 its area was The parish formerly included Baulking and Woolstone. The River Ock forms most of the northern boundary of the parish. The western boundary crosses Dragon Hill, White Horse Hill, Uffington Down and the gallops on Woolstone Down. The eastern boundary crosses Kingston Warren Down and Ram's Hill, almost to Fawler and partly along Stutfield Brook.

The White Horse is one of the United Kingdom's best known archaeological sites. It is a 374 feet (114 m) long Bronze Age hill figure, cut out of the turf on White Horse Hill on the Berkshire Downs just south of the village of Woolstone. It is generally thought to have been a Celtic religious totem, associated with the people who were later called the Atrebates. The white horse may have been associated with the adjoining Dragon Hill, a small natural hillock with an artificially flattened top. Above these stands Uffington Castle, an Iron Age hill fort (overlying a Bronze Age predecessor) where some of this tribe may have lived. There are also a number of associated burial mounds and there are others further south. Just south of the hill fort the Ridgeway passes through the parish. Ram's Hill seems to have been a Bronze Age cattle ranching and trading centre. Contrary to popular Victorian theories, the Battle of Ashdown in 871 was not fought at Uffington and the White Horse was not created as a monument by King Alfred's men.

The earliest known records of place names (toponym) are as Uffentun and Offentona in Anglo Saxon charters from 931 now reproduced in the Cartularium Saxonicum. Another 10th and 11th century spelling was Offentune.

Uffington is recorded in 10th century boundary charters and in 931 Earl Æthelstan granted an estate at Uffington by seisin to Abingdon Abbey. The abbey held the manor throughout the Middle Ages. In 1291 King Edward I visited a nearby grange. Its parish is part of the Benefice of Uffington, Shellingford, Woolstone and Baulking. The tower had a ring of five bells The five original bells were cast in 1657. A notice board outside the building includes the following history:
The Old Schoolroom was founded in 1617 by Thomas Saunders, a wealthy merchant from Woolstone, with places for 12 "worthy boys" 8 from Uffington and 4 from Woolstone. It is referenced in the well known book "Tom Brown’s Schooldays", written by Thomas Hughes who was born in Uffington in 1822. The building was used as a village reading room from 1872 until 1984 when it became the village museum, and has a collection of 137 editions of Tom Brown's Schooldays. 'John Betjeman.' The museum also has copies of correspondence by John Betjeman, our other village literary great, who lived in Uffington from 1934 to 1945. 'Uffington Village Hall.' This is named the Thomas Hughes Memorial Hall after the author of the book "Tom Brown’s Schooldays".

Uffington has a pub, the Fox and Hounds. Uffington United Football Club plays in North Berks Football League Division Three. Uffington Cricket Club Uffington also has a tennis club. is held annually, with the profits being distributed for the benefit of the residents of Uffington, Baulking and Woolstone by a registered charity.