BRIGHTWELL-CUM-SOTWELL
Brightwell-cum-Sotwell is a village of
picture-postcard prettiness and is fortunate to be completely
bypassed which means that the only traffic in the village
is village traffic. At the heart of the village is the
Red Lion pub which has been carefully restored after a
near-disastrous fire. Dotted along the narrow village
streets are picturesque black and white thatched cottages.
Brightwell and Sotwell were originally two separate villages,
only combined into one since 1948. There are many houses
still standing which date back to Tudor times, or even
before.
The church in Brightwell is St Agatha. The oldest parts
of the present church are 12th century, possibly on the
site of a church mentioned here in Domesday Book. For the history and full information about St. Agatha's Church click here.
The church in Sotwell is St James. The church has ancient
origins, but was rebuilt in 1884 and included features
of the original wattle and daub building, an example being
the impressive open roof of oak timbers. For the history and full information about St. James' Church click here.
Visitors from all over the world visit the village to
the home of the celebrated Bach Flower Remedies, Mount
Vernon. Wild flowers grown in the garden of Mount Vernon
were used to make the homeopathic treatments. Dr Edward
Bach, the creator of the treatments, is buried in St James's
churchyard.
Brightwell-cum-Sotwell
lies just off the A4130 a couple of miles west of Wallingford
in the shadow of the Sinodun Hills.