CROWMARSH GIFFORD

Crowmarsh Gifford is on the eastern bank of the River Thames opposite the historic town of Wallingford, the two being connected by Wallingford Bridge. Since 1987 the village has been bypassed by the busy A4074 Reading to Oxford road and now the Wallingford bypass also bypassed the village, so there is now less through traffic.

There are several large employers in the village however, for example , HR Wallingford (which provides world-leading analysis, advice and support in engineering and environmental hydraulics) and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, which is the UK's Centre of Excellence for research in the land and freshwater environmental sciences. The combined offices of South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District Coincil were also in the village until they were destroyed by fire in 2015.

The name 'Crowmarsh', not surprisingly, means literally a marsh frequented by crows, whereas 'Gifford' is derived from the name of Walter Giffard who was granted the manor after the Norman Conquest. Walter Giffard eventually became the Earl of Buckingham. In 1139 the first of a series of wooden forts were built in Crowmarsh by King Stephen in opposition to Wallingford Castle, which supported his cousin Matilda, during the civil war. These were dismantled under the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford of 1153.

The parish curch in the centre of the village is the Church of St Mary Magdalene which is partly Norman.

In 1701 agriculturist Jethro Tull invented a revolutionary seed drill in Crowmarsh Gifford and his cottages can still be seen on the northern side of The Street. Nearby is Mongewell Park which recently was the site of Carmel College, a Jewish co-educational boarding school. Carmel College closed in June 1997.