Longcot Civil Parish covers 1,894 acres (766 ha). It is in a wide bend of the nascent River Ock, in typical low-lying vale landscape. The view to the south is dominated by the scarp of the Lambourn downs, including the Uffington White Horse.[2]
Longcot (or, until the 20th century, Longcott) was part of Shrivenham Hundred, with the manor and most of the land being held by Viscount Barrington. For most of its history Longcot was an agricultural community, but population growth in the early 19th century began with the arrival of the Wilts & Berks Canal in 1805[6] and the building of Longcot Wharf, which was the wharf nearest to Faringdon. The village population declined in line with the loss of commercial traffic on the canal to the Great Western Railway, completed in 1841. The canal was formally abandoned by Act of Parliament in 1914.[7]
The parish has had a Church of England school since 1717,[4] the original building in the southwest corner of the churchyard paid for by voluntary subscription.[4] The current school building, built in 1969 opposite The Green on Kings Lane, replaced a previous building on the same site built in 1874.[citation needed] In 2002 Longcot won two categories in Oxfordshire's Best Kept Village competition: "Best Small Village" and "Best Newcomer".[8]
Elm trees by St Mary's parish church, photographed in 1935 by Fred C. Palmer
Amenities
Longcot has a pub, the King and Queen,[9] which is a free house.
Population
The following data has been taken from historical Census information in the public domain.
