The Town of Didcot, Oxfordshire

The town of Didcot, Oxfordshire, England lies onlyit dominates all around it today.
about 10 miles to the south of the historic andDidcot benefitted from the arrival of the railway
world famous town of Oxford. Today, it enjoys a1839, which eventually grew into a large covered
population of around 26, 000 people. It isstation in 1844, though this original version burned
interesting to note that until 1974 this town was ain a fire later that century. Didcot, lying as it did at
part of the county of Berkshire.a strategic junction that connected London, Bristol
Didcot's history can be traced back to the Ironand Oxford, was valued highly by the military, and
Age, where a settlement was located on a ridgeit was used extensively to supply troops for the
within the town proper. Most of the surroundingpush back into Europe, on D-Day.
area at that time consisted of uninhabitableThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of
marshland. There is evidence that the RomanOxfordshire, in which Didcot resides, enjoys a
occupiers of the day made efforts to drain thosecurrent population of around 636, 000 people. It
marshes by digging a long outflow ditch.lies in the southeastern part of England, and has
The actual recorded history of Didcot seems tothe University of Oxford, which is the oldest
have begun in the 13th century, where the nameuniversity in the English-speaking world, within its
"Dudcotte" was found in documents that placedborders. The county has an extremely vigorous
the town, as was said, in Berkshire. For much oftourist industry, containing as it does numerous
its early history thereafter, the total populationplaces of historic interest. Both Didcot and
count of the town hovered around 100 or soOxfordshire are sterling examples of classic English
people. In fact, the town was quite a bit smallerlife.
than many surrounding villages back then, though