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Thame (pronounced "Tame" with a silent "h")
is a market town in Oxfordshire, England, onThe town is well known as the site of
the River Thame between Aylesbury and Oxford.Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was
It has a population of around 12,000.born in 1874, and the grave of Churchill in
Situated just short of the county border,nearby  Bladon.
Thame lies close to the Buckinghamshire
villages  of  Haddenham  and  Long  Crendon.The name Woodstock is Anglo Saxon in origin.
At that time, English kings would log in the
The town is 14 miles east of Oxford, 10 milesarea of Woodstock whose name stands for a
south-west of Aylesbury and 47 miles fromclearing  in  the  woods.
London. To the west of Thame the A418 joins
with the M40 motorway linking London toThe little river Glyme, in a steep and
Birmingham.picturesque valley, divides the town into New
and  Old  Woodstock.
Founded in Anglo-Saxon times, Thame grew up
to service local agricultural activity andThe Domesday Book describes Woodstock
the nearby Cistercian monastery at Thame(Wodestock, Wodestok, Wodestole) as a royal
Park, suppressed at the Reformation. Theforest; it is said that King Alfred stayed at
church of St Mary the Virgin dates from aboutWoodstock in the year 890. Another famous
1240.resident was Ethelred the Unready, who is
said to have held a council there. Henry I
Thame railway station closed in 1963, but themay have kept a menagerie in the park.
town is now served by Haddenham and ThameWoodstock was the scene of King Henry II's
Parkway railway station. On the thirdcourtship of Rosamund Clifford (Fair
Thursday of September the town stages theRosamund). The market of the town was
largest one day agricultural show in theestablished when King Henry II gave Woodstock
United  Kingdom.a  Royal  charter  in  1179.
W. Lucy & Co. has been based in the townThe town was altered greatly during the 17th
since 2005. The town's two largest employerscentury, when the Duke of Marlborough became
are CPM and Travelodge, who both have theira permanent resident. The local inn, the
Head Offices located on the periphery ofBear, was capable of accommodating vast
town.numbers  of  visitors  and  horses.
Famous citizens include courtier LordThe parish church (dedicated to St Mary
Williams of Thame, who founded LordMagdalene) has a doorway of Norman origin. It
Williams's Grammar School in the town infeatures a musical clock which chimes every
1559,  and  John  Hampden.hour. The town hall of Woodstock was built in
1766 after the designs of Sir William
Thame is home to the very successful ChinnorChambers, and there are a number of 17th
Rugby Club who play in National Division 3century buildings in the centre. The
South, they are the youngest club ever toalmshouses were erected in 1798 by Caroline,
play  at  this  level.duchess of Marlborough. Chaucer's House was
once  home  to  the  poet  Geoffrey  Chaucer.
Trivia
In the past the town prospered on
According to J. R. R. Tolkien's story "Farmermanufacturing gloves (since from the 16th
Giles of Ham", Thame got its name because ofcentury). Today it is largely dependent on
its  resident  tame  dragon.tourists, many of whom visit Bleinheim
Palace. The Palace was designed by John
In 1940, a local truck driver called WillocksVanbrugh, in a heavy Italo-Corinthian style.
McKenzie whilst walking along the banks ofIt was designated to John Churchill, the
the River Thame, discovered a hoard of goldfirst Duke of Marlborough. Most of the Palace
coins and rings, thought to be at least fourwas paid for by the nation. Churchill was
hundred years old. The Ashmolean Museumgiven this palace in honour for his victories
declared it to be 'Treasure Trove', and theover the French and the Bavarians at Blenheim
collection can still be found on display. Onein  1704.
of the rings features a distinctive cross
with two horizontal sections. This has beenThe greater part of the art treasures and
adopted as the official logo of the Thamecurios were sold off in 1886, and the great
Town  Council.library collected by Charles Spencer, earl of
Sunderland, the son-in-law of the first duke
Thame is home to Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.of Marlborough, in 1881. The magnificent park
contains Fair Rosamund's Well, near which
Woodstock is a small town in Oxfordshire,stood her bower. On the summit of a hill
England. It is located about 12 kilometresstands a column commemorating the duke.
north of Oxford, 72.75 miles W.N.W. ofBlenheim  Park  forms  a  separate  parish.
London.
The Oxfordshire Museum, the county museum of
The Princess Elizabeth was famously kept aOxfordshire, is housed in a large historic
prisoner here, in the gatehouse of Woodstockhouse, Fletcher’s House, in the centre
Manor (the manor itself being too dilapidatedof Woodstock.
to  house  her).



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