Didcot

Didcot
The Cornerstone and cinema
Didcot  Didcot shown within Oxfordshire
Population	22,762 (2001 census)
OS grid reference	SU525900
- London	54.7m
Civil parish	Didcot
District	South Oxfordshire
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Didcot
Postcode district	OX11
Dialling code	01235
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Wantage
Website	Didcot Town Council
List of places UK England Oxfordshire

Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about 10 miles (16 km) south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire. It became the largest town in the new South Oxfordshire district, although it is situated right at its edge.

History and economy

All Saints' parish church

Didcot dates back to the Iron Age^{[citation needed]} The settlement was situated on the ridge in the town, and the remainder of the surrounding area was marshland.

The Romans tried to drain the marshland by digging the ditch that runs north through what is now the Ladygrove area north of the town near Long Wittenham.^{[citation needed]}

The earliest known historical record of Didcot is from the 13th century when it was recorded as Dudcotte. The name is believed to be derived from that of the local abbot.^{[citation needed]} Didcot was then a rural Berkshire village with a population of about 100^{[citation needed]} and remained that way for centuries, only occasionally appearing in records. Parts of the original village still exist in the Lydalls Road area and part of the Church of England parish church of All Saints dates fron the 11th century.^{[citation needed]} Didcot was much smaller than several surrounding villages, which are now dwarfed by modern Didcot.

There are a number of major scientific employers nearby including the UKAEA at Culham (and the Joint European Torus (JET) fusion research project), Harwell Laboratory, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (the research council responsible for Rutherford Appleton Laboratory) and the Diamond Light Source synchrotron, which is the largest UK-funded scientific facility to be built for over 30 years^{[citation needed]} Didcot is also the headquarters of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and BMS World Mission.

Didcot also has a nature reserve, Mowbray Fields, where wildlife including common spotted orchid and Southern Marsh Orchid occur.

Railways

View of the Didcot Power Station and Platform 3 of Didcot Parkway

The Great Western Railway, engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, reached Didcot in 1839. In 1844 the Brunel-designed Didcot station was opened. The original station burnt down in the later part of 19th century. The more obvious alignment for the original line to Bristol would have been Abingdon-on-Thames slightly farther north, but the landowner, Lord Wantage, is reputed to have prevented the railway coming close to the town.^{[citation needed]} This and the junction of the Great Western line to Oxford created the conditions for the future growth of Didcot. The station's name also finally fixed the spelling of Didcot.

Didcot's junction of the routes to London, Bristol, Oxford and to Southampton via the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&S) made the town of strategic importance to military logistics, in particular during the First World War campaign on the Western Front and the Second World War preparations for D-Day. The DN&S line has since closed and the sites of the large Army and Royal Air Force ordnance depots that were built to serve these needs have disappeared beneath the power station and Milton Park Business Park. However the Army still has Vauxhall Barracks on the edge of town.

Remains of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway are still in evidence in the eastern part of town. This line, designed to provide a direct link to the south coast from the Midlands and the North avoiding the convuluted Reading/Basingstoke route, was constructed from 1879-1882 after previous proposals had floundered. It was designed as a main line and was engineered by John Fowler and built by contractors T.H. Falkiner and Sir Thomas Tancred, who together also constructed the Forth Bridge. It was an very expensive line to build due to the heavy engineering challenges of crossing the Berkshire and Hampshire downs with a ruling 1 in 106 gradient to allow for higher mainline speeds, and this over-capitalisation coupled with initial traffic barely meeting expectations caused the company financial problems, meaning it never reached Southampton of its own accord but had to join the main LSWR line at Shawford, south of Winchester.

However, from the outbreak of WW2 such was the growth of wartime traffic to the port of Southampton a decision was made to upgrade the line which included the complete doubling of the northern section between Didcot and Newbury, closing for 5 months in 1942/3 while this was carried out. Several of the bridges in the Didcot/Hagbourne area were also strengthened and rebuilt.

Although passenger trains between Didcot and Newbury were withdrawn in 1962, the line continued to be used by freight trains for a further four years, up to 11 trains a day each way according to some observers, and oil traffic to the north from the refinery at Fawley near Southampton was a regular feature. In 1966 however, this traffic also was withdrawn, and the line was then dismantled. The last passenger train was, of all things, a re-routed Pines Express in May 1964, diverted due to a derailment at Reading West. A section of the abandoned embankment toward Upton, now designated Sustrans Route 44, has views across the town and countryside and is popular with walkers.

After World War II steam locomotives became obsolete and in 1967 the locomotive depot became Didcot Railway Centre. The station was renamed Didcot Parkway in 1985 and the site of the old GWR provender stores which had been demolished in 1976 (the provender pond was kept to maintain the water table) was made into a large car park to attract passengers from the surrounding area.

Power stations

Main article: Didcot Power Station

Aerial view of Didcot Power Station

The Didcot Power Stations (between Didcot and Sutton Courtenay) supply electricity to the National Grid. Country Life magazine voted these the third worst eyesore in Britain. Some locals refer to them as "the Cathedral of the Vale" [of White Horse], a title which really belongs to the Church of England parish church at Uffington. The power station cooling towers are visible from up to 30 miles (48 km) away^{[citation needed]} due to their location, but were designed with visual impact in mind (six towers in two separated groups 0.5 miles (800 m) apart rather than a monolithic 3x2 block), much in the style of what is sometimes called Didcot's 'sister' station - Fiddlers Ferry Power Station - at Widnes, Lancashire, constructed slightly earlier. The power station has also proved a popular man-made object for local photographers.

In October 2010, Didcot Sewage Works became the first in the UK to produce biomethane gas supplied to the national grid, for use in up to 200 homes in Oxfordshire.

Local government and representation

Didcot is the principal town of South Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire. Until 1974 it was part of Wallingford Rural District. It is the largest town in the parliamentary constituency of Wantage, which has been represented since 2005 at Westminster by Ed Vaizey, Conservative.

Didcot is a parish but has the status of a town. It is administered by Didcot Town Council, which comprises 21 councillors representing the four wards in the town:

• All Saints' (5 councillors)
• Park (5 councillors)
• Ladygrove (6 councillors)
• Northbourne (5 councillors)

Elected town councillors are unpaid and offer their time on a voluntary basis.

The 2009/10 Mayor of Didcot is Margaret Turner. The Town Clerk is Dominic Stapleton.

Town twinning

Didcot is twinned with the town of Meylan in France. The Didcot-Meylan Twinning Association exists to encourage the building of friendships and relationships between the citizens of Didcot and its surrounding villages with its twin, to encourage the co-operation of local businesses to the economic success of both towns and prosperity of citizens, and to exchange ideas on issues that impact on the lives of the citizens of both towns and those in the wider regional and national arenas.

Current developments

Didcot is now home to around 24,500 people. The new town centre, The Orchard Centre, was opened in August 2005. It took about two more years to find commercial tenants to fill the centre almost completely, although there are still some empty shops. On 5 November 2009 the first branch of Alworths opened in the former Woolworths premises. The new shop was managed by the manager of Woolworths' former Didcot branch and was staffed by former Didcot Woolworths employees. The shop has since closed.

Didcot has been designated as one of the three major growth areas in Oxfordshire; the Ladygrove development is set to double the number of dwellings in the town since construction began in the late 1980s to the north and east of the railway line on the former marshland. Originally, the Ladygrove development was planned to be complete by 2001; but the plans for the final section to the east of Abingdon Road were only announced in 2006. In anticipation of the completion of the Ladygrove development, a prolonged and contentious planning enquiry decided that a 3,200 dwelling development will now be built to the west of the town, partly overlapping the boundary with the Vale of White Horse. The development will contain much needed sports facilities as Didcot is currently amongst the poorest provided towns in Oxfordshire for leisure facilities.

In 2008 a new £8 million arts and entertainment centre, Cornerstone, opened next to the Orchard Centre. It contains exhibition and studio spaces, a cafe and a 236 seat auditorium. Designed by Ellis William Architects, the centre is clad with silvered aluminium panels and features a 'Window Wall', used to connect the building with passing shoppers.

Health

The district in England with the highest healthy life expectancy, according to an Office for National Statistics (ONS) study, is the 1990s-built Ladygrove Estate in Didcot. While the average UK healthy lifespan was thought to be 68.8 for women and 67 for men in 2001, people in Ladygrove district of Didcot could expect 86 healthy years. It is believed Ladygrove may have benefited from the local recreation grounds and sports centre.

Education

Didcot is served by six primary schools: All Saints' C of E, Ladygrove Park, Manor, Northbourne C of E, Stephen Freeman and Willowcroft. Along with these 6 schools based in Didcot, a further 7 local village schools form the Didcot Primary Partnership: Blewbury Endowed C of E, Cholsey, Hagbourne, Harwell Community, Long Wittenham C of E and South Moreton County.

The two state secondary schools in Didcot are St Birinus School and Didcot Girls' School. These two single-sex schools join together at sixth form. Didcot Girls' School has specialist Language College status, and St Birinus has Technology and Language College status, it is also working towards a third college status. The cook of All Saints primary school was voted cook of the year 2009.^{[citation needed]}

Sport and leisure

Didcot Town Football Club's home ground is the RWE nPower Loop Meadow Stadium on Ladygrove Estate. The club won the FA Vase in 2005. Didcot Cricket Club's current home ground is at Didcot Power Station in Sutton Courtenay.

Didcot has three main leisure centres: Didcot Leisure Centre, Didcot Wave Leisure Pool and Willowbrook Leisure Centre.

Didcot has its own chapter of the Hash House Harriers. The club started in 1986 (the first run was on 8 April of that year).

Cornerstone, the new 278-seater multi-purpose arts centre, opened on 29 August 2008.

Didcot has its own Morris dance side called Lumbawakk which was founded in 2005 with pupils from St. Birinus School.

Didcot Choral Society, founded in 1958, performs three concerts a year in various venues around the town as well as an annual tour (Paris in 2008, Belgium in 2009).

Didcot Dragons Korfball club was founded in 2003. The club has now expanded to two teams in the OKA Division 2 North. They train in Willowbrook Leisure Centre in the winter, and St Birinus School in the summer.

Notable people

Didcot was the birthplace of William Bradbery, the first person to cultivate watercress commercially. Former Oxford United F.C. footballer Paul Powell lives in Didcot,^{[citation needed]} and now plays for Didcot Casuals in the North Berks Football League, Division One.

In popular media

Didcot and Didcot Power Station were mentioned on episode 4 of Series 4 of the BBC's QI (Quite Interesting).

Further reading

• Ditchfield, P.H.; Page, W.H., eds. (1923). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 3. Victoria County History. pp. 471–475. 
• Lingham, Brian (1979). The Long Years of Obscurity. A History of Didcot, Volume One – to 1841. Didcot: BF Lingham. ISBN 978-0-9506545-0-8. 
• Lingham, Brian (1992). Railway Comes to Didcot: A History of the Town (Volume 2) – 1839 to 1918. Didcot: Sutton Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7509-0092-8. 
• Lingham, Brian (2000). A Poor Struggling Little Town: A History of Didcot (Volume 3) – 1918 to 1945. Didcot: Didcot Town Council. 
• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 127–128. 

External links

• Didcot Twinning Association
• Didcot.com community website
• Didcot First
• Future Didcot