HORSPATH

Despite being on a busy road, Horspath is an attractive village which spreads up the side of Shotover Hill. Shotover Hill was once part of the medieval Royal Forest of Shotover and is now a country park, Shotover Country Park, run by Oxford City Council.

According to the village website the unusual name of the village originates from the old bridle-path joining the London Road through the neighbouring village of Wheatley gave the Anglo-Saxon name of "Horsepadan". With time "Horsepadan" became "Horsepath", but in 1912 the Parish Council changed to the unique form, "Horspath".

At the foot of the hill in the centre of the village is a small green, and nearby is the parish church of St. Giles which dates from the 12th century. St. Giles Church is dedicated to the patron saint of beggars and cripples. For the history and full information about St. Giles Church click here.

A little futher up the hill is the mainly 17th century manor house, part of which is said to date from 1513. The house has a 19th century addition and has a Tudor staircase.

In the centre of the village is Horspath Chapel, a Methodist Chapel which has monthly church services.

The village name originated from the old bridle path joining the London Road through the neighbouring village of Wheatley gave the village the Anglo-Saxon name of "Horsepadan".

Horspath was once served by the Oxford to Princes Risborough railway, but the railway was axed in the early 1960s. A section of the old track which runs through the village was purchased in 1982 by Horspath Parish Council and is now managed as a nature reserve.

Horspath is just a mile to the east of the Oxford City boundary, the eastern ring road and the BMW car factory. It is about a mile and a half south west of the larger village of Wheatley and a similar distance north-west of Garsington.