WHEATLEY

Wheatley is a large village sandwiched between the A40 trunk road and a dismantled railway line. Originally Wheatley grew up in a valley along a stream which is now culverted under the High Street and is no longer visible. To the east of the village is Shotover Hill and the Shotover Country Park, and Shotover House.

Most of the village lies south of London Road which runs parallel with the A40 trunk road. High Street is an interesting mix of older houses and shops, both new and old. In the high Street is Wheatley Manor House which was built in 1601 and the date stone on the front elevation bears the initials by the then owner, Abraham Archdale.

Just north of High Street is Church Road where the 19th century parish church (the Church of St. Mary the Virgin) is situated. St. Mary's was originally built in the 18th century but was apparently rebuilt because the Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, disliked the building. For the history and full information about St. Mary's Church click here.

The old village lock-up, a pyramid-shaped stone structure built in 1834, is in Church Road. It has a heavy padlocked door and the floor space is about six feet square with a headroom of about eight feet. In the 19th century it was used to lock up drunks overnight before sending them to the Oxford court. More recently it has been opened every May Day when, for a small charge, visitors can be locked up for five minutes or so, and given a certificate to prove it.

On the north side of the A40 (actually in Holton) is Oxford Brookes University. It was built in the 20th century as the Lady Spencer Churchill teacher training college which merged with Oxford Polytechnic which became a university in 1992.

Just outside the village is Wheatley Windmill, a tower mill that dates from before 1671. The mill had fallen out of use by 1915, but since 1977 the Wheatley Mill Restoration Society has been restoring it.

Wheatley is about six miles east of Oxford.