Burcot, Oxfordshire

Burcot

River Thames at Burcot
Burcot
 Burcot shown within Oxfordshire
OS grid referenceSU564960
Civil parishClifton Hampden
DistrictSouth Oxfordshire
Shire countyOxfordshire
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town ABINGDON-ON-THAMES
Postcode district OX14
Police Thames Valley
Fire Oxfordshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentHenley
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire

Coordinates: 51°39′36″N 1°11′10″W / 51.660°N 1.186°W / 51.660; -1.186

Burcot is a hamlet in Oxfordshire, England on the left bank of the River Thames, in the civil parish of Clifton Hampden.[1] Until 1932, it lay in the civil parish of Dorchester.[2]

Facilities

Burcot lies on the main road from Dorchester to Abingdon, now the A415. It has a pub, The Chequers, but no shops. The former school is now a private house. Burcot is home to the business that developed the search engine "Ask Jeeves".

Past

In the 17th century Burcot was an important transhipment point on the Thames. The river at that time had become almost unnavigable between Oxford and Burcot, so that goods for Oxford had to be unloaded at Burcot and taken on by road. This led in 1605 to the formation of the Oxford-Burcot Commission to improve navigation.[2]

The poet laureate John Masefield lived at Burcote Brook from 1932 until his death in 1967. Shortly afterwards, the house burnt down and was replaced by a Cheshire Home.[3]

References

  1. "Parishes - Clifton Hampden | British History Online". British-history.ac.uk. 2003-06-22. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  2. 1 2 "Parishes - Burcot | British History Online". British-history.ac.uk. 1950-05-03. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
  3. Christopher Winn: I Never Knew That about the River Thames (London: Ebury Press, 2010), p. 65.
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