Southmoor
Encyclopedia
Southmoor is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor
Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor
Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor is a civil parish in the English county of Oxfordshire, England. It was formed on 1 April 1971 by merging the two villages of Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor.In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire.- External links :...

, about 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Abingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...

. Traditionally part of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, the 1974 boundary changes
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

 transferred local government to Oxfordshire.

Southmoor village is just south of the A420
A420 road
The A420 is a road between Bristol and Oxford in England. Between Swindon and Oxford it is a primary route.-Present route:Since the opening of the M4 motorway, the road is in two sections. The first section begins on Old Market Street near the centre of Bristol, it passes through Kingswood before...

 between Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 and Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...

.

History

John Blandy the Elder left money in his will of 1736 to found the Blandy educational charities. John Blandy the Younger left money to augment the charities in his will of 1791. In 1874 a scheme was established under the Endowed Schools Act 1869
Endowed Schools Act 1869
The Endowed Schools Act 1869 was introduced in Britain during William Ewart Gladstone’s first ministry.An Endowed Schools Commission was created to draw up new schemes of distribution for schools which received funding from the government; previous endowments had been seen as poorly distributed and...

 for the Blandy charities to provide an elementary school, scholarships, a public lending library and extra playground facilities. The school is now a primary school, John Blandy Voluntary Controlled School
Voluntary controlled school
A voluntary controlled school is a state-funded school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in which a foundation or trust has some formal influence in the running of the school...

.

A Wesleyan
Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)
The Wesleyan Methodist Church was the name used by the major Methodist movement in Great Britain following its split from the Church of England after the death of John Wesley and the appearance of parallel Methodist movements...

 chapel was built in Southmoor in 1841. It is now a Methodist
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...

 Church in the Wantage and Abingdon Methodist Circuit
Methodist Circuit
The Methodist Circuit is part of the organisational structure of British Methodism,or at least those branches derived from the work of John Wesley. It is a group of individual Societies or local Churches under the care of one or more Methodist Ministers. In the scale of organisation, the Circuit...

.

On 1 April 1971 the two villages of Kingston Bagpuize
Kingston Bagpuize
Kingston Bagpuize is a village in the civil parish of Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor, about west of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes.-Geography:...

 and Southmoor merged into one civil parish forming Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor
Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor
Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor is a civil parish in the English county of Oxfordshire, England. It was formed on 1 April 1971 by merging the two villages of Kingston Bagpuize and Southmoor.In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire.- External links :...

.

Amenities

Southmoor has a public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

, the Waggon and Horses. The village has a village hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...

. Southmoor's retailers are Southmoor Food and Wine, The Log Cabin Newsagents (which once was a log cabin on the other side of the road which is now Blenheim Way), Aquarius hairdressers and Crossroads garage. John Blandy VC Primary School teaches children from the ages of five to 12 and has about 180 pupils. It has also a nursery class.

Transport

The village is served by Stagecoach and RH Buses services. There are services up to every 30 minutes to Oxford or Swindon on route 66 running Mondays to Saturdays and hourly services on Sundays. There are services to the towns Abingdon and Witney on the X15 service running Monday to Saturday.
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