West Hagbourne is a village and civil parish in the Berkshire Downs

Berkshire Downs

The Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in southern England, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...

 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Didcot

Didcot

Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about 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 was 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...

 until 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 it to Oxfordshire and from the former Wallingford Rural District

Wallingford Rural District

Wallingford Rural District, an administrative area in what was then Berkshire, now Oxfordshire area, in southern England was established in 1894, from the then Berkshire area within Wallingford Rural Sanitary Authority...

 to the district of South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....

.

Education

Hagbourne Church of England

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...

 Primary School in neighbouring East Hagbourne

East Hagbourne

East Hagbourne is a village and civil parish about south of Didcot and south of Oxford. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Manor:...

 serves West Hagbourne. The County secondary schools that serve West Hagbourne are in Didcot: St. Birinus School (for boys) and Didcot Girls School.

Transport

The village is served by 6 buses a day Monday - Saturday, by Heyfordian Buses' Route 94, from West Hagbourne to Didcot via Blewbury

Blewbury

Blewbury is a village and civil parish at the foot of the Berkshire Downs about south of Didcot. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Prehistory:...

.

Current developments

The character of the village would be changed by Vale of White Horse

Vale of White Horse

The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...

 District Council's plans to expand the town of Didcot. Building development on a large area of land to the west of Didcot, to be known as Great West Park, would add 3,000 houses to Didcot. Further plans for 2010, to a further 3,000 or more houses as part of the South East

South East England

South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...

regional development plan, will further change the nature of the villages that lie on the periphery of the town of Didcot.