History
In 1622 Thomas Grove had a watermill at Grove.
Grove Farmhouse is dated 1684. It is a chequer brick building of three bays and its doorway has bolection moulding.
The common lands of Wantage and Grove were enclosed by an Act of Parliament passed in 1803. The land awards under the Act seem to have been made in 1806.
In 1770 the turnpike road was built as a more direct route between Wantage and Oxford. Between 1796 and 1810 the Wilts & Berks Canal was built. Its main route passed through the village and a branch of the canal was built between Grove and Wantage.
In 1840 the Great Western Railway opened Wantage Road railway station on the northern boundary of Grove. In 1875 the Wantage Tramway was built. This was a single track laid alongside the turnpike road linking Wantage Road Station and Wantage. It was operated by steam tram locomotives which pulled both a passenger tramcar and a goods wagons.
Competition from the railway and tramway reduced canal traffic, and the Wilts and Berks fell into disuse in 1901. Increasing competition from road transport reduced traffic on the tram, and passenger tram services were ended in 1925.
In 1942 RAF Grove was opened as a Bomber Command training base. In 1943 it was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces and the 45th Air Depot Group established one of the largest and busiest supply airfields in Europe. In 1946 the USAAF returned the airbase to the RAF, who relegated it for non-flying operations. In 1955 the base was transferred to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, which used it until the 1960s. The site was then sold off and private housing was built on part of the former airfield.
In 1945 the Wantage Tramway closed to freight traffic. One of its steam tram engines is preserved at Didcot Railway Centre. In 1965 British Railways closed Wantage Road station. Oxfordshire County Council has a policy to seek a new station to be built to serve Wantage and Grove.
Parts of the Wilts and Berks Canal around Grove are still visible, providing some local walks. The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust is working to reopen the entire canal, and several small sections around Grove have already been restored.
Grove has lately been a site of extensive housing development, greatly increasing its size and almost merging with the nearby town of Wantage. Grove is now the largest village in the Vale of White Horse.
Read more about this topic: Grove, Oxfordshire
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