Boundaries
The constituency covers most of the Vale of White Horse and a small part of South Oxfordshire.
The largest town in the constituency is Didcot, which grew up around the Great Western Railway when IK Brunel built its main line between London and Bristol via Didcot instead of Abingdon.
There are three market towns in the constituency: Faringdon, Wallingford and Wantage. Wantage is famous as the birthplace of King Alfred the Great, while Wallingford has had a Royal Charter since 1155. Faringdon still bears scars of the English Civil War, when its church lost the top of its steeple.
The constituency is mostly rural in character, with more than 400 farms in operation. It is marked by the famous Uffington White Horse and The Ridgeway, a prehistoric road, runs along its southern border. The area is very affluent and contains many commuters with fast transport links to London. The constituency is famous for its race horses and there are numerous racing stables in the surrounding villages.
Read more about this topic: Wantage (UK Parliament Constituency)
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—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)