Frilford is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Vale of White Horse The Vale of White Horse is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It Historic counties of England, was historically part of Berkshire. The area is commonly referred to as the 'Vale of ''the'' White Hors ...

district of

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England. It is about west of Abingdon at the junction of the A415 and A338 roads. It was part of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

until it transferred to Oxfordshire in the 1974 boundary changes.

Archaeology

The parish of Frilford has two significant archaeological sites: a

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

, and a cemetery on Frilford Heath that appears to include both Roman and Saxon burials. A further complex of remains, including a Roman shrine and amphitheatre, is often referred to as being in Frilford but lies to the south of the village, just inside the boundary of

Marcham Marcham is a village and civil parish about west of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,905. The parish includes the hamlets of Cothill east-northeast of the village, and Gozzard's Ford northeast o ...

parish.

Churches

Frilford is part of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish of

. It has no

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of its own, but a

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

chapel was built at Frilford in 1841.

Amenities

Frilford Heath Golf Club Frilford Heath Golf Club is a 54-hole golf club in Frilford, Oxfordshire, set amongst 500 acres of heathland to the southwest of Oxford city. History Frilford Heath was founded in 1908 by Dr Harry Challenor (a local physician), A.E. Preston, a ...

is to the east of the village. Abingdon Preparatory School at Frilford, formerly Joscas, is a preparatory school.

Transport

Three

Stagecoach in Oxfordshire Stagecoach in Oxfordshire is the trading name of Thames Transit Ltd. It is a bus operator serving the county of Oxfordshire, England. Since 1997 has been a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group, and since February 2021 it has been part of Stagecoach ...

bus routes serve Frilford. Route 15 to

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. History The Toponymy, place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest kno ...

and Abingdon. Routes S8 (via Abingdon) and S9 (via

Cumnor Cumnor is a village and civil parish 3½ miles (5.6 km) west of the centre of Oxford, England. The village is about 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Botley and its centre is west of the A420 road to Swindon. The parish includes Cumno ...

) to

Wantage Wantage () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire, it has been a ...

and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

People

Notable people from Frilford include Dr

Gary Botting Gary Norman Arthur Botting (born 19 July 1943) is a Canadian legal scholar and criminal defense lawyer (now retired) as well as a poet, playwright, novelist, and critic of literature and religion, in particular Jehovah's Witnesses. The author o ...

, born at Oakley House Maternity Hospital on 19 July 1943, who became a noted Canadian extradition lawyer.

References

Sources & further reading

*Akerman, 1865. ''Report on excavations in an ancient cemetery at Frilford.'' Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 3, 136–41 * *Haverfield, F. 1897. ''A Roman villa at Frilford.'' Archaeological Journal, 54, 340–54 * * *Rolleston, G. 1869. ''Researches and excavations at an ancient cemetery at Frilford. ''Archaeologia, 42, 417-85 *Rolleston, G. 1880. ''Further researches in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Frilford.'' Archaeologia, 45, 405-10

External links

Royal Berkshire History websiteOxford University School of Archaeology website
Hamlets in Oxfordshire Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse Archaeological sites in Oxfordshire Roman sites in Oxfordshire Anglo-Saxon sites in England {{Oxfordshire-geo-stub