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West Challow
St Laurence
West ChallowLocation within Oxfordshire
Population	184 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference	SU3688
Civil parish	West Challow
District	Vale of White Horse
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Wantage
Postcode district	OX12
Dialling code	01235
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Didcot and Wantage
List of places UK England Oxfordshire 51°35′31″N 1°28′19″W / 51.592°N 1.472°W / 51.592; -1.472

West Challow is a village and civil parish about 2 miles (3 km) west of the market town of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse, England. The village is on Childrey Brook, which is a tributary of the River Ock. West Challow was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 184.

Etymology

The place-name Challow is first attested in a charter of 947 (though the earliest surviving copy of the charter is twelfth-century) in the Old English phrase "to Ceawan Hlewe", which can straightforwardly be translated as "to Ceawa's burial mound", where Ceawa is a personal name attested only here and in the place-name Chawridge. The name appears as Ceveslane (considered to be a mis-spelling of Ceveslaue) in the Domesday Book of 1086. Thirteenth-century variants included Chaulea, Chaulauhe, Chawelawe and Shawelawe.

The "West" element in the name, added to distinguish West Challow from East Challow, is first found in 1284 (in such forms as Westcha(e)lawe and Weschallawe).

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of Saint Laurence is part of the Benefice of Ridgeway, along with the parishes of Childrey, Kingston Lisle, Letcombe Bassett, Letcombe Regis and Sparsholt.

Canal

The course of the former Wilts & Berks Canal passes through the parish, skirting the south side of the village. It was extended eastwards from Longcot to Challow in 1807 and was completed to the River Thames at Abingdon in 1810. The Wilts & Berks carried small amounts of canal cargo through Challow until at least 1895–96. Traffic on the canal had virtually ceased by 1901 and the route was formally abandoned in 1914. The Wilts & Berks Canal Trust is currently restoring the canal.

Manor of Challow

The Manor of Challow was granted by King Henry I to Robert Achard between 1107 and 1118, and passed later to Sir William Forster who held it in the early 17th century. Manor Farm is a Grade II* listed Queen Anne building with much older inclusions.

References

1. "Area: West Challow (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
2. ^ Victor Watts, The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names Based on the Collections of the English Place-Name Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 124.
3. Richard Coates, 'On Some Controversy Surrounding Gewissae / Gewissei, Cerdic and Ceawlin', Nomina, 13 (1989–90), 1–11.
4. John Insley, 'Britons and Anglo-Saxons', in Kulturelle Integration und Personennamen im Mittelalter, ed. by Wolfgang Haubrichs, Christa Jochum-Godglück (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2019), §4.
5. ^ Page & Ditchfield 1924, pp. 222–228
6. Archbishops' Council (2010). "Benefice of Ridgeway". A Church Near You. Church of England. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
7. Dalby 2000, p. 23.
8. Dalby 2000, p. 24.
9. Dalby 2000, p. 124.

Sources

• Dalby, L.J. (2000) . The Wilts and Berks Canal (3rd ed.). Usk: Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-562-4.
• Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds. (1924). A History of the County of Berkshire. Victoria County History. Vol. 4. assisted by John Hautenville Cope. London: The St Katherine Press. pp. 222–228.
• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 262–263.

External links

Media related to West Challow at Wikimedia Commons

v t e The District of the Vale of White Horse
Oxfordshire County Council elections District Council elections Didcot and Wantage County Constituency Oxford West and Abingdon County Constituency Witney County Constituency
Towns	Abingdon-on-Thames Caldecott Faringdon Wantage Belmont
Large villages	Blewbury Cumnor Chilswell Cumnor Hill Dean Court Farmoor Swinford Drayton East Challow East Hendred Grove Harwell Kennington Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor Kingston Bagpuize Southmoor Marcham Cothill Milton North Hinksey Botley Harcourt Hill Radley St. Helen Without Dry Sandford Shippon Shrivenham Stanford in the Vale Bow Steventon Sunningwell Bayworth Boars Hill Foxcombe Hill Sutton Courtenay Watchfield Wootton Boars Hill Henwood Lamborough Hill
Other civil parishes (component villages and hamlets)	Appleford-on-Thames Appleton-with-Eaton Appleton Eaton Ardington and Lockinge Ardington Ardington Wick East Lockinge West Lockinge West Ginge Ashbury Idstone Kingstone Winslow Baulking Besselsleigh Bourton Buckland Gainfield Buscot Charney Bassett Childrey Chilton Coleshill Compton Beauchamp Knighton Denchworth East Hanney Eaton Hastings Fernham Frilford Fyfield and Tubney Fyfield Tubney Netherton Garford Goosey Great Coxwell Hatford Little Hatford Hinton Waldrist Duxford Kingston Lisle Letcombe Bassett Letcombe Regis Little Coxwell Littleworth Longcot Longworth Lyford Pusey Shellingford South Hinksey Hinksey Hill Sparsholt Uffington Upton West Challow West Hanney West Hendred East Ginge Western Valley Woolstone Wytham Seacourt
Former districts and boroughs	Municipal Borough of Abingdon Abingdon Rural District Faringdon Rural District Wantage Urban District Wantage Rural District
Former constituencies	Oxfordshire County Constituency Abingdon Borough Constituency Berkshire North or Abingdon County Constituency Abingdon County Constituency Wantage County Constituency
List of parliamentary constituencies in Oxfordshire List of places in Oxfordshire List of civil parishes in Oxfordshire

• Villages in Oxfordshire
• Civil parishes in Oxfordshire
• Vale of White Horse