Abingdon-on-Thames

Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England

Abingdon-on-Thames, formerly (1974–2012) Abingdon, town (parish), Vale of White Horse district, administrative county of Oxfordshire, historic county of Berkshire, south-central England. It lies south of Oxford at the confluence of the Rivers Thames and Ock.

The town was founded by the Saxons and grew up around a Benedictine abbey (established in 676), which gained significant prominence and wealth. In 1556, after the abbey had been dissolved, Abingdon-on-Thames was granted its first royal charter. The abbey remains include a Perpendicular gateway and the restored Checker Hall, now used as an Elizabethan-style theatre called the Unicorn Theatre. Built in 1416 and widened in 1929, the arched Abingdon Bridge over the Thames (comprising three sections: the Hart or Town Bridge, the Maud Hales Bridge, and the Burford Bridge) provides a view of the Early English tower and Perpendicular spire of St. Helen’s Church. The county hall (1677–80), which served for centuries as the administrative headquarters for Berkshire county, now houses Abingdon County Hall Museum. St. Nicolas Church, the west front of which was built in 1180, stands nearby on Market Place, connected by the abbey gateway to Guildhall, which dates from the 15th century. Schools in the town include Abingdon (Roysse’s) School—one of the oldest public (independent) schools in England—and Radley College (1847).

Having been known simply as Abingdon following an administrative reorganization in 1974 that shifted the town from Berkshire to Oxfordshire, the town chose to officially readopt its -on-Thames suffix in 2011 (district approval came in 2012). Abingdon-on-Thames is located within southern Oxfordshire’s Science Vale, a cluster of science and technology facilities and start-up companies. Buses run frequently between the town and Oxford. Abingdon-on-Thames has long been a popular Thames-side resort thanks to nearby national trails, easy access to water sports and pleasure boating, and annual festivals. Pop. (2001) 36,010; (2011) 33,130.