Dorchester-on-Thames is a village on the River Thame in Oxfordshire, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Wallingford and 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Oxford. Dorchester is just above the Thame's confluence with the River Thames. Historically the Thames was only so-named downstream of the village; upstream it is named the Isis, and Ordnance Survey maps continue to label the river as "River Thames or Isis" until Dorchester. Practically, ho...
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Dorchester-on-Thames is a village on the River Thame in Oxfordshire, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) northwest of Wallingford and 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Oxford. Dorchester is just above the Thame's confluence with the River Thames. Historically the Thames was only so-named downstream of the village; upstream it is named the Isis, and Ordnance Survey maps continue to label the river as "River Thames or Isis" until Dorchester. Practically, however, this distinction is rarely used outside of the City of Oxford.
The area has been inhabited since early times. In the north of the parish there was a Neolithic sacred site, now largely destroyed by gravel pits. On one of the Sinodun hills on the opposite side of the River Thames, a ramparted settlement was inhabited during the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Two of the Sinodun hills bear distinctive landmarks of mature trees called Wittenham Clumps. Adjacent to the village are Dyke Hills which are also the remains of an Iron Age hill fort....
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