Blewbury in Oxfordshire is a lovely village, three miles south of Didcot and fourteen miles south of Oxford. It is situated at the foot of the Berkshire Downs, close to the Ridgeway. London Street is the main road, (A417) but the oldest part of the village is within a loop of narrow lanes and pathways, which stretch from London Street. It is a village of white painted timber built houses and old inns. The Red Lion is a red brick pub popular with the villagers. Close to the Red Lion is a long path lined by thatched “wattle and daub” cob walls, which are believed to be of Saxon origin. They were used to mark field boundaries. Turnpike House is a 17th century building in London Road, which was once the toll house.
St. Michael’s Church stands amongst trees, surrounded by a patchwork of streams and watercress beds. It is a Grade I Listed Building. The Nave is 11th century Norman, but the South Aisle was added in the 13th century, the North Aisle in the 14th century and the West Tower in the 15th century.
Kenneth Grahame, author of ‘The Wind in the Willows’, lived in Bohams House in Westbrook Street, from 1910 until 1924.
