Why visit Witney
Townapedia lists 22 museums and landmarks, 20 parks and trails, 91 places to eat, 6 places to stay and 3 attractions in and around town.
Highlights include Witney Blanket Hall and Butter Cross.
Weather in Witney
Forecast from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0). Full forecast
About Witney
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is 12 miles (19 km) west of Oxford.
From the Wikipedia article Witney (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Travel tips from other travellers: Witney on Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Things to do3
Southdown Farm Shop
Farm and orchard · 1.2 mi
Cheese and Dairy Produce
Museums and landmarks22
Cogges Manor Farm Museum
Museum · 0.4 mi
Former farm and farm museum in Witney, England, UK
Church Lane, Witney
Mo-Su 09:30-17:00
10 more on the map.
Parks, trails and playgrounds20
8 more on the map.
Restaurants and cafes91
Suwanna
Restaurant · Thai
44 Market Square, Witney
Mo-Th 17:00-22:30; Fr-Sa 12:00-13:30,17:00-23:30; Su off
Huffkins
Cafe · Tea, Brunch, Coffee Shop
35 High Street
Mo-Fr 09:00-16:00; Sa 09:00-16:30; Su 10:00-15:00
Dirty Bros
Restaurant · American, Burger
64b Corn Street, Witney
Tu 17:00-22:00; We-Fr 12:00-22:00; Sa 09:00-24:00; Su 09:00-14:00
Eagle Tavern
Bar and pub
22 Corn Street, Witney
Tu-Th 17:00-24:00+; Fr,Su 15:00-24:00+; Sa 13:00-24:00+
Part & Parcel
Bar and pub · Burger, Pizza
2-4 Market Square, Witney
Mo-Tu 12:00-22:00; We-Th 12:00-23:00; Fr-Sa 11:00-24:00; Su 11:00-22:00
79 more on the map.
History
The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as Wyttannige in a Saxon charter of 969. The Domesday Book of 1086 records it as Witenie, in the ancient hundred of Bampton.
The Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin was originally Norman. The north porch and north aisle were added in this style late in the 12th century, and survived a major rebuilding in about 1243. In this rebuilding the present chancel, transepts, tower and spire were added and the nave was remodelled, all in the Early English style. In the 14th century a number of side chapels and some of the present windows were added in the Decorated style. In the 15th century the south transept was extended and the present west window of the nave were added in the Perpendicular style. The tower has a peal of eight bells. The tower of the church is 69 feet (21 metres) high, topped by a tall and slender spire, which brings the total height of the church to 154 feet (47 metres).
Holy Trinity Church, Wood Green, was built in 1849 in a Gothic Revival rendition of Early English Gothic. St Mary the Virgin and Holy Trinity are now members of a single team parish.
Read more of the history
The Friends Meeting House in Wood Green was built in the 18th century. Since 1997 Quakers in Witney have met at the Corn Exchange. The Methodist church in the High Street was built in 1850. It is now one of five Methodist churches and chapels in Witney. The Roman Catholic parish of Our Lady and Saint Hugh was founded in 1913. It originally used a chapel in West End built in 1881 but now has its own modern building. The old chapel in West End is now Elim Christian Fellowship. Witney High Street still has several older buildings, which are protected by the Witney and Cogges conservation area.
Witney Market began in the Middle Ages. Thursday is the traditional market day but there is also a market on Saturday. The buttercross in the market square is so called because people from neighbouring towns would gather there to buy butter and eggs. It was built in about 1600 and its clock was added in 1683. Witney Town Hall, which is arcaded on the ground floor and has an assembly room on the first floor, was completed in 1786. Witney has long been an important crossing over the River Windrush. The architect Thomas Wyatt rebuilt the bridge in Bridge Street in 1822.
Witney workhouse was on Razor Hill (now Tower Hill). It was designed by the architect George Wilkinson and built in 1835–36. It had four wings radiating from an octagonal central building, similar to the Chipping Norton workhouse, which also was built by Wilkinson. His younger brother William Wilkinson added a separate chapel to Witney Workhouse in 1860. In the First World War the workhouse held prisoners of war. In 1940 the workhouse was converted into Crawford Collets engineering factory under the direction of Leonard Frank Eve. The chapel was made the factory canteen. In 1979 Crawford Collets had the main buildings demolished and replaced with a modern factory, but preserved the entrance gate and former chapel. In 2004 the modern factory was demolished for redevelopment. The gate and chapel have again been preserved and the former chapel converted into offices.
From the History section of Witney on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
More about Witney
Education
Witney has three county secondary schools: Henry Box School, Wood Green School and Springfield School. In 1660 Henry Box founded Witney Grammar School. In 1968 it became the comprehensive Henry Box School. In 1970 new school buildings were added to the original 17th-century premises beside Church Green. Wood Green School was founded in 1954 and is at the top of Woodstock Road. Springfield School was founded in 1967 and is a special-needs school for pupils with severe learning difficulties. Springfield School senior section is a self-contained unit, with some shared facilities, within the grounds of Wood Green School. Wood Green was substantially expanded from 2000 to 2004; an additional block with 15 teaching rooms was added, together with a purpose-built sixth form centre, school restaurant and new AstroTurf pitch. 2009 saw part of the old Lower School being remodelled to provide new changing and shower facilities for the AstroTurf pitch and its many users from local community sports clubs.
From the Wikipedia article Witney, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Notable people from Witney
Herbert SmithEnglish footballer (1877-1951)Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain
Andrew LoganEnglish sculptor, performance artist, jewellery-maker, and portraitist (born 1945)Photo: Barry philip beckett, CC BY-SA 3.0
Alan PayneEnglish cricketer (1903-1977)Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain- Patrick SteptoeBritish gynaecologist (1913–1988)
- Emma AppletonBritish actress
- Francis Sowerby MacaulayBritish mathematician (1862–1937)
- Michael GormanBritish librarian (1941-)
- Martin JonesBritish pianist
- Lawson D'AthEnglish footballer (born 1992)
- Robbie MustoeEnglish footballer and commentator
- Josiah ForshallEnglish librarian
- Frank ClackEnglish footballer (1912-1995)
Born in Witney, according to Wikidata (CC0). Each name links to its Wikipedia article.
Where to stay6
Churches and places of worship17
Witney Mosque (Elsharkawy Islamic Culture Centre)
Place of worship · 0.5 mi
unit 1 Cranbrook Court, Witney
Shopping26
Gas and EV charging6
Schools, colleges and libraries15
Healthcare8
Map of Witney
214 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
Getting there and nearby towns
RAF Brize Norton (BZZ) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 5 miles away.
- Oxford 10 mi east, about 16 min by car
- Swindon 20 mi southwest, about 32 min by car
- Royal Wootton Bassett 25 mi southwest, about 39 min by car
- Cheltenham 27 mi west, about 43 min by car
- Reading 32 mi southeast, about 51 min by car
- Gloucester 33 mi west, about 53 min by car
- High Wycombe 33 mi east, about 54 min by car
- Milton Keynes 36 mi northeast, about 58 min by car
- Basingstoke 40 mi southeast, about 1 h by car
- Northampton 41 mi northeast, about 1 h by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Towns near Witney
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Sources and licences
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, coordinates, regions and time zone
- Mapillary (see each image): photos
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- 38-40 Market Square, Witney, Oxfordshire, Mertbiol, CC0
- Witney Town Hall, Witney, Oxfordshire 02, Mertbiol, CC0
- Witney Town Hall, Witney, Oxfordshire 01, Mertbiol, CC0
- NorthLeigh StMary SouthEast, Motacilla, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Ducklington village, Jonathan Billinger, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Witney Butter Cross, Witney, Oxfordshire, Mertbiol, CC0
- Street-level photo, anonuk, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, anonuk, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, anonuk, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, anonuk, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, anonuk, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, laye, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, alexanderar, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, laye, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, alexanderar, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, richardc, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, anonuk, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, hobgoblin, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, hobgoblin, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Street-level photo, laye, CC BY-SA 4.0
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