Source: ezinearticles.com
The town of Didcot, Oxfordshire, England lies only about 10 miles to the south of the historic and world famous town of Oxford. Today, it enjoys a population of around 26, 000 people. It is interesting to note that until 1974 this town was a part of the county of Berkshire.
Didcot's history can be traced back to the Iron Age, where a settlement was located on a ridge within the town proper. Most of the surrounding area at that time consisted of uninhabitable marshland. There is evidence that the Roman occupiers of the day made, go today, efforts to drain those marshes by digging a long outflow ditch.
The actual recorded history of Didcot seems to have begun in the 13th century, where the name "Dudcotte" was found in documents that placed the town, as was said, in Berkshire. For much of its early history thereafter, the total population count of the town hovered around 100 or so people. In fact, the town was quite a bit smaller than many surrounding villages back then, though it dominates all around it today.
Didcot benefitted from the arrival of the railway 1839, which eventually grew into a large covered station in 1844, though this original version burned in a fire later that century. Didcot, lying as it did at a strategic junction that connected London, Bristol and Oxford, was valued highly by the military, and it was used extensively to supply troops for the push back into Europe, on D-Day.
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire, in which Didcot resides, enjoys a current population of around 636, 000 people. It lies in the southeastern part of England, and has the University of Oxford, which is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, within its borders. The county has an extremely vigorous tourist industry, containing as it does numerous places of historic interest. Both Didcot and Oxfordshire are sterling examples of classic English life.
For accommodation in Didcot check this list of Didcot hotels.
