2 bedroom

2 bedroom cottage

Set close to the centre of Dorchester-on-Thames in Oxfordshire and in an area of great archaeological interest, Herringcote is within easy reach of the village shops and the Abbey. Martins Lane provides a direct route from Herringcote into the High Street. These retirement properties are built around a garden courtyard with a private road, lawns, herbaceous borders, and an attractive dovecote.

The village itself overlies the site of the small Romano-British walled town. In AD 635 Cynegils, King of the West Saxons, was baptised here by St. Birinus, founder of the first cathedral-church of Dorchester and bishopric of Wessex - later removed to Winchester. In the 9th century, Dorchester became a centre of a vast Mercian diocese stretching from the Thames to the Humber. After the Norman Conquest, the See was transferred to Lincoln, and about 1140, Bishop Alexander founded the Augustinian Abbey of Saints Peter, Paul and Birinus on the site of the former Saxon Cathedral. Built to a cruciform plan, the church was magnificently enlarged over the next two centuries, culminating in the remarkable chancel extension of 1340 with its three great windows, including the famous Tree of Jesse.

Dorchester is particularly well placed to take advantage of the major road and rail connections in the south of England. It is situated just off the A423 from Oxford (8 miles) to Henley-on-Thames (16 miles). There is a mainline station at Didcot (5 miles), with fast and frequent trains to London (Paddington 40 minutes). The M40 (Junction 7) is about 8 miles away. Heathrow can be reached easily by car, or by coach from Oxford, in less than an hour. Abingdon and Wallingford are the nearest towns and both are less than six miles away.