INTRODUCTION Iv 



dopted is the turnpike road, and from the latter place the Shrivenham 

 oad for two miles south-west, whence the road to Longcott Wharf is 

 followed till it reaches the Canal, which is then taken as the boundary 

 as far as to Chapelwick Farm. From this farm the line is drawn between 

 Odstone and Kingstone Farm to the ancient ' Ridge Road ' near 

 Wayland Smith's Forge. The extreme southern boundary for two 

 miles is the same historic highway till it meets the Wiltshire border. 

 The Cole, which drains the extreme western corner of the county, is 

 now the boundary, not only of the district, but also of the county 

 from Hendon Mill to St. John's Bridge near Lechlade, where it meets 

 the Thames. The portion drained by the Cole is, as one might expect 

 from its geological character, veiy varied in its scenery ; the contrast 

 between the elerated bare bleak fields, without trees and almost 

 without hedgerows, near the Ridgeway with its extensive prospects 

 over the Vale of Berkshiz-e, and the sheltered village of Shrivenham, 

 with its well-wooded park and its murmuring brook, and the deep 

 coombes, with the extensive watercress beds of Ashbury and King- 

 stone, is very marked. Another distinct kind of scenery may be seen 

 at Coleshill, where, in the beautiful park of the Bouverie family, 

 whose mansion is one of the most successful efforts of Inigo Jones, an 

 extensive view is obtained over a gently undulating and well-wooded 

 country, which in turn changes as the Thames is approached to flat 

 extensive alluvial meadow lands, which are characteristic of the 

 valley of the Upper Thames, and, as Leland says, ' are often overflown 

 with rage of rain,' 



This district of the Upper Thames is on the whole a well-cultivated 

 one, heathland and true bogland being almost entirely absent, so that 

 iJrosera, Pinguicula, Narthecium, Erica, Calluna, Jimcus squarrosus, Plantago 

 Coronopus, Antliemis v.ohilis, and Salix repens are either very rare or wanting ; 

 nor are the natural woods very extensive, the principal being the 

 wooded common of Appleton, Eaton Wood, and Buscot coppices near 

 Faringdon, a few coppices near Cumnor, and the beautiful woods of 

 W3-tham near Oxford. The plant localities are therefore scattered 

 over the district, and it may be well to give a short account of the 

 characteristic features of its flora. The meadow land is not of a very 

 varied nature, nor has it many rare plants to render it especially 

 attractive. By the Cole some upland j)astures near Watchfield have large 

 quantities of Ornithogahim lanbellatum, a plant locally known as 'Stars,' 

 Avhich ninj be really indigenous ; the same fields also yield Allium 

 vineale and Allium oleraceion, the latter sparingly ; between Coleshill 

 and Lechlade the meadows have Fritillaria Meleagris, and the river for 

 a short space is bordered with Bihes nigrum ; from Lechlade eastwards 

 to Oxford Bromus commutatus is a characteristic plant. The upland 

 grass-fields in this district are often full of Orchis morio, but the rare 



