The River Thames
Ordnance Survey Explorer map (1:25,000): 180: Oxford
Length: 9.8km (6.1 miles).
Duration: 3 hours.
Start: Wolvercote
Parking: Port Meadow Car Park
Public Houses:
The White Hart, 01865 511978
Jacob's Inn, 01865 514333
The Trout, 01865 510930
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A Place of Wide Open Spaces
Parking for this walk can be found in a large public car park just south of Wolvercote, although on warm summer days it is a popular spot, so it is best to arrive early or do your walk out of season. The walk is very agreeable and undemanding and includes an easy stroll along the River Thames.
The car park is situated beside Port Meadow, a large open space over 135ha in area. The meadow is common land and an ancient area for grazing which, apparently, has not been ploughed for at least 4,000 years. It and adjacent areas are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (for its grasslands), a Scheduled Ancient Monument (for its Bronze Age and Iron Age remains) and a Special Area of Conservation (for its internationally important nature conservation value).
Legend has it, that in return for helping to defend the kingdom against the Danes, the Freemen of Oxford were given the land by Alfred the Great. It has been grazed by their descendants ever since. Other uses to which parts of the common have been put have included horse racing, in the 17th and 18th centuries, a military aerodrome, during the First World War (fifteen air crew and pilots were killed flying from Port Meadow), and a camp for military personnel evacuated from Dunkirk in the Second World War.
A Place for the Nation
The nunnery was not without its scandals. In 1284, the nuns were instructed to avoid contact with the scholars of Oxford following reports of improper behaviour by the sub-prioress. While, in 1290 a carriage belonging to the abbey was stopped and a nun carried off. That the nun was probably aware of the plan to kidnap her is suggested by the fact that she was excommunicated shortly after the event.
At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Godstow had 16 nuns under the abbess. The abbey was given to Henry VIII's physician, George Owen, who tore down the church and built a mansion called Godstow House from the abbey ruins. In 1645, Godstow House was badly damaged in the Civil War and stone from the site was taken for local building stone. The site passed to the Earl of Abingdon in 1702 and remained part of the Abingdon estates until 1902. In 1924 it was given to Oxford University in trust for the nation.
A Place of Science
There is a rise of no more than 20m from the nunnery to the highest point in the walk, which is on 75m above sea level and located about 2 km west of Godstow Nunnery, just east of Wytham Great Wood. However, even at this lowish high point there is a wonderful view across the Thames valley.
In the past, Wytham Great Wood was owned by Abingdon Abbey, but it has been owned by the University of Oxford since 1942. It is a thousand acres in area and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, with parts of it being ancient semi-natural woodland. It is also one of the most researched pieces of woodland in the world. Many ecological research projects have been conducted there. As a result, the woodland is very famous, amongst ecologists, at least.
A Place of Union
When walking along the Thames keep an eye out for the confluence with the River Evenlode. You will need to keep your wits about you as it is a little underwhelming.
The confluence itself is little more than an indent into the bank of the Thames, with a stand of trees and a little shed that distinguish it from any other stretch of the River Thames. But there is a sign announcing the presence of the River Evenlode, so you will know when you see it.
The River Evenlode is the second longest (after the Windrush) of the Cotswolds rivers that flow into the Thames above Oxford. It has its headwaters near Morton-in-Marsh and flows past Blenheim before entering the Thames.
I am currently walking its length with the idea of publishing a guide to the walk, as I did in 2020/21 for the Windrush.
A Place of Confinement
Just over a kilometre downstream from where the Evenlode joins the Thames is the King’s Lock. The name is a modern derivation of Kingisweire, with the kin component referring to cattle. Records of a weir (and fish trap) at this location go back to 1289. The current lock (known as a pound lock) was built in 1928, although its construction was first proposed in 1817. It was one of the last locks built on the River Thames and has the smallest fall (0.77m) of any of the locks on the river.
Pound locks have a water chamber with gates at either end to control the level of water in the chamber. The “pound” is the stretch of water found between two locks. Pound locks replaced an earlier design with a single gate, known as a flash lock. Pound locks first appeared in China in 984. In Europe a proto-type pound lock was installed at Vreeswijk, in the Netherlands in 1373. The first true pound lock was built in 1396 at Damme, Belgium.
A Place for Gentlewomen
Soon after starting the walk, you will come across the ruins of the Godstow Nunnery.
The nunnery was founded by Edith (Ediva/Evida) of Winchester (c.1080-c.1176). After being widowed Edith had a vision telling her to settle near Oxford and await a sign from God bidding her to build a place in his name. She settled in Binsey, just south of Godstow and one night heard a voice bidding her to go where a light from heaven reached the ground and there to build a nunnery for 24 gentlewomen. She looked north and saw a light over Godstow. Edith told King Henry I about her vision and he approved the foundation of the nunnery.
She was granted land on an island in the River Thames by John of St John, a local landowner, and established a Benedictine nunnery dedicated to St Mary and St John the Baptist. The nunnery was started in 1133 and the church was finished by 1139. It was dedicated in the presence of King Stephen. It was always a nunnery for aristocratic ladies. As such one would expect it to be relatively well off, however, being of noble birth the aristocratic nuns expected and maintained an expensive lifestyle. Indeed, in 1316, King Edward II had to take the nunnery into his protection due to its poverty.