Welcome to Brightwell-cum-Sotwell...
Reminder: Tuesday 22nd May. Final submissions on proposals to build 500 houses in Wa...
more Beacon and fireworks at Brightwell Barrow planned as climax to Jub...
more Bruce Gordon carves greyhound from a felled holly tree for Queen's Jubilee ...
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You may be an outsider, wanting to know more about the village with the weirdest name in South Oxfordshire, or you may be a resident. In either case, we hope you will find something here to interest you.
Brightwell-cum-Sotwell is a village of picture postcard prettiness. Nestling in a hollow below Wittenham Clumps, it has at its heart the CAMRA award-winning Red Lion pub. Dotted along the narrow streets are picturesque black and white thatched cottages. There is a school and pre-school, four churches, and a village hall which houses a thriving volunteer-run village shop. The parish stretches to the edge of Wallingford, but – as can be seen from the current campaign against plans to extend the town westwards – the village values its separate identity.
In estate agents' jargon, this is a sought after village, but it is much more than a pretty face. People have lived and worked here for over a thousand years. Where our forebears tilled the land, we are now more likely to toil over computers. However, farming still has an important part to play in shaping the landscape, and we remain firmly in touch with our rural roots.
This is an area that has attracted artists, musicians, scientists and visionaries. Visitors come from all over the world to Mount Vernon, home of the celebrated Bach Flower Remedies. Wild flowers grown in the garden of Mount Vernon are still used to make the mother tincture of these homeopathic treatments, and their creator, Dr Edward Bach, is buried in St James's churchyard in Sotwell.
The photo at the top of our page – underneath the Queen's Diamond Jubilee logo – shows Bruce Gordon, a Brightwell sculptor, shortly to be put 'In the Frame'. Underneath, young lambs are pictured with David Greasby at Highlands Farm. The bottom photo shows beekeeper Steve Moll at work in spring.
Please feel free to send us your photos, as well as details of events, text, and dates for the calendar. If you would like to advertise or create a web page for your organisation, we would also love to hear from you. Just click on the Contact link at the top, or get involved through the blog.
