It's that time of year again when we start to wake our sleeping apple trees up. The 2026 Wassail is to take place between 3- 5 on Saturday 3rd January followed by music and singing in the Red Lion. Meet at the pub.
Local Events
Another repair session is on offer at Cholsey Repair Café, which takes place on Saturday 17th January at The Cholsey Pavilion. Doors open at 10am and close at 12.45.
Friends of Brightwell School are hosting a Burns Night on the 24th January, 5.30 at the Village Hall. It will feature a traditional meal, speeches, music and a lively Ceilidh.
Local News
Particularly at this time of year some people may be feeling a bit lost, empty or sad. Lost and Found is open to anyone wishing to explore their experience of loss and share or learn from others. Held monthly at the Friends Meeting House in Wallingford at 10.30 am - 12 pm. All welcome
Red box gallery looking very festive with decorations made at Brightwell's WI crafty Christmas evening.
There have been changes to the planned admissions arrangements for 2027 - 2028 for Brightwell cum Sotwell C of E Primary School. Please see details below.
About our village
You may be a visitor, 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 with a thriving volunteer-run village shop adjacent. The parish stretches to the edge of Wallingford, but 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.
Feel free to send us your pictures, news 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 Facebook page.
