This region is quintessentially English, with its close proximity and ties with London, it accounts for much of what has gone into the England’s character.
From the rolling countryside of Oxfordshire, following down the Thames Valley, then south to Portsmouth and the English Channel and east along the coast culminating in the dramatic White Cliffs of Dover, this area covers some of the most significant points in England’s heritage as well as some typically English towns and landscapes.
The Thames Valley, up the river from London is a much gentler affair of quaint affluent towns, and is home to such institutional institutions as Windsor Castle, Eton College and the Henley Regatta of Henley on Thames.
Further up the Thames are the famous ‘dreamy spires’ of Oxford, the primary academic establishment of England and a delightful collection of college quads dating back as far as the 12th Century.
Close by in the peaceful Oxfordshire countryside is one of the most stunning stately mansions of Britain, Blenheim Palace, a grandiose 17th Century building set in lavish grounds landscaped by Capability Brown, given as gift for placing Britain in pole position on the world stage at that time. Blenheim Palace also has close connections with Winston Churchill, England’s greatest ever statesman.
This region includes three of England’s capitals. Oxford was the Royalist capital under King Charles I in the Civil War, the typically English town of Winchester was the Saxon capital of England under King Alfred the Great and Canterbury in Kent is the ecclesiastical capital of England as the location of the prestigious Canterbury Cathedral.
Britain’s proud naval heritage is mapped out in this area to, from the Medieval Cinque Ports stretching from Dover, Hythe and Rye to Britain’s premier modern naval base of Portsmouth and the South Downs that outline the coastline are one of England’s much cherished areas of Natural Beauty. |
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