About Longworth
Longworth is a rural village and parish with a community population of around 570. This parish is about 7 miles west of Abingdon and a similar distance east of Faringdon and south of Witney. Originally the village was in the county of Berkshire, however, since 1974 it has been located in the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire. The most recent boundary change was to the southern border in July 2008, which now meets the A420.
History of Longworth
In Saxon times a charter outlined the boundaries of Longworth (the long homestead). The Domesday Book of 1086 shows Longworth belonging to Abingdon Abbey. Following the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538 the village ownership was gifted to the Lords of the Manor of Longworth and then was purchased by Henry Marten in 1618.
The Marten family were active in the civil war, calling for the deposition of King Charles and Henry Marten the younger was imprisoned in the Tower of London. All his Longworth property was forfeited.
The industrial revolution had its impact on Longworth despite the village remaining rural and agricultural. In the days when the cost of moving bulky goods such as coal, corn, timber or stone was very expensive, settlements near the
Thames took advantage of cheap water transport provided by barges. In particular coal barges would arrive at a landing stage at the back of Harrowdown Hill where the coal would be transported up Tucks Lane by horse and cart and
then on to the neighbouring settlements.
From the mid-19th century, Longworth was known for its rose growing with the arrival of a group of nurserymen families of which the best known were the Prince and Drew family. It was said that one could smell the rose fields of Longworth long before the village was seen. Visit Longworth and District History Society