Layer after layer of history, Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

            Not a great photograph with a hazing white sky and looking into the sun. However... 

This view is looking south from the edge of the very pretty, present day village of Dorchester. 
In the distance are the Sinodun Hills, commonly referred to as the Wittenham Clumps (or even better, Mother Dunch's Buttocks!). The wooded clump on the horizon, above the fence, is the well-preserved Iron Age Fort of Castle Hill. Below the hill, the River Thames makes a great loop and is joined by the smaller River Thame (that flows just out of sight behind the WW2 pillbox on the left.) The angle created by the confluence of these two rivers formed a naturally defendable site that developed into a substantial Iron Age settlement, protected from the north by large earthworks, known as The Dyke Hills. These are the embankments that can be seen running across the centre of the picture.

Later, the Romans saw the strategic and defendable qualities of the site and built a fort here too, which in turn became a small town. It developed into an important Saxon settlement and has a place in the Christian history of England, as where King Cynegils of Mercia was baptised, converting the Saxons to Christianity. A humble cathedral was built, later replaced by the present Abbey.
The strategic qualities of the rivers continued to be valued into the 20th century, the banks of the Thame and the Thames defended by the concrete pillboxes of WW2.
   

Taken in: UK / England / South Oxfordshire District / Dorchester (show map)

Taken on: August 30, 2019

Tags:

WW2 pillbox

WW2

England

village

Iron Age

Wittenham Clumps « less

Sets appears in: • The Thames Valley • Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire more » • The Chiltern Hills and the Thames Valley « less

Groups appears in: • Historical places • Oxfordshire more » • History is All Around Us • English Country Walks... • A Picture of Britain • Pictures Of England • This Is England • SOUTH EAST PORTFOLIO • (BEAUTIFUL CANAL, LOCKS, BRIDGES,AND AQUEDUCTS. • England's Glory « less

Camera: Olympus E-420, f/8.0, 1/400 sec, 17mm (=34mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Olympus E-420
Lens:	OLYMPUS 17.5-45mm Lens
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.003 sec (1/400)
Focal Length:	17mm (35mm equivalent: 34mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Creative (Slow speed)
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 21.0 (Macintosh)
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