Vale of White Horse

Common card · No. 477506

The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. It was historically part of Berkshire. It is crossed by the Ridgeway National Trail in its far south, across the North Wessex Downs AONB at the junction of four counties. The northern boundary is defined by the River Thames. The name refers to Uffington White Horse, a prehistoric hill figure. As well as being a local authority district, the Vale of White Horse is a geographical, historical and cultural region. The name "Vale of White Horse" predates the present-day local authority district, having been described, for example, in Daniel Defoe's 1748 travel account A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain. There are references to the name as early as the 17th century; the Elizabethan antiquarian and historian William Camden referred to the "Vale of White Horse" in his 1610 topographical study on the British Isles. Traditionally, the Vale has been understood to cover an area wider than the present-day local...

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