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Archaeologists from the Red River Archaeology Group came across the complex while working on a Barratt and David Wilson Homes housing development at Brookside Meadows in Grove near Wantage, Oxfordshire.The site sits on a landscape inhabited since the Bronze Age which has been described as "artefact-rich".The group's project officer said it was "an important centre of activities for a long time".The archaeologists said the villa complex was richly decorated with painted plaster and mosaics.Finds also include a monumental hall-like "aisled building", which is a type of structure that seems to date from the late 1st Century AD.This building is immediately...

Imagine if your power mad politicians liked Covid Lockdowns so much, they wanted to continue them indefinitely. This is going to be trialled in Oxfordshire in Britain. Oxfordshire County Council Pass Climate Lockdown ‘trial’ to Begin in 2024 Oxfordshire County Council yesterday approved plans to lock residents into one of six zones to ‘save the planet’ from global warming. The latest stage in the ’15 minute city’ agenda is to place electronic gates on key roads in and out of the city, confining residents to their own neighbourhoods. Under the new scheme if residents want to leave their zone they...

JEREMY Clarkson was left stunned after 'protesters' dumped three tonnes of compost on his Range Rover. Jeremy, 61, arrived at his Diddly Squat farm in Oxfordshire with his partner Lisa Hogan on Tuesday to find his car being covered in mushroom compost. But it was all part of a prank organised by Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway - and the protesters were actually paid actors. On Tuesday the so-called protesters stormed the farm and ran around naked before using a digger to dump the massive load of compost on the Grand Tour star's green motor. The mock protest was...

FULL TITLE: Roman mega-villa bigger than the Taj Mahal is found in Oxfordshire packed with trophies including coins and boar tusks alongside the sarcophagus of a woman The historic Roman structure is the second largest ever discovered in the UK The foundations measure 85m by 85m (278ft x 278ft) and date back to 99 AD It lies beneath a crop in a field near Broughton Castle near Banbury, Oxfordshire The land is owned by the third cousin of actor Ralph Fiennes Archaeologists discovered a sarcophagus inside the villa with the skeletal remains of an unknown woman

A teacher in Oxfordshire, Great Britain has been suspended after he “accidentally” called a transgender student a “girl” in class when they identify as a boy, according to The Daily Mail.The Mail last Saturday reported that Joshua Sutcliffe, 27, teaches maths at a state secondary school in Oxfordshire.Sutcliffe told the teenager and a friend “Well done girls” when he encountered them working hard in class.The teacher apologized after the student corrected him, but six weeks later he was suspended from teaching after the teen’s mother filed a complaint.Sutcliffe has since been summoned to a formal disciplinary hearing this week following...

At the end of August, Oxford Cotswold Archaeology (a joint venture between Oxford Archaeology and Cotswold Archaeology) completed the excavation of a site on the edge of Thame in Oxfordshire. The work was carried out in advance of new housing being built by Bloor Homes... Later in the Neolithic, a small henge monument was constructed within the causewayed enclosure. A second, smaller, ring-ditch was located close to the henge and this may also be of later Neolithic date. During the Bronze Age, the site saw virtually no activity or, at least, no activity which left a mark in the archaeological...

PM rocked by extraordinary claims from former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft that he was in a 'dope smoking group' and took part in a debauched initiation, but No 10 says it 'does not recognise' the accusations.

Experts reveal 'ancient massacre' The Neolithic bones were discovered at Wayland's Smithy Bones found at a prehistoric burial site indicate they belonged to victims of an ancient massacre, say scientists. Remains of 14 people were discovered at Wayland's Smithy, near Uffington White Horse, Oxfordshire, in the 1960s. Latest techniques date the bones at between 3590 BC and 3560 BC, and have led experts to believe the people may have died in a Neolithic Age massacre. English Heritage carried out the work with the help of Cardiff University and the University of Central Lancashire. Flint arrowhead Michael Wysocki of the University...

Britain's historic bridges, buildings and roads are under threat from drivers blithely following satellite navigation directions, a conservation society warned yesterday. Among those which have been damaged by traffic driving down unsuitable roads is a 200-year-old bridge in Oxfordshire, a 300-year-old cottage in Greater Manchester and Pevensey Castle in East Sussex, according to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. Phillip Venning, the society's secretary, said the cost of repairing some of the damage to the buildings had run into thousands of pounds. "Blind reliance on satellite navigation is fast becoming a serious issue for old buildings as motorists...

A radio station that asked listeners to vote on whether two turkeys should be killed has been criticised by animal lovers - including Queen guitarist Dr Brian May. And the RSPCA has urged Jack FM to rethink the online vote on whether the turkeys should be cooked or kept alive. The RSPCA said it opposed any practice with the "potential to cause animals pain... in the name of entertainment". Currently, 62% of people have voted to save the turkeys, named Sage and Onion. The Oxfordshire station said if listeners voted to kill the pair in the "cook it or keep...

Human remains dug up from an ancient grave in Oxfordshire add to a growing body of evidence that Britain's fifth-century transition from Roman to Anglo-Saxon was cultural rather than bloody. The traditional historical narrative is one of brutal conquest, with invaders from the North wiping out and replacing the pre-existing population. But a new study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, hints at a more peaceful process. Dr Andrew Millard, from Durham University, is one of the study's authors. 'The main controversy over the years has centred on how many Anglo-Saxons came across the North Sea,' he says. 'Was...

The ultimate tribute: Iraq-hero Hall nominated for George Cross medalBy JONATHAN POWELL - More by this author » Last updated at 22:53pm on 13th October 2007  A British security guard who died as he saved the lives of four colleagues in Iraq is to be recommended for Britain's highest civilian honour, the George Cross. Simon Hall and his companions were unarmed when they were overpowered by gunmen near the Kuwait border, bundled into a pick-up truck and taken on a terrifying journey to almost certain death. But the captives launched a daring escape attempt, with Simon heroically grabbing hold...

Make my day, sir, shoot a hoodie Jeremy Clarkson Almost every day a politician comes onto the news and tells us all that Britain’s town centres are being overrun by teenage gangs who drink vast quantities of cider and then run about all night stabbing passers-by. While the event is videoed on mobile phones for the edification of YouTube viewers. It all sounds frightful, but frankly they could be talking about events on the moons of Jupiter because, happily, I live in Chipping Norton, where a lost kitten is front page news. Of course there are teenagers here, and some...

Friday, October 25, 2013 Friday Afternoon Roundup - A Fighting Elephant Posted by Daniel Greenfield @ the Sultan Knish blog THE BETA ELEPHANT The GOP would like to win without fighting. It wants to wait for the voters to come around and recognize that itÂ’s the better choice because it compromises. Like the nerd waiting for the pretty girl to recognize his niceness, the Republican Party is futilely courting an American voter who barely even knows itÂ’s thereÂ… at least until he watches the next Saturday Night Live skit depicting Republicans as crazy evil billionaires who want to power Christian...

Jeremy Clarkson launches attack on teenage thugs after hoodies ruin daughter's birthdayJeremy Clarkson was at the centre of a police investigation after grappling with a hooded teenager - and has hit out at the human rights laws that prevent teachers tackling the problem in schools. In a typically outspoken attack, this time focusing his attention on the anti-social behaviour, the Top Gear star has said that "hoodies" are being allowed to run riot, and blamed parents for not controlling violent behaviour. Approached by a group of youngsters outside an entertainment complex, the BBC presenter assumed they were fans of his...

Hundreds of birdwatchers queued outside a suburban house today to catch a glimpse of a rare bird in the back garden – after paying a £5 fee imposed by the canny homeowner. More than 500 twitchers descended on the doorstep of amateur ornithologist Steve Akers, 56, from 6.30am after he spotted the Oriental Turtle Dove feeding in his garden. The bird – normally found in Russia and Siberia – has only been spotted twice before in Britain and news of the discovery spread like wildfire through the birdwatching world on Monday afternoon. By yesterday morning a queue of ornithologists stretched...

Professor Richard Dawkins has claimed that forcing a religion on children without questioning its merits is as bad as 'child abuse'. In typically incendiary style, the leading atheist said he was against the 'indoctrination of religion' and teaching it as fact. The evolutionary scientist and Emeritus Fellow at Oxford University, speaking at the Chipping Norton Literary Festival yesterday, was repeating claims he made last year which were roundly condemned by charities and politicians. Professor Dawkins said at the festival that children should be taught religion but scorn should be poured on its claims. 'What a child should be taught is...

The Tories’ biggest donor has stopped funding the party after privately questioning whether the Prime Minister is still a proper Conservative. Lord Ashcroft, who has given the Tories £10 million ($15 million), has withdrawn support after becoming dismayed with David Cameron’s obsession with “fringe issues” such as gay marriage. The Tory peer also told friends he has given enough money and is not hopeful of the party winning a majority in 2015. … In another blow to Cameron, his local Chipping Norton party chairman, Cicely Maunder, quit her post and tore up her party membership over his promotion of gay...

AS bonfires and fireworks light up the night sky over the next few days, many people enjoying the spectacle may not realise how close West Oxfordshire’s link is to the events Bonfire Night recalls. Chastleton House, near Chipping Norton, used to be owned by the leading figure behind the ill-fated plot to blow up Parliament, Robert Catesby. Although Guy Fawkes, the man caught in Parliament’s cellars with the barrels of gunpowder, is remembered each year – and effigies of him burned on bonfires – it was actually Catesby who led the 1605 plan. Catesby was a devout Catholic who grew...

Here in Chipping Norton, there is a picture-perfect little theatre. It’s exactly the same as a London theatre, with a balcony and a bar, only it’s much, much smaller. You really do feel, as you perch on your primary-school chair, gazing on the Punch and Judy stage, that you are locked in a Cotswold-stone dolls’ house. It’s an enchanting place and everyone round these parts is very proud of it. So consequently everyone is very cross that the Arts Council recently announced it would no longer be supplying £40,000 a year to help fund it. And Chipping Norton is not...