Cherwell

Local Authority District in England

Oxfordshire, South East

§ This page gives an overview of the Cherwell local authority district, bringing together key facts, maps, and data to help you quickly understand the area. One of 361 district profiles on Baseview.

Overview ⁞ Cherwell, in north Oxfordshire, covers a wide landscape of market towns, villages, and countryside. Banbury is the main town, with a canal, museum, and historic market square, while Bicester is known for its shopping village and Roman heritage. Kidlington, near Oxford, is a large village with green spaces and river meadows. The Oxford Canal and River Cherwell run through, alongside farmland, rolling hills, and historic estates such as Rousham House. Its landscape is defined by waterways, villages, and traditional market towns.

The administrative boundary of Cherwell can be viewed on OpenStreetMap: District Boundary of Cherwell.

Map of Cherwell — Administrative Boundary of Cherwell (Local Authority District)

Key Facts about Cherwell

What region is Cherwell in? Cherwell is in the South East of England, a region within the UK.

What county is Cherwell in? Cherwell is located in the county of Oxfordshire.

Is Cherwell a city? No, Cherwell is not a city. (Note: the UK has 76 officially designated cities.)

Who governs Cherwell? The local authority for this district is: Cherwell District Council - responsible for district-level services. Since Oxfordshire is a two-tier area, county-level services are handled by: Oxfordshire County Council.

▶ Official website of Cherwell District Council 🔗 cherwell.gov.uk

Which police force covers Cherwell? Policing in Cherwell is provided by Thames Valley Police 🔗 thamesvalley.police.uk, which serves 13 local authority districts: Bracknell Forest ⁞ Buckinghamshire ⁞ Cherwell ⁞ Milton Keynes ⁞ Oxford ⁞ Reading ⁞ Slough ⁞ South Oxfordshire ⁞ Vale of White Horse ⁞ West Berkshire ⁞ West Oxfordshire ⁞ Windsor and Maidenhead ⁞ Wokingham.

This district page, Cherwell, is a sub-page of this county page: Oxfordshire and this region page: South East. It zooms in to local authorities and parliamentary constituencies, and provides a list of wards in this district. We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK local authority districts: List of Local Authority Districts.

Constituencies in Cherwell

A constituency is a specific geographical area that elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the House of Commons. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies. We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK parliamentary constituencies: List of Constituencies.

Wards in Cherwell

Cherwell is divided into 16 wards, listed below in alphabetical order.

Adderbury, Bloxham and Bodicote
Banbury Calthorpe and Easington
Banbury Cross and Neithrop
Banbury Grimsbury and Hightown
Banbury Hardwick
Banbury Ruscote
Bicester East
Bicester North and Caversfield
Bicester South and Ambrosden
Bicester West
Cropredy, Sibfords and Wroxton
Deddington
Fringford and Heyfords
Kidlington East
Kidlington West
Launton and Otmoor

In the UK, a ward is a subdivision of a local authority area, used mainly for electoral and statistical purposes. Defined by the ONS, wards represent the primary unit for local elections, each returning one or more councillors to the local council. Wards are also used as a key geography for presenting population and census data.

Parishes in Cherwell

Cherwell is fully parished: 79 civil parishes, listed A-Z below.

Adderbury
Ambrosden
Ardley
Arncott
Banbury
Barford St. John and St. Michael
Begbroke
Bicester
Blackthorn
Bletchingdon
Bloxham
Bodicote
Bourton
Broughton
Bucknell
Caversfield
Charlton-on-Otmoor
Chesterton
Claydon with Clattercot
Cottisford
Cropredy
Deddington
Drayton
Duns Tew
Epwell
Fencott and Murcott
Finmere
Fringford
Fritwell
Godington
Gosford and Water Eaton
Hampton Gay and Poyle
Hanwell
Hardwick with Tusmore
Hethe
Heyford Park
Hook Norton
Horley
Hornton
Horton-cum-Studley
Islip
Kidlington
Kirtlington
Launton
Lower Heyford
Merton
Middle Aston
Middleton Stoney
Milcombe
Milton
Mixbury
Mollington
Newton Purcell with Shelswell
Noke
North Aston
North Newington
Oddington
Piddington
Prescote
Shenington with Alkerton
Shipton-on-Cherwell and Thrupp
Shutford
Sibford Ferris
Sibford Gower
Somerton
Souldern
South Newington
Steeple Aston
Stoke Lyne
Stratton Audley
Swalcliffe
Tadmarton
Upper Heyford
Wardington
Wendlebury
Weston-on-the-Green
Wigginton
Wroxton
Yarnton

A civil parish is the lowest tier of local government in England, used for villages, small towns, and suburbs. They have their own local authority, either a parish council or a parish meeting, which provides local services like managing parks, allotments, and streetlights, and represents the community's views to larger councils.

Built-up Areas in Cherwell

Cherwell covers 57 built-up areas, listed below in alphabetical order.

Adderbury and Twyford
Ambrosden
Ardley and Fewcott
Banbury *
Barford St John
Barford St Michael
Begbroke
Bicester
Blackthorn
Bladon *
Bletchingdon
Bloxham
Bodicote
Broughton (Cherwell)
Bucknell (Cherwell)
Chacombe *
Charlton-on-Otmoor
Chesterton
Cropredy
Deddington
Duns Tew
Finmere *
Fringford
Fritwell
Great Bourton
Hook Norton
Horley (Cherwell)
Hornton
Horton-cum-Studley
Islip (Cherwell)
Kidlington
Kirtlington
Launton
Lower Heyford
Milcombe
Mixbury
Mollington (Cherwell)
Newton Purcell *
North Aston
Oxford *
Piddington (Cherwell)
Shenington
Sibford Ferris
Sibford Gower
South Newington
Steeple Aston
Stratton Audley
Swalcliffe
Upper Arncott
Upper Heyford
Wardington
Wendlebury
Westbury (Buckinghamshire) *
Weston-on-the-Green
Woodstock *
Wroxton
Yarnton

In the UK, a Built-up Area (BUA) is a continuous urban area of at least 20 hectares (0.2 km²), defined by the ONS as land where buildings are generally no more than 200 metres apart, such as towns, cities, or large villages. (Note: A BUA name marked with an asterisk (*) indicates that the area is situated partly in the district of Cherwell.)

Cherwell compared with other districts in the UK

This section shows how Cherwell compares with other local authority districts in the UK, using a variety of measures and rankings.

Cherwell has 16 electoral wards.

Cherwell compared with other districts — ▮ Smaller: 70 ▮ Similar: 47 ▮ Larger: 244 (compared with 361 districts)

Cherwell has a population of 170,426 (2024 mid-year estimate by ONS)

Population of Cherwell compared with other districts — Population of Cherwell, compared with other districts in England and Wales

More local statistics and data for Cherwell can be found on the ONS statistics for Cherwell.