Vale of White Horse
§ This page gives an overview of the Vale of White Horse local authority district, bringing together key facts, maps, and data to help you quickly understand the area. This is one of 361 LAD profiles on Baseview.
Overview ⁞ The Vale of White Horse, in southern Oxfordshire, is named after the prehistoric Uffington White Horse carved into the chalk downs. Abingdon-on-Thames is the main town, with its historic abbey ruins and riverside setting, while Wantage, the birthplace of King Alfred, adds Saxon heritage. The landscape is dominated by the rolling Berkshire Downs, river valleys, and farmland, with features such as the Ridgeway ancient trackway and the Vale’s broad, fertile fields. Villages and historic sites dot the district, combining heritage with rural beauty.
Vale of White Horse Boundary Map
This map shows the official boundary of the Vale of White Horse local authority district, based on the latest geographic data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It provides a clear view of the district’s extent and helps you understand how the area fits within the wider regional and national landscape.
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
The administrative boundary of Vale of White Horse can also be viewed on OpenStreetMap: District Boundary of Vale of White Horse.
Key Facts about Vale of White Horse
What region is Vale of White Horse in? Vale of White Horse is in the South East of England, a region within the UK.
What county is Vale of White Horse in? Vale of White Horse is located in the county of Oxfordshire.
Is Vale of White Horse a city? No, Vale of White Horse is not a city. (Note: the UK has 76 officially designated cities.)
Who governs Vale of White Horse? The local authority for this district is: Vale of White Horse 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 Vale of White Horse District Council 🔗 whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Which police force covers Vale of White Horse? Policing in Vale of White Horse 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.
Constituencies in Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse is divided into 3 parliamentary constituencies, listed below in alphabetical order.
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 Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse is divided into 24 wards, listed below in alphabetical order.
- Abingdon Abbey Northcourt
- Abingdon Caldecott
- Abingdon Dunmore
- Abingdon Fitzharris
- Abingdon Peachcroft
- Blewbury & Harwell
- Botley & Sunningwell
- Cumnor
- Drayton
- Faringdon
- Grove North
- Hendreds
- Kennington & Radley
- Kingston Bagpuize
- Marcham
- Ridgeway
- Stanford
- Steventon & the Hanneys
- Sutton Courtenay
- Thames
- Wantage & Grove Brook
- Wantage Charlton
- Watchfield & Shrivenham
- Wootton
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. We have this list page for easy browsing of all electoral wards: List of all Electoral Wards in the UK.
Parishes in Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse is fully parished: 70 civil parishes, listed A-Z below.
- Abingdon on Thames
- Appleford-on-Thames
- Appleton-with-Eaton
- Ardington
- Ashbury
- Baulking
- Besselsleigh
- Blewbury
- Botley and North Hinksey
- Bourton
- Buckland
- Buscot
- Charney Bassett
- Childrey
- Chilton
- Coleshill
- Compton Beauchamp
- Cumnor
- Denchworth
- Drayton
- East Challow
- East Hanney
- East Hendred
- Eaton Hastings
- Fernham
- Frilford
- Fyfield and Tubney
- Garford
- Goosey
- Great Coxwell
- Great Faringdon
- Grove
- Harwell
- Hatford
- Hinton Waldrist
- Kennington
- Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor
- Kingston Lisle
- Letcombe Bassett
- Letcombe Regis
- Little Coxwell
- Littleworth
- Lockinge
- Longcot
- Longworth
- Lyford
- Marcham
- Milton
- Pusey
- Radley
- Shellingford
- Shrivenham
- South Hinksey
- Sparsholt
- St Helen Without
- Stanford in the Vale
- Steventon
- Sunningwell
- Sutton Courtenay
- Uffington
- Upton
- Wantage
- Watchfield
- West Challow
- West Hanney
- West Hendred
- Western Valley
- Woolstone
- Wootton
- Wytham
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.
We have this list page for easy browsing of all parishes: List of Civil Parishes in England and Wales.
Post Towns in Vale of White Horse
Below is a list of post towns in Vale of White Horse, grouped by postcode area:
- OX ▸ Abingdon (OX13 / OX14) ⁞ Wantage (OX12)
- SN ▸ Faringdon (SN7)
The UK postal hierarchy begins with broad postcode areas (such as “CB” or “M”), which are divided into smaller postcode districts (such as “CB8” or “M1”) to support accurate mail routing. Each postal address is anchored by a designated post town, the official locality name used in the UK postcode system, which operates independently from Local Authority Districts —the administrative boundaries used for council tax and local government services. Because they serve different purposes, a property’s postal address and its local authority district do not always align exactly.
Built-up Areas in Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse covers 48 built-up areas, listed below in alphabetical order.
- Abingdon-on-Thames *
- Appleton
- Ashbury
- Bayworth
- Blewbury
- Boars Hill
- Bourton (Vale of White Horse)
- Buckland (Vale of White Horse)
- Chawley
- Childrey
- Chilton (Vale of White Horse)
- Cothill
- Cumnor
- Didcot *
- Drayton (Vale of White Horse)
- East Challow
- East Hanney
- East Hendred
- Faringdon
- Farmoor *
- Frilford
- Grove (Vale of White Horse)
- Harwell
- Hinton Waldrist
- Kennington
- Kingston Bagpuize
- Letcombe Regis
- Longcot
- Longworth
- Marcham
- Milton (Vale of White Horse)
- Milton Hill
- Oxford *
- Radley
- Shippon
- Shrivenham and Watchfield
- South Hinksey
- Sparsholt (Vale of White Horse)
- Stanford in the Vale
- Steventon
- Sutton Courtenay *
- Uffington (Vale of White Horse)
- Upton (Vale of White Horse)
- Wantage
- West Hagbourne *
- West Hanney
- West Hendred
- Wootton (Vale of White Horse)
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 Vale of White Horse.)
We have this list page for easy browsing of all built-up areas: List of all Built-up Areas in GB.
Railway Stations in Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse is served by a number of National Rail stations, providing rail connections to nearby towns, cities, and destinations across Great Britain. The railway stations listed below are located within the Vale of White Horse Local Authority District and are grouped by train operating company for clarity.
- Great Western Railway ▸ Radley (OX14 3AB) ⁞ Appleford (OX14 4PJ)
This is a district-level view only. For a complete list of all National Rail stations across Great Britain, see the UK National Rail Stations Directory.
Vale of White Horse compared with other districts in the UK
This section shows how Vale of White Horse compares with other local authority districts in the UK, using a variety of measures and rankings.
Vale of White Horse has 24 electoral wards.
Vale of White Horse has a population of 149,347 (2024 mid-year estimate by ONS)
Population and Migration Trends in Vale of White Horse
This chart shows the population trend for Vale of White Horse from 2015 to 2024. It provides a quick overview of whether the local authority is growing, stable, or declining over time, and helps set context for the migration patterns shown below.
Population change is influenced by natural change (births minus deaths) and migration. The net migration chart below focuses on migration, separating internal migration (moves within the UK) from international migration (moves to and from abroad). Positive values indicate net inflows, while negative values indicate net outflows. The rate labels (per 1,000 residents) help compare migration intensity across years, even when the population size changes.
More local statistics and data for Vale of White Horse can be found on the ONS statistics for Vale of White Horse.