Christmas Common

Adjacent to Christmas Common.

Near to Christmas Common.

This information board has been erected by The National Trust in its car park at the east end of Watlington Hill, its postcode being OX49 5HS. It shows a plan of the hill and has the following wording: On the left of the board Making a mark Once the local farmers stopped grazing their sheep on Watlington Hill it became overgrown with scrub. It wasn't a pleasant place for walkers and it wasn't a good place for butterflies. Now the National Trust is making a mark on the landscape. It's restoring the hill to a mosaic of chalk grassland and scrub. It is a great place to see Chalkhill Blue and Silver-Spotted Skipper butterflies, as well as the majestic Red Kites. The National Trust is grateful for funding received for this project from Natural England, Chilterns Conservation Board and Oxfordshire County Council. Below the plan The White Mark Edward Horner, a local squire, thought that the church which he could see from his home would look more impressive if it had a steeple. He had the huge white mark cut into the hillside to achieve this by way of an optical illusion. That's one story, anyway. There may be other explanations.... On the right of the board Please help us to keep the hill unspoilt for everyone to enjoy - take your litter or dog waste home with you. The images show from left to right: Silver-Spotted Skipper butterfly, View of Watlington Hill in 1907, and the White Mark with the Parish Church of Saint Leonard in the foreground.

This view shows the view from Watlington Hill towards Watlington and the surrounding Oxfordshire countryside. Most of Watlington Hill was given to The National Trust in 1941 with additional sections in the intervening years. It now comprises 120 acres (48.5 hectares) of open down and copse with wide views.

This notice is located at the south-west edge of Watlington Hill by a bridleway. It has the following wording: CONSERVATION IN ACTION WALK BACK IN TIME In the Winter of 2006, work started opening up this ancient track way. This stretch of the feature, which is also known as a sunken way or hollow way is approximately 400m in length, and in its time would have been the modern equivalent of a main 'road'. Virtually the whole project has been achieved by volunteer effort. The Sonning Common Green Gym volunteers set themselves the mammoth task of clearing the archaeological features as part of the 'Oxford Inspires 2007' celebrations (which commemorated 1,000 years of the county of Oxfordshire's existence). With occasional assistance from other volunteer groups (Friends of Watlington Hill and Oxford Conservation Volunteers); the work has now been completed. There were three aims to the project:- 1. Open up the archaeological feature so that it could once again be used as a walkway. 2. By using the 'sunken' way as an alternative route, visitors will reduce the wear and tear on the existing path (now showing signs of erosion) which lies on the very high quality chalk grassland. 3. In cutting back many of the large, low branches from the Yew trees, we have regained a large strip of land between the existing path and the 'sunken' way. This area would have been flower rich chalk grassland 30-40 years ago before the dense shade of the Yews killed it off. In time, it should return to this condition, thus benefiting the many butterflies and wild flowers that can be found on this species rich habitat. So, please consider using this 'new' old track way as an alternative route and in doing so help to preserve the archaeological feature as well as the grassland habitat for years to come. With particular thanks to Sonning Common Gym for all their hard work and to all the volunteers who helped complete the task.

The Chiltern Way amidst beeches in the lower part of Blackmoor Wood on the Wormsley Estate.

A muddy farmyard with cattle ensconced for the winter.

The somewhat scrubby grassland has a few larger trees including a stand of conifers to the right of picture and large areas of what appears to be box or privet to the left.

Annulus finial - 2 arms; Oxford CC halo by the UC road, in parish of Watlington (South Oxfordshire District), Christmas Common, Y-junction of Nettlebed Henley with Hollandridge Lane, on grass triangle. Surveyed Milestone Society National ID: OX_SU7193

Situated at Christmas Common OX49 5HL, this red telephone box may soon be taken away from this location as it has had all the payphone equipment removed from inside it.

A view towards Britwell Hill from the footpath below Watlington Park.