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Beating the Bounds explores the tangled web of boundaries that both separate and bind together the people and communities of several adjoining parishes within the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire. Many questions emerge: Why does the parish take this size and shape? How does it compare with neighbouring parishes? How old are the boundaries? What significance do they hold for the people living within them? Why is the boundary so irregular at this point?

As we seek the answers, our investigations begin to tell a wider story of the history of the landscape within the Vale of White Horse from the late Bronze Age onwards.

The investigations

We divided into a number of small research groups to investigate the boundaries of Wantage and adjoining parishes. Each group used resources from the NMR and locally held material. Where possible we also explored the site on the ground during field visits and took photographs or filmed the site using a DVD camera.

Our investigations led in many directions: we set out to identify a disputed mill-site recorded in 1086; examined the evidence for a Roman road at Wantage; and looked at how a failed settlement came to be divided between two adjoining parishes.

The investigations start with a challenge and end with our concluding thoughts. You will find suggestions for further reading so that you can delve deeper for yourself. We combined images, text, sound and film to create several digital stories of each investigation. These open in a separate window. The Help section gives more guidance on how to view the digital stories. The images used in the digital stories can be viewed full-size in the Picture Gallery.

Landscape of the Vale of White Horse

Boundaries divide the resources of the landscape between communities. This section provides the topographical context for our study area.

Understanding boundaries

Here you will find guidance on how to begin your own investigation into the boundaries of your local area, and further information on the range of sources we used during the project.