Simon English
England Revisited

On gate post at north end of strip of wood bordering road running from Ardington to Wantage Station 2 miles N.E. of Wantage.

On a new steel fence where the gateway was in 1971. The original recessed gateway that allowed farm vehicles to pull off the narrow road before opening the gate has apparently been removed and the five bar iron fence runs continuously along the road. The new section has been welded to the original five bar fence so that the join is not obvious. Presumably maintaining the aesthetics of the road was important as there would be much cheaper ways of fencing off the old gateway.

The small field that the gate used to open into has been planted with rows of trees (poplars?) which are now about 25 feet high. This new wood obscures old views making it quite hard to orientate especially with the bushes now growing right by the road.

The big oak tree that grew in the field, slightly north of the gate, appears to still be healthy. This is not true of all the magnificent oaks the stand all along the road here, the oak that stood south is dead and stands with branches bare and leafless. A couple of oaks on the other side of the road have are just stumps and trunks on the ground now. As to whether they were felled by storm, disease or to improve access to the business selling logs opposite is unclear. The business has closed but has left, strangely in this location, a young cherry laurel hedge. Another exotic is the young American oak that has been planted on the edge of the road rather than 5 yards back like the English originals.

The mature oaks, iron fence and wooden gates suggest this area was once part of a prosperous estate. The oaks must be about 150 years old and must have been planted at the same time then, since they were not in a hedge, protected from stock for thirty or forty years until they were big enough. The distinctive gates appear in other gateways along this road but they are no longer used for access and are now quite fragile.
Points 60, 65 & 68