Dorchester on Thames

Dorchester-on -Thames [ dɔ tʃɪstə ː ] is a small town and "civil parish" ( municipality) in the county of Oxfordshire in England.

Geography

Dorchester has about 3,000 inhabitants; it lies between the cities of Oxford and Reading about 500 m east of the River Thames and at 52 m above sea level. To the east of the town leads the 4074 A over.

History

Dorchester dates back to a settlement from the Neolithic period. The Romans settled here and named the settlement Dorcic. 635 Bishop Birinus built a mission in Dorchester after he had converted the king of Wessex, Cynegils to Christianity. At this time the place was the center of the kingdom of Wessex. Later Dorchester was replaced Winchester as the capital and conquered by Offa, king of Mercia.

Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

The spacious church was 635-1072 a Saxon, then Norman bishop and church of 1140, founded by Bishop Alexander of Lincoln, an abbey church of the Augustinians, where pilgrims worship the shrine of St. Birinus. The monastery was dissolved in 1536 by Henry VIII and the Birinus shrine destroyed. The monastery and the church bought on 1554 Richard Beauforest of Dorchester; the sacred building has since then served as an Anglican parish church. Of the equipment pieces is a Norman font of lead, showing eleven apostles in relief representations, particularly noteworthy. The church tower was built in 1602.

Others

In Dorchester since 1983, the World Championship will take place pooh sticks, a game that Winnie the Pooh and his friends in the book by Alan Alexander Milne play: The players throw sticks standing on a bridge into the river. The winner is the one whose stick will appear on the other side of the bridge first.

Personalities

The city is the birthplace of Mark Wright, a football coach and former football player.