Walcot
The Tern Valley Trail
Walcot
Possible Iron Age enclosures to the south of the River Tern suggest a long history of habitation in the area surrounding Walcot. Indeed, the village appears to have been a notable settlement since early Anglo-Saxon times. Its name may denote status as a village where Welsh was still spoken at the time it belonged to Wreosensaete, the 8th Century sub-kingdom of Mercia.
From the Tern to the Thames
By Domesday, Walcot was reckoned to be an outlying farmstead of Wellington, where that manor’s mill may have been situated. Milling continued to a play an important role in village life until the early years of the 20th Century; the mill itself was demolished in 1961. However, near to the Tern itself, the mill race can still be seen, while the southern end of the bridge over the river is notable as the last edifice to be designed by William Hayward, architect of the Thames Bridge at Henley.