Leafield

Leafield is a village and civil parish in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England within the historic area of Wychwood forest.

It lies at the eastern edge of the Cotswold Hills, 18 miles north-west of Oxford, in the middle of a rural area bounded by the towns of Witney, Burford and Charlbury. The roman road Akeman Street runs to the north.

The parish church, dedicated to St Michael and All Angels was designed in 1859 by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

At 650 feet above sea level, the village was the highest point in Oxfordshire prior to county boundary changes in 1974.

It is on the course of the Wychwood Way, a 37-mile circular walking trail.

A nearby Royal Air Force station, RAF Akeman Street, operated from 1940 to 1947.

A large site near to the west near the hamlet of Langley has had industrial uses since 1912, originally as a large radio transmission station, then a BT Group training college. From 1993 it was developed by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) as a motorsport development centre for the Arrows Formula One team. Leafield Technical Centre is now the headquarters of the Super Aguri F1 team.

Leafield is a close neighbour of the other ancient Wychwood villages: Milton-under-Wychwood, Shipton-under-Wychwood, Ascott-under-Wychwood, Fifield and Idbury.

External links

* [http://www.leafieldvillage.co.uk/ Leafield Village website]
* [http://www.thewychwood.co.uk The Wychwood Magazine Online]
* [http://www.saf1.co.jp/en/team/factory/index.html Super Aguri factory]