It’s that time of year when half the world is on holiday and your social media feed greets you each morning with golden beaches around the world.
When you’re in Faringdon, it must be said, the sea feels a very long way away indeed. Yes, Faringdon is in the absolute centre of the country (according to the principles of rotational symmetry or so we’re told), and about as far from the coast as it is possible to be in the UK but heading down London Street into the old town centre through colourful houses on a sunny day visitors could be forgiven for expecting to find gentle waves. Instead, we have our inland market square where only the carved stone old-fashioned diving helmet hints at an aquatic past.
Actually, the ‘Dali Diver’ is a reminder of the 1930s when Faringdon was a hive of activity for the town’s glittering bohemian arty set which included surrealist painter Salvador Dali (who had a bedroom at Faringdon House in a room painted deep red.) And Dali, so the story goes, strolled into town one evening in a diver’s suit, an oddity now immortalised in stone.
A diver might seem totally incongruous at first glance, but it’s actually more appropriate than you might think. The rocks unearthed in Faringdon tell a tale of seas long ago – a geological twist of fortune has exposed a kind of rock called Lower Greensand which yields beautifully-preserved fossils deposited in the early cretaceous times 110 million years ago when rising sea levels flooded much of the UK and Faringdon’s Folly Hill and neighbouring Badbury Hill stood proud of the water. These soft Faringdon sands are positioned on the Golden (or Corallian) Ridge, a band of honey-coloured limestone rich in corals that stretches from Highworth to Wheatley beyond Oxford. This rock was deposited in the Jurassic Period, about 155 million years ago, when most of north-eastern Europe was submerged in a warm sea and the spot that became Faringdon was then to be found luxuriating in the latitude where today southern Spain loiters. Here, there’s a particular preponderance of fossil sponges, fish teeth, bivalve shellfish, and sea urchins, the last thing you’d expect on the top of a hill in the middle of landlocked Oxfordshire.
Faringdon is also home to the UK’s only fully registered inland lighthouse: yes, our Folly on the hill was given a rotating 200W light for the millennium with its own unique beacon signature and became an officially registered yet utterly useless lighthouse, the only lighthouse in the UK that can’t be seen from the sea. And last but not least, look out for a seaside-themed summer market/fun day in early September, courtesy of Town Mayor Keira Bentley with music, stalls, beach games, a family sandpit and ice cream. Bring your own deck chair and a sense of fun…
If you would like a free stall or would like to be involved, please get in touch via cllr.bentley@faringdontowncouncil.gov.uk
Looking for a local beach this summer?
- There are a number of spots along the Thames where you can venture in (carefully) from a small beach-esque patch on a sweeping bend where there’s a gentle incline from ankle deep to where the water laps at waist height. Our top choice for family fun is 500m/three fields downstream of The Rose Revived at Newbridge along the Thames path or – rather further afield, but only a lovely 20-minute walk from the S6 bus route – Port Meadow in Oxford near The Perch pub.
- If you’re looking for truly ‘beachy’ fun in the Cotswolds, you’ll find a sandy beach at ‘Lake 32’ in the Cotswold Water Park*: it’s the largest inland paddling beach in the UK! There’s sand, ice cream, and activities for all the family (com). There are kayaks and pedalos or you can take to the water with SUPs/paddleboards (including singles, doubles and family sizes). If your kind of SUP is more likely to involve an ice-cold glass and a straw then there’s also the Beach Shack Café – or you can bring your own and hire a barbeque – whilst the brave and the boisterous hit the big aquatic obstacle course on the neighbouring lake.
*The Cotswold Water Park is a giant series of nearly 150 man-made lakes covering an area of forty square miles that lies just over the west Oxfordshire border. They were created by allowing previously-quarried gravel pits to fill naturally with water and the landscaping around them has created an area rich in wildlife and watersports – from fishing and sailing to open water swimming and wake-boarding.
And then (it’s the law) you should finish off with fish and chips from The Harbour or Rainbow’s to round up your Oxfordshire day at the seaside in true British coastal style.
For something different further afield
While this is a Faringdon magazine, and this recommendation is neither in Faringdon nor even Oxfordshire. However, if you are planning to head to the coast this summer then consider a trip to Weston-Super-Mare seafront where the SEE MONSTER is coming to for two months this summer. It’s a retired oil rig from the North Sea, that has been brought to Weston-Super-Mare and ‘reimagined’ for visitors to celebrate the great British weather and British eccentricity in the closest iconic seaside town to Faringdon. At a towering 35 metres tall, it’s going to be the highest viewing point along the Southwest coast of England. It’s free to visit and accessible by public transport – there are direct trains to Weston from Swindon.
