Abingdon Town

Once the County Town of Berkshire, the historic market town of Abingdon, now in Oxfordshire, is situated on the River Thames six miles south of the City of Oxford. It is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in England and is now home to approximately 35,000 people. In the last twenty years the town has experienced considerable growth, mostly to the north and west, with new housing estates springing up on the periphery of the town. The town centre has been affected by large out of town shopping facilities and many shops and industrial premises have been replaced by infill housing development.

The town is generally prosperous with many people commuting to work in the city and elsewhere. While many older companies such as Morland’s brewery and the MG Sports Car factory have closed, there are several thriving light industrial estates and science parks providing employment in for example printing, computing, and the manufacture of scientific instruments. The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus and the Culham Science Centre are renowned research establishments nearby, with the large scientific community being reflected in the membership of the churches in Abingdon.

For many years the home of RAF Abingdon, the base, renamed Dalton Barracks, is now home to the Royal Army Logistics Corps. Like most parts of the United Kingdom, Abingdon’s population is becoming more ethnically diverse, but to date there is no significant ethnic minority.


The Church in Abingdon

There is wide cooperation between all the churches in Abingdon under the umbrella of the Church in Abingdon (CiA), which is an ecumenical partnership involving 12 churches. Whilst the partnership has lost some of its energy in recent years, nevertheless the Church in Abingdon does seek to be one church working together to forward the work of Christ and demonstrate God’s love shared between the churches and reaching out to the town. In origin Peachcroft Christian Centre is an ecumenical church plant of the CiA and has always played a very active part in the events and meetings of the CiA such as united acts of worship, ‘Welcome to Abingdon’ and more recently, the annual Alpha launch supper in the Guildhall.