Longcot
For most of its 1000 years it has been an agricultural community, a village
of small family farms. The extension of Wilts and Berks Canal into the village
in the 18th Century brought prosperity and an increase in the population. At its
height, the tonnage of coal, wool, beer and grain passing through the Longcot
Wharf to Faringdon and the Cotswolds was in excess of Swindon and Wantage. With
the coming of the railway, the canal trade declined but local dairy farmers were
quick to recognise the growing demand for milk in London by shipping daily
supplies via the newly opened Faringdon station.
In the 1830s with the Canal trade at its height, Longcot had numerous pubs and
shops. Nowadays all the shops have closed, but fortunately one pub, the King and
Queen, remains. Today with good road and rail communications in the area Longcot
is a commuter village and people work in diverse employment, many travelling
long distances.
