Vale of the White Horse

The Vale of the White Horse, named after the White Horse of Uffingham, is an area on the borders of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The dispute over this area between the two counties has been rumbling ever since the partition of Mercia by the Vikings in the 9th century, and during the English Civil War in the 17th century the Royalist forces of the county of Oxfordshire seized the area from the Parliamentarian forces of Berkshire. With the beheading of Charles I the area was returned to Berkshire, but border disputes continued to flair up until eventually in 1974 the government transferred the area to Oxfordshire.