Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire, also Oxon, county, southern England; Oxford is the administrative center. Oxfordshire comprises an area of rolling hills and is drained by the Thames River and its tributaries. Primarily an agricultural county, it has fertile soils on which are grown wheat, barley, and oats. Dairying and livestock raising are also important. Oxford and Banbury are the chief manufacturing towns. In the county are relics of both prehistoric and Roman habitation. The area was included in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia and was held by the Danes in the 9th and 10th centuries. During the English Revolution (1640-1660) Oxfordshire was a Royalist stronghold.