The village of Radley lies just north of Abingdon on the River Thames, about five miles south of the city of Oxford. The area was once used for hunting by the monks from Abingdon Abbey.  Across the river you can see Nuneham House at Nuneham Courtney.

In 1974 Radley moved from the county of Berkshire to Oxfordshire, coming under the Vale of the White Horse District Council. The village divides into the central area, Radley College, Sugworth Lane and the mobile home parks, Thrupp Lane and Wick Hall, and Lower Radley.

Most of the houses - built mainly after the war - are in the central area of the village along with the Post Office and the popular Bowyer Arms. After a period without a shop, Radley Village Shop – a community co-operative staffed primarily by volunteers – opened in May 2007. The Village Hall, which was built in the 1970s and extended in the late 1990s, is used by many village organisations and for private functions.  Next to the Village Hall on Gooseacre are the playing fields and play area.

The church tower holds six bells - five cast in 1754 and the Tenor in 1897 ( to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee). The timber-framed  vicarage was built in the late 13th century, with alterations in the 15th and 20th centuries. Like the church, it is a grade II listed building. Henry VII is reported to have stayed at the vicarage while hunting in the area.  The modern Church Room - between the church and the vicarage - is used after services for meetings and private functions. The parish is part of the United Benefice of Radley and Sunningwell.

Next to the church is Radley Church of England (Controlled) School, which opened in 1871 on a site given by Miss Mary Bowyer – a member of the family who once owned Radley Hall (see below). The children at this small village primary school are taught in a 1960s building with a modern extension. The school has extensive playing fields and a view across the fields to the other side of the river. The original school building is still used by the school as a library and ICT centre. It stands next to the School House, a much older half-timbered cottage - once the home of the head teacher. Radley History Club has published a book on the history of the primary school.

The railway line between Didcot and Oxford runs through Radley behind the Bowyer Arms. The main station buildings were demolished in the 1960s and the station is now unmanned. The former branch line to Abingdon, which closed to passengers in 1965, goes off just south of the station. 

A popular walk takes you across the railway bridge through Lower Radley down to the towpath at the Radley College Boathouse. This route is part of the circular walk taking in Sandford Lock, Sandford Lane, Radley Large Wood, Radley Small Wood, central Radley and Lower Radley.

Lower Radley forms a circular loop of scattered houses. Some of the houses are thatched with half-timbered walls. As you walk round the loop, you pass the village green and the way down to Radley College Boathouse and the River Thames.  

Large amounts of gravel have been removed from Lower Radley. Most of the larger pits have been filled with pulverised fuel ash (PFA) from Didcot Power Station. Other pits have been filled with water. A long campaign by Save Radley Lakes helped to stop these lakes being filled with PFA.

Radley's Clerk of the Green Cloth is elected every two years by villagers. The title was revived in 1988 by royal consent as a fund-raising scheme – each elector must make a minimum donation when voting and candidates have to pay to stand.  The role is purely ceremonial.

On the outskirts of the village, an archeological dig at Barrow Hills in 1983-1984 unearthed a Roman with 47 graves and several cremations. A Saxon village was found next to the burial ground. Excavations at Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire by Alistair Barclay and Claire Halpin (ISBN 0947816895) describes the dig and its findings.  

Sources:
Radley Village Plan, Radley Parish Council (1984)
Radley: Ancient Barrows to Modern Parish, Patrick Drysdale (1985)
Millennium pictorial map of Radley, Radley History Club (2000)
The History of Radley, Radley History Club (2002)

Copies of The History of Radley and The History of Radley CE Primary School are available from Radley Post Office. See Radley History Club's website for information on how to buy these books by post and for details of its other publications.