What’s going for it? Some people are amazed to learn that there’s a real place attached to the Bicester Village shops: a bona fide town with mentions in the Domesday Book, a Prezzo and everything. You’ll have to hunt for it, though, as it’s almost entirely composed of cul-de-sacs and labyrinthine estates, so you can spend the day doing endless three-point turns – tricky for coachloads of Chinese tourists ready to buy up Burberry. With luck though, you’ll reach the pleasant old town, round St Edburg’s church, with gen‑u‑wine olde-worlde streets that make the shopping village’s faux vernacular look even more Disneyish. It’s a strangely ordinary place, 50% heritage bollards, 33% Yates’s – yet, ever since the Romans built Akeman Street nearby, one that seems to find itself continually at the centre of things, its most recent ignominy being its designation as Our Great Government’s latest “Garden City”. Be afraid.
The case against See above. It’s a rather humdrum place on the less lovely side of Oxfordshire. Expect creaking services as it prepares to be the Centre of the Known Universe. Traffic is already a problem, with 6m shoppers a year. Steer clear during sales.
Well connected? Exceedingly. Trains: three or four an hour from Bicester North to London Marylebone (50-75 mins), High Wycombe (around 25 mins) and Banbury (12-20 mins); twice-hourly to Birmingham (65-75 mins). Bicester Town has hourly trains to Oxford (around 35 mins). There are plans to upgrade services to Oxford and to revive the Varsity Line to Cambridge. Driving: 20 mins to Oxford, 75 mins to London and Birmingham; 50 mins to Milton Keynes, Northampton and the M1.
Schools Primaries: Chesterton CofE, Bure Park, King’s Meadow, Bardwell and St Mary’s Catholic are all “good”, says Ofsted. Secondaries: Bicester Community and The Cooper are both “good”.
Hang out at… Ditch Carluccio’s for Turkish at Denis.
Where to buy Wade through the estates. Postwar to the north and east, and recent executive estates skirting the roads out of town or the station for a sharp exit. The old centre around Church Street has pleasant terraces and town houses, the odd thatched cottage and decent Victorian terraces. An interesting self-build development at gravenhill.org.uk. Detacheds, £300,000-£900,000. Semis, £225,000-£325,000. Terraces and cottages, £175,000-£300,000. Rentals: one-bed, £620-£750pcm; three-bed, £1,000-£1,200pcm.
Bargain of the week Two-bed, stone-fronted cottage in the old heart, £200,000 with thomasmerrifield.co.uk.
From the streets
David Ford “Garth Park is a gem. If you can stand the traffic from Bicester Village, it’s a great town.”
Mark Longworth “My favourite pubs are The Nut Tree in Murcott and The Muddy Duck in Hethe. In town, the new restaurants, bars and cinema at Pioneer Square are worth a look.”
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