Wantage is a
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
and civil parish in the
Vale of the White HorseThe Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
,
OxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The town is on
Letcombe BrookLetcombe Brook is a stream in the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. It rises at the foot of the Berkshire Downs at Letcombe Bassett and flows through Letcombe Regis, Wantage, Grove and East Hanney to join Childrey Brook, which is a tributary of the River Ock, which is a tributary of the...
, about 8 miles (12.9 km) south-west of
AbingdonAbingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
and a similar distance west of
DidcotDidcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
.
Wantage was part of
BerkshireBerkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
until the
1974 boundary changesThe Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
transferred it to
OxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. It is notable as the birthplace of
King Alfred the GreatAlfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...
.
History
Wantage was a small
RomanRoman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
settlement but the origin of the
toponymToponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
is somewhat uncertain. It is generally thought to be from an Old English phrase meaning
"decreasing river". King
Alfred the GreatAlfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...
was born at the royal palace there in the 9th century Wantage appears in the
Domesday BookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086. Its value was £61 and it was in the king's ownership until
Richard IRichard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
passed it to the
Earl of AlbemarleEarl of Albemarle is a title created several times from Norman times onwards. The word Albemarle is the Latinised form of the French county of Aumale in Normandy , other forms being Aubemarle and Aumerle...
in 1190. Weekly trading rights were first granted to the town by
Henry IIIHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
in 1246 Markets are now held twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays
RoyalistCavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
troops were stationed in Wantage during the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
.
In the 19th century, Lord Wantage became a notable local and national benefactor. He was very involved in founding the
British Red CrossThe British Red Cross Society is the United Kingdom branch of the worldwide impartial humanitarian organisation the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with over 31,000 volunteers and 2,600 staff. At the heart of their work...
Society. In Wantage, in 1877 he paid for a marble statue of King Alfred by
Count GleichenAdmiral Victor Ferdinand Franz Eugen Gustaf Adolf Constantin Friedrich of Hohenlohe-Langenburg GCB , also known as Count Gleichen, was an officer in the Royal Navy, and a sculptor.-Biography:...
to be erected in the market place, where it still stands today. He also donated the
Victoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
Gallery to the town. This contained paintings by
Louis William DesangesLouis William Desanges , a naturalized French artist known today for his paintings of Victoria Cross winners. Born in Bexley, he was the great grandson of a French nobleman who had settled in England 80 years before, and as a consequence the artist used the title 'Chevalier. He traveled in France...
depicting deeds which led to the award of a number of
VCsThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, including his own gained during the
Crimean WarThe Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...
. It is now a shopping arcade. Since 1848, Wantage has been home to the Community of Saint Mary the Virgin, one of the largest communities of Anglican
nunA nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s in the world. Wantage once had two breweries which were taken over by
Morlands of AbingdonMorland was a brewery in Abingdon in the English county of Oxfordshire . They first brewed in West Ilsley in 1711. It was purchased and closed by Greene King in 2000; and production of the Morland beers was moved to their brewery in Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk.-History:West Ilsley in Berkshire was...
.
Government
Wantage has a
town councilA town council is a democratically elected form of government for small municipalities or civil parishes. A council may serve as both the representative and executive branch....
consisting of sixteen councillors, eleven of whom (as of 2011) are
ConservativesThe Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
with the remaining five councillors being made up of four
Liberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
and one
Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. It is also part of the district of the
Vale of White HorseThe Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
.
Geography
Wantage is at the foot of the
Berkshire DownsThe Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in southern England, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
escarpmentAn escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
in the
Vale of the White HorseThe Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
, amidst prime
horse racingHorse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
country. There are gallops at Black Bushes and nearby villages with racing stables include
East HendredEast Hendred is a village and civil parish in the English county of Oxfordshire, about east of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse and a similar distance west of Didcot. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire....
,
Letcombe BassettLetcombe Bassett is a village and civil parish about southwest of the market town of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire....
,
LockingeLockinge is a civil parish in Oxfordshire in England, consisting of the villages of East Lockinge and West Lockinge, as well as the hamlet of Betterton, which is also a lost settlement. It is located between the town of Wantage and the village of Ardington. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire...
and
UffingtonUffington is a village and civil parish about south of Faringdon. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. Uffington is most commonly known as the location of the Uffington White Horse hill figure....
. Wantage includes the suburbs of Belmont to the west and Charlton to the east.
GroveGrove is a village and civil parish on Letcombe Brook about north of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.-Parish churches:...
to the north is still just about detached and is a separate parish. Wantage parish stretches from the northern edge of its housing up onto the Downs in the south, covering
Chain HillChain Hill is one of the hills of the North Wessex Downs, located in the civil parish of Wantage in the English county of Oxfordshire. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire...
, Edge Hill, Wantage Down, Furzewick Down and Lattin Down. The Edgehill Springs rise between Manor Road and Spike Lodge Farms and the
Letcombe BrookLetcombe Brook is a stream in the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. It rises at the foot of the Berkshire Downs at Letcombe Bassett and flows through Letcombe Regis, Wantage, Grove and East Hanney to join Childrey Brook, which is a tributary of the River Ock, which is a tributary of the...
flows through the town. Because of its central location in the Vale and proximity to the Downs, Wantage tends to be the main touring centre for the area and is home to the
Vale and Downland MuseumThe Vale and Downland Museum is a local museum in the market town of Wantage, Oxfordshire, England. Its galleries present the cultural heritage of the Vale of White Horse region around Wantage. It is located in the Old Surgery, Church Street, in the centre of the town. The museum has around 1,500...
. There is a large market square containing the famous statue of King Alfred, surrounded by many shops with 18th century facades. Quieter streets radiate out from there, including towards the large
Church of England parish churchA parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
. Wantage is the 'Alfredston' of
Thomas Hardy'sThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
Jude the ObscureJude the Obscure, the last of Thomas Hardy's novels, began as a magazine serial and was first published in book form in 1895. The book was burned publicly by William Walsham How, Bishop of Wakefield, in that same year. Its hero, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man who dreams of becoming a...
.
Transport
Wantage is at the crossing of the B4507 valley road, the
A417 road-Streatley - Gloucester :It runs from Streatley at its junction with the A329 to Wantage, over the picturesque Berkshire Downs. In Wantage, it negotiates the market place -Streatley - Gloucester (M5):It runs from Streatley at its junction with the A329 (between Reading and Wallingford) to Wantage,...
between Reading and
CirencesterCirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...
and the
A338 roadThe A338 is a major trunk road in southern England, that runs from the junction with the A35 at Bournemouth in Dorset to the junction with the A420 at Besselsleigh in Oxfordshire, roughly long.-Route:...
between
HungerfordHungerford is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 9 miles west of Newbury. It covers an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 5,559 .- Geography :...
(and junction 14 of the
M4 motorwayThe M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
) and Oxford.
Regular bus services link Wantage with
OxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
,
DidcotDidcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
,
AbingdonAbingdon or archaically Abingdon-on-Thames is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England. It is the seat of the Vale of White Horse district. Previously the county town of Berkshire, Abingdon is one of several places that claim to be Britain's oldest continuously occupied town, with...
and
FaringdonFaringdon is a market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. It is on the edge of the Thames Valley, between the River Thames and the Ridgeway...
. These services also serve villages
en route including
East HanneyEast Hanney is a village and civil parish on Letcombe Brook about north of Wantage. Historically East and West Hanney were formerly a single ecclesiastical parish of Hanney...
and Grove. The quickest scheduled bus journey between Wantage and Oxford takes about 45 minutes, the slowest can take over 1 hour 15 minutes. The regular local bus route 38 linking Wantage, Challow,
ChildreyChildrey is a village and civil parish about west of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. The parish was part of the Wantage Rural District in Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the whole of the Vale of White Horse from Berkshire to Oxfordshire.Childrey was originally an island...
,
Chilton- People :Surname* Chilton Given name* Chilton Allan , American lawyer and politician* Charles Chilton Moore* Chilton Price* Joseph Chilton Pearce- Place Names :England* Chilton, Buckinghamshire* Chilton, County Durham** Great Chilton...
and Grove is operated by White's Coaches under contract to
Oxfordshire County CouncilOxfordshire County Council, established in 1889, is the county council, or upper-tier local authority, for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire, in the South East of England, an elected body responsible for the most strategic local government services in the county.-History:County Councils...
.
Wantage Road railway stationWantage Road railway station was on the Great Western Main Line in the Vale of White Horse. The station was actually at the village of Grove, Oxfordshire, more than two miles north of Wantage, and was sometimes referred to as Grove railway station...
on the
Great Western Main LineThe Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great...
was at Grove about 2 miles (3 km) north of the town, on what is now the A338 road. The
Wantage TramwayThe Wantage Tramway was a two mile tram way that carried passengers and freight between the Oxfordshire town of Wantage, and Wantage Road Station on the Great Western Main Line.-History:...
used to link the town with Wantage Road. The tramway's Wantage terminus was in Mill Street and its building survives, but little trace remains of the route. One of the tramway's locomotives,
Shannon, alias
Jane is preserved at
Didcot Railway CentreDidcot Railway Centre, located in the town of Didcot in the English county of Oxfordshire, is based around the site of a comprehensive "engine shed" which became redundant after the nationalisation of the UK railways, due to the gradual changeover from steam to diesel motive power.-Description:The...
.
Part of the Wilts & Berks Canal remains within the parish.
Education
There is one state secondary school in Wantage, King Alfred's College, and some ten primary schools. A former independent preparatory school, St Andrew's, established in 1926, closed permanently in 2010.
Architecture
Wantage has been the site of a church since at least the 10th century and the present
Church of England parish churchA parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of
Saints Peter and PaulThe Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, or the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, is a liturgical feast in honour of the martyrdom in Rome of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which is observed on 29 June...
dates from the 13th century, with many additions since. SS Peter and Paul also contains seventeen 15th century
misericordA misericord is a small wooden shelf on the underside of a folding seat in a church, installed to provide a degree of comfort for a person who has to stand during long periods of prayer.-Origins:...
s.
King Alfred's Grammar School was designed by the architect
J. B. ClacyJohn Barry Clacy was a Victorian architect whose practice was centred on Berkshire, England.-Career:Most of Clacy's significant works are Gothic Revival buildings, but the Corn Exchange in Reading that he designed with F. Hawkes is in a style that Nikolaus Pevsner described as "free, debased...
of
ReadingReading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
and built in 1849–50 but incorporates a highly carved
NormanAbout|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
doorway from a demolished
chantryChantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
chapel that formerly stood in the churchyard.
A water-powered mill with an undershot water wheel still stands from the time that Wantage was a major centre of the wool trade following the building of the
Wilts and Berks CanalThe Wilts & Berks Canal is a canal in the historic counties of Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington, near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon. The North Wilts Canal merged with it to become a branch to the Thames and Severn Canal at Latton near...
at the end of the 18th century.
Developments
As of 2007, Wantage is developing and changing. In recent years four or more significant housing developments have been constructed bringing large increases in population to the town. At least one development (including the new health centre) has been on a
greenfieldGreenfield land is a term used to describe undeveloped land in a city or rural area either used for agriculture, landscape design, or left to naturally evolve...
site adjacent to the
A338 roadThe A338 is a major trunk road in southern England, that runs from the junction with the A35 at Bournemouth in Dorset to the junction with the A420 at Besselsleigh in Oxfordshire, roughly long.-Route:...
towards Oxford. The other three, however, have been on brownfield sites, converting a scrapyard next to the Letcombe Brook. While making the town tidier, the impact on the wildlife, particularly around the Letcombe Brook, may not be positive.
In 2006, a large commercial development began construction with a Sainsbury's supermarket as a central focus. This supermarket is double the size of the previous one and was intended to have a significant impact on the town by drawing more visitors from outlying villages. Although the impact was projected as being positive, aimed at preventing the town becoming a
commuter townA commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
and retaining some commercial activity, it has proved to have a negative effect, driving many of the few remaining
independent retailersIn business, an independent business as a term of distinction generally refers to privately owned companies . Independent businesses most commonly take the form of sole-proprietorships...
out of business. An action group,
Wantage Rejuvenated, is being sponsored by the town's
chamber of commerceA chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
to try to bring business back into the area and inject new life into the town.
Activism in the town regarding development is increasing in 2011, with a campaign to stop the demolition of a building close to the town cetre by Vanderbuilt Homes, who initially gained permission to convert an early Georgian bank of shops into a mixed commercial and residential block. Following initial planning permissions for conversion, Vanderbilt applied to have the buildings compeletly demolished, prompting a local petition and campaign for the application to be refused at the discretion of the Town Council, as although the building is old, it is not listed (Source: Wantage and Grove Review Issue No 401, 3rd October 2011).
Another area of development which has provoked local protest has been on the north of the town, where a 1,500 home estate is proposed, increasing housing in the town by 35%. Residents have raised petitions and the local MP, Ed Vaizey, has raised concerns, especially about the ability of local road infrastructure to cope. The town is served by the A338, A4497 and A417, which are single carriageway roads. The proposed Wantage development is one mile from a similar mass of 2,500 homes proposed for the village of Grove and which will use same road network. The area for the Wantage development is farmland and used by local walkers, cyclists and dog owners (Source: Oxford Mail 8th December 2009).
Notable people
- King Alfred the Great
Alfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...
was born in Wantage in 849.
- John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
, Poet LaureateA poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
from 1972 to 1984, lived in Wantage and his book, 'Archie and the Strict Baptists' is based in the town. Wantage has a memorial park named after him, which includes extracts from his poems in a peaceful wooded area.
- Joseph Butler
Joseph Butler was an English bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher. He was born in Wantage in the English county of Berkshire . He is known, among other things, for his critique of Thomas Hobbes's egoism and John Locke's theory of personal identity...
(1692–1752), Bishop of BristolThe Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England.The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire...
, Bishop of Durham, and author of 'The Analogy of Religion', was born and educated in Wantage.
- William John Butler, Vicar of Wantage, Dean of Lincoln.
- Alice FitzWarin, wife of Dick Whittington
Sir Richard Whittington was a medieval merchant and politician, and the real-life inspiration for the pantomime character Dick Whittington. Sir Richard Whittington was four times Lord Mayor of London, a Member of Parliament and a sheriff of London...
, three time Lord Mayor of the City of London, grew up in Wantage. Her father's brass memorialMonumental brass is a species of engraved sepulchral memorial which in the early part of the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood...
is in the church.
- Robert James Loyd-Lindsay, Baron Wantage of Lockinge (see above).
- Frances O'Connor
-Background:O'Connor was born in Wantage, Oxfordshire, England to a pianist mother and nuclear physicist father. When O'Connor was two, her family moved back to Perth, Western Australia. O'Connor was raised a Roman Catholic and attended the Mercedes College in Perth...
, Anglo-Australian actor, was born in Wantage in 1967.
- Lester Piggot, jockey, was born in Wantage.
Twinning
Wantage is twinned with:
MablyMably is a commune in the Loire department in central France. It is twinned with Wantage in Oxfordshire, England.-Twin towns - sister cities:Mably is twinned with: Wantage, England Piatra Neamţ, Romania...
in
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
since 1990
SeesenSeesen is a town and municipality in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the northwestern edge of the Harz mountain range, approx...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
since 1979
External links