Witney · Local news you can trust
The county wants to close Henry Cornish Care Centre, Chipping Norton: its 14 council beds were a third full and cost £460,000 a year. Say by 21 October; Cabinet decides 1 December.
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Woodstock
Woodstock Christmas Lights: Festive Fayre 27 to 28 November
Woodstock Festive Fayre is Friday 27 November, 5pm to 8pm, and Saturday 28, 10am to 6pm. The Night of a Thousand Candles switch-on has no 2026 date yet.
Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton Christmas Lights: 2026 Date Not Yet Set
Chipping Norton has not yet set its 2026 switch-on. Last year's Big Chippy Switch-On ran 4pm to 8pm on Thursday 27 November, with the lights on at 6pm.
Crime
Witney Crime Falls to a Two-Year Low: 100 Reports in August
Police logged 100 crimes in central Witney in August, the fewest in two years, and violent crime fell 17% over the year. Carterton went the other way.
Food hygiene
West Oxfordshire Food Hygiene: All 29 September Ratings a 5
Every food hygiene rating published for a September inspection in West Oxfordshire was a 5, from a Witney takeaway and cafe to Burford's Angel. Full list of 29.
Roadworks
Witney High Street 24/7 Closure Ended 9 Oct: What Applies Now
Witney High Street's 24/7 closure was published as ending on 9 October. Phase 2 works run to November and the county has not yet said which traffic arrangement applies now.
Woodstock
Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock Wins National Sandford Award
The Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock has won the Sandford Award for heritage learning, valid to 2031, one of 29 sites in the UK and Ireland this year.
Events
What's On in Witney: Oktoberfest at Cogges, Then Three Firework Nights
Cogges Oktoberfest is Saturday 10 October, adults £16. Then Dracula at Cogges and Halloween at Blenheim from 22 October, and fireworks 6 to 8 November.
Buses
Witney Buses: New S1A Means One Every 15 Minutes to Oxford
Witney now has up to six buses an hour to Oxford. The 20 September shake-up adds a new S1A, school runs to Burford, and takes the S2 out of Eynsham village.
Schools
Witney school term dates 2026/27: half term 26 October
Oxfordshire half term is 26 to 30 October and Christmas runs 21 December to 1 January. Witney's secondaries, INSET days and Cokethorpe's dates compared.
Bins
Witney Christmas bin collections: which days move
Christmas and New Year's Day both fall on a Friday this year, so Witney's Friday bins will move. Last year's revised dates, garden waste and the tip hours.
Travel
Witney Christmas trains and buses: no service 25 December
No trains or buses run on Christmas Day, and Boxing Day's bank holiday moves to Monday 28 December. What ran from Witney last year and when 2026 times appear.
Christmas
Blenheim Palace Christmas 2026: trail opens 13 November
Christmas at Blenheim runs 13 November to 3 January: light trail, Cinderella in the Palace, ice rink and a free market. Dates, parking at £10, dog nights.
Witney sits on the Windrush at the eastern edge of the Cotswolds, a town that made blankets for centuries and is now mostly a place people commute from. Carterton is a few miles west and grew around the airbase. Chipping Norton is up in the hills, Burford is on the Gloucestershire road, and Woodstock, Eynsham and Bampton fill in the rest of west Oxfordshire.
Witney News reports from the public record. West Oxfordshire District Council decides planning, bins, car parks and licensing; Oxfordshire County Council runs the roads and the schools. Faringdon, which some descriptions of this area include, sits in a neighbouring district under a different council, and we say so rather than letting anyone assume. Every fact we print links to its document.
Nothing goes up without a link to the source.