Bloxham

Bloxham has been looked after by the same committee since around the Norman Conquest, and the Feoffees are still handing out money, which is more than most parish councils manage in a decade. It is close enough to Banbury to do the big shop there and far enough away to be faintly offended if you call it a suburb. The A361 runs through the middle, so the old cottages get front-row seats to the lorries, and the conservation area means the lorries will change long before the windows do. Buy here and you inherit nine centuries of people looking out for each other, which in practice includes looking at your extension plans.