Grove is surrounded by everyday green space and water within a few minutes of most front doors. A park or playing field is a short walk from almost everywhere. Water is barely further. The gardens are big. None of the land around it is officially protected, and plenty of it is pleasant all the same.
The typical Grove home is about 160 metres from the nearest public green space, and has around 14 green spaces within a kilometre. Children walk to the swings in about the time it takes a parent to find their shoes.
The nearest water averages about 220 metres from the typical home, and there are around 42 stretches of water within a kilometre. Letcombe Brook runs through the village. Parts of the old Wilts & Berks Canal have been restored, and a trust is working to reopen the rest. Water is part of the furniture in Grove, and only a few residents ever go looking for it.
The National Cycle Network is about 2.4 kilometres from the average home, and no postcode in Grove counts as close to it. There is no ancient woodland. Cycling here means using the lanes, because the signed routes are a ride away.
On the high street and around the village, there are 164 premises recorded as shops, 26 pubs and 9 restaurants. Grove has nearly three times as many pubs as restaurants, so the evenings mostly happen over a pint.
In 2024 the Vale of White Horse council area recorded fine-particle pollution of about 6.6 micrograms per cubic metre.
The countryside around Grove is made of villages with names that sound like a cricket fixture list, among them East Challow, West Challow, Ardington and the Lockinges, with Wantage close enough to walk to. A Roman villa east of Cornhill Farm is a scheduled monument. The remains of another large Roman villa have been found near the village. Grove itself is mostly post-war and newer housing, laid over farmland the Romans had already marked out. They farmed it for a living, and today it is the view from the back of a three-bed semi.
There are around 95,000 square metres of private garden for every 1,000 Grove residents. Most homes here have a garden of their own, and on a sunny weekend most of Grove is in it.
On the business rates list, Grove has 73 rateable premises. Shop units are the largest group, at 24, and there are 5 offices. That list counts premises liable for business rates, which is a different count from the shops tallied above, and it shows units that exist without saying whether they are trading. The rest is a small mix of other uses, so the village's working life is a handful of shops and a short drive to bigger centres.
The Food Standards Agency has rated 27 food premises in Grove. About 70% hold the top hygiene score, and none sit in the lowest bands. The village has few places to eat out, but the ones it has keep their kitchens clean.
The land around Grove carries no protected designation. There is no area of outstanding natural beauty, no site of special scientific interest and no ancient woodland. Fields, a brook and a half-restored canal are enough for a dog walk, without a visitor car park in sight.
The surroundings are one of Grove's real strengths. Green space and water are a short walk from most doors, and nearly every home has a garden of its own.