Holiday rentals in Christmas Common

There’s more to this pretty little Oxfordshire hamlet than its festive name. Occupying a prime spot on an escarpment in the Chiltern Hills, this huddle of historic buildings, including a 500-year-old pub, makes a delightful base for exploring a lovely rural area bordering Buckinghamshire. The village is part of the parish of Watlington, a typical Chilterns market town with speciality food stores, upmarket interiors shops, pubs, and restaurants. All around it are glorious hiking routes and smart country pubs to finish up in—and fill up in—afterwards. As to its name, there is uncertainty over whether Christmas Common’s origins are linked to an English Civil War battle truce in the area at Christmas; for the abundance of holly growing here; or due to local landowners with the surname of Christmas. Either way, it’s a moniker as charming as the place itself.

As cute as Christmas Common is at Christmastime, this is a village for the whole year. Many in the area, however, come here in December to buy their Christmas trees from a local tree farm. The surrounding woodlands are at their best from mid-April to late May, when bluebells produce a blaze of colour, and in autumn for its changing leaves. In summer, the local Beacon Festival at Watlington Hill Farm features live music and holistic therapies. June is when the world-renowned Henley Royal Regatta draws crowds to the banks of the Thames to watch competing rowing teams. Other cultural festivals in Henley include Rewind, a 1980s music festival in August.

Watlington Hill

Owned and managed by the National Trust, Watlington Hill was once part of a medieval royal park and is now a lovely place for woodland walks and views across the Oxfordshire Plain. Wildflower species, including gentians, frog orchid, and wild candytuft spangle bucolic sun-tickled scenes, and you might spot rare butterflies and muntjacs (barking deer) on the chalk grasslands. Red kites are commonly seen soaring in the sky thanks to a successful reintroduction programme of these rare birds of prey. Look out, too, for the Watlington White Mark — a chalky white steeple shape cut into the hillside, creating the illusion that the church of St Leonard has a spire.

Hiking

Fabulous walking trails roll out in every direction here. Little potters into Shotridge Wood and Blackmoor Woods, both on the doorstep, will suit those who fancy a short stroll, while the more energetic can take on the long-distance treks of the Oxfordshire Way, Chiltern Way, and the Icknield Way, part of the Ridgeway National Trail, which pass nearby.

Henley-on-Thames

The beautiful riverside town of Henley is famed for its rowing history (explored in its River and Rowing Museum), riverboat rides, and well-to-do residents. It’s hard not to be charmed by its pristine streets, where ancient coaching inns nestle against natty galleries.