Drayton, Berkshire

Drayton
St Peter's Parish Church
Drayton Drayton shown within Oxfordshire
Population	2,353 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference	SU4794
Civil parish	Drayton
District	Vale of White Horse
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Abingdon
Postcode district	OX14
Dialling code	01235
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Wantage
Website	DraytonVillage.co.uk
List of places UK England Oxfordshire 51°38′49″N 1°18′47″W / 51.647°N 1.313°W / 51.647; -1.313Coordinates: 51°38′49″N 1°18′47″W / 51.647°N 1.313°W / 51.647; -1.313

Drayton is a village and civil parish about 2 miles (3 km) south of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Sutton Wick. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 2,353.

Two sites of former settlements in the parish are scheduled monuments. One is about ¹⁄₂ mile (800 m) north of the village at Sutton Wick, overlapping the parish boundary with Abingdon. The other is around Brook Farm, about ¹⁄₂ mile (800 m) southeast of the village.

An episode of the Channel 4 television series Time Team called "In the Halls of a Saxon King", first transmitted on 5 September 2010, investigated archaeological sites from various periods between Drayton and its eastern neighbour Sutton Courtenay. They included a Neolithic site called the Drayton Cursus.

In 1965 a late Saxon sword was found during ploughing on a field beside Barrow Lane. It is similar to swords found at Windsor, Berkshire and Gooderstone, Suffolk.

The earliest known forms of Drayton's toponym are the Old English Drægtune and Draigtun from the 10th century. It evolved through Draitune in the 10th and 11th centuries, Draitun from the 11th to the 13th century and Drettun in the 12th century. The current spelling of the name has been used since the 13th century.