Didcot is a town in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
Didcot dates back to the iron age. The settlement was situated on the ridge in the town, and the remainder of the surrounding area was marshland.
The Romans attempted to drain the marshland by building the ditch that runs north through what is now known as the Ladygrove area near Long Whittenham.
Didcot first appears in historical records in the 1200s as Dudcotte, Berkshire. The name is believed to be derived from that of the local Abbot. Didcot was then a sleepy village with a polulation of 100 or so in rural Berkshire, and remained that way for hundreds of years, only occasionally cropping up in records.
1839 saw the arrival of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway to Didcot, his station followed in 1844 which enclosed the track completely in a similar style to Paddington. This and the branch junction to Oxford created the conditions for the future growth of Didcot. The station's name also finally fixed the spelling of Didcot.
After World War II technology changed, with steam trains becoming obsolete, and the motor car becoming common. The station was renamed Didcot Parkway and the old steam areas became a car park so that the station would attract travellers from the area.
A change in the county boundaries also meant that the town moved from Berkshire to Oxfordshire.
Building was started on the 2000MW coal-fired power station for the CEGB during the 1960's, and was completed early in the 1970's at a cost of £104m and up to 2400 workers were employed at peak times. It is located on a 300 acre site formerly part of the Ministry of Defence Central Ordnance Depot. The main contractors were GEC Parsons, Babcock and Wilson, GP Trenthams and John Thompson. The main chimney is 650ft tall with the six cooling towers 325ft each.
The power station was voted Britain's third worst eyesore in 2003. [1]
Didcot is now home to around 24,500 people and is the largest town in the Souh Oxfordshire Didtrict area. It has been designated as one of the three major growth areas in the county - with plans for a new town centre.
You can find more information on the Didcot web page http://www.didcot.gov.uk.