What is Didcot?
{{infobox UK place| |country= England |latitude= 51.6063 |longitude= -1.2410 |official_name= Didcot |population= 25,231 |civil_parish= Didcot |shire_district= [[South Oxfordshire]] |shire_county= [[Oxfordshire]] |region= South East England |constituency_westminster= [[Wantage]] |post_town= DIDCOT |postcode_district= OX11 |postcode_area= OX |dial_code= 01235 |os_grid_reference= SU525900 |london_distance= 54.7m |website= [http://www.didcot.gov.uk Didcot Town Council] }} [[File:Didcot Pkwy Plat3.jpg|thumb|200px|Didcot - a railway town.]] '''Didcot''' is a [[town]] in [[Oxfordshire]] about {{convert|10|mi|km}} south of [[Oxford]]. Until 1974 it was part of [[Berkshire]]. ==History and economy== During the [[Roman Empire]] the Romans dug a [[ditch]] that runs north through what is now known as the Ladygrove area north of the town near [[Long Wittenham]]. Didcot first appears in historical records in the [[13th century]] as Dudcotte, [[Berkshire]]. Parts of the original village still exist in the Lydalls Road area and part of All Saints' Church dates back to the [[11th century]]. ===Railways=== The [[Great Western Railway]], designed by [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel]], reached Didcot in 1839. In 1844 the Didcot [[railway station]] was opened. The original station burnt down in the later part of [[19th century]]. Didcot is junction of the routes to [[London]], [[Bristol]] and [[Oxford]]. It was formerly a junction for [[Southampton]] via the [[Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway]] but that closed in the 1960s. The traffic to Southampton meant that the town had strategic importance to military logistics, in particular during the [[World War I|First World War]] campaign on the [[Western Front]] and the [[World War II|Second World War]] preparations for [[D-Day]]. ===Power stations=== {{main|Didcot power station}} The Didcot Power Stations (which are next to each other, and actually in ''Sutton Courtenay'') supply [[electricity]] to the [[Electric power transmission|National Grid]]. The power station has als