town (parish), Vale of White Horse district, administrative county of Oxfordshire, historic county of Berkshire, England. It is an old market town and the birthplace of the Anglo-Saxon king Alfred the Great (Alfred) (871–899), whose statue stands in the marketplace. The town is a modest service centre in rural surroundings, but research establishments, including the atomic-energy research station at nearby Harwell, employ many people. Pop. (2001) 9,767.