Near the village of Fernham, lying between Faringdon and Uffington, is a group of red brick buildings of various styles dating from 1875 - 1970. Originally a farmhouse and enlarged as the need arose, it is now the monastic home of the Benedictine nuns of Fernham. The Priory is set amid 60 acres of farmland, the greater part of which is leased to a tenant farmer who presently uses the land to graze the young cows of his dairy herd. A large vegetable garden provides for the needs of the community and an orchard and fruit bushes keep the community occupied at harvest time and one of the Sisters busy with bottling and freezing.

The countryside surrounding Fernham is the stuff of which legends are made. Dragon Hill, where St George is said to have slain the dragon; the Blowing Stone which King Alfred, born in nearby Wantage, is reputed to have blown to rally his men against the Danes. Indisputable, though, is the authenticity of the archaeological interest of the area. The Ridgeway, the ancient track which follows the high chalk Downs to provide an access route from the shores of the Bristol and English Channels across the south of England to the Thames at Goring, has, say some historians, a claim to be the oldest road in Europe, walked by men and women of the Old Stone Age - Palaeolithic times before the last Ice Age. Neolithic travellers again used the Ridgeway and left impressive tombs and stone monuments, vestiges of which can be seen today. Wayland's Smithy is a long barrow (tomb) thought to date, perhaps, from as early as 2800 BC.

Uffington Castle, the earthwork remains of an Iron Age fortress encloses eight and a half acres and crowns the Ridgeway above one of the most famous of hill figures - the White Horse of Uffington, cut, in the mysterious period of pre-Saxon history, in the chalk of the Downs so as to be visible throughout the Vale. The White Horse and all this section of the Downs can be seen in the panoramic view from the Monastery which lies less than five miles north west of this historic backdrop.