Living near Shrivenham
As Cranfield University does not have accommodation at Shrivenham, civilian students live in rented accommodation in nearby villages.
The closest small villages to the Defence Academy site are Shrivenham and Watchfield, nestled in the Vale of the White Horse. Other towns in the area, such as Highworth are a short drive or cycle from Shrivenham site, while Faringdon lies on the direct S6 bus route to site.
In the area there are numerous pubs, cafes and restaurants which are popular with staff and students. Some also provide bed and breakfast accommodation.
The nearest large supermarket stores can be found in Faringdon. There are a small number of retail outlets such as a mini supermarket, a fast food chain restaurant and a pub restaurant called ‘The College Farm’ where you can get 20% student discount on food on Mondays. Shrivenham Post Office offers a foreign exchange service.
Shrivenham is reasonably near Swindon (about ten miles away) and Oxford (twenty miles away in the opposite direction). Both Swindon and Oxford have excellent, regular bus services (S6) which stop outside the gates. Your DMR pass allows you discounted travel on this bus service. Swindon and Oxford are both served by main-line trains from London and other major destinations.
Useful links:
Bus timetable to Swindon and Oxford
Shrivenham village
Shrivenham local area map
Hover over the icons on the map below for more information.
Shrivenham local area map
Tap on the icons on the map below for more information.
“I rented a very small apartment in Shrivenham with a family. It was really nice solution because I had a separate entrance, even though it was part of the same house. It was a perfect solution because I could walk to campus. You find everything you need in Shrivenham - there is a decent shop for groceries, and a couple of pubs if you want to meet your friends. Most people from our course rented houses with their families because they came from overseas. For me, it proved perfect to have a small rented apartment, that gave me the flexibility to attend this course. I was also able to change this renting agreement. because I left much earlier and the landowner agreed to this and was really nice.”
Ole Feurer,
(Explosives Ordnance Engineering MSc 2020)
