shire, however, has been classed with that of parts of Hampshire and Dorset, with which counties, as shown, it was in direct communication.
As regards the villages, those of Oxfordshire and Berkshire for the most part consist of collected homesteads. The old maps of both counties, made before the enclosures of the great areas of common land, show this in a remarkable way. If, therefore, we may draw a conclusion from the resemblance which the shape of the old villages of Oxfordshire, especially those in the northern half of the county, bear to those in Germany east of the Weser and north of the Elbe, it is probable that a considerable proportion of the settlers in that county came from these Continental areas.
The conclusion in regard to the actual settlement which appears to be most probable is that the valley of the Upper Thames was first occupied partly by a migration of Gewissas from the South, and partly by Kentish people or Goths and Frisians, with some Wends, who came up the river.
