DORCHESTER, (Oxfordshire) 6 m. from Abingdon, and 10 from Oxford, has a bridge over the Thame, and, by the coins and
medals often dug up in and near it, it was an ancient city of the Britons, and also a Roman station. 'Twas the See of a
Bp. near 500 years, till, in the R. of Will. the Conq. it was translated to Lincoln; and it had once 5 stately Chs. tho'
now but one, and is a small village, since the loss of the See, and turning the high-road to London another way. Here was
formerly an abbey. There is a vulgar tradition, that no snakes will live in this p. and the oldest men here say, they
never saw any venomous creature in its district. On the S. W. side of the T. there are 2 banks, with a trench bet. them,
called Dike-Hills.