Wantage is a historic market town and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. Although within the boundaries of the historic county of Berkshire, it has been administered as part of Oxfordshire since 1974. The town is on Letcombe Brook, 8 miles south-west of Abingdon, 24 miles north-west of Reading, 15 miles south-west of Oxford and 14 miles north-west of Newbury. It was the birthplace of King Alfred the Great in 849.