Beachville

Beachville is a village on the Thames River between Woodstock and Ingersoll, in the north of South-West Oxford. The Beachville District Museum sits on 4.5 acres of parkland with the river behind it, antique harvesting equipment on the grounds and a small amphitheatre for summer events, and it tells the story of one of the earliest recorded baseball games in North America, played here in 1838. The village has a playground, a tennis and basketball court, and Loweville Park in the Loweville subdivision.

Beachville developed as one of the earliest settlements in Oxford County, and the Township says it was once the centre of the county. The village is known for one of the earliest recorded baseball games in North America, played here on June 4, 1838, between teams from Beachville and Zorra; the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inducted the game in 1988. Limestone has been quarried and burned for lime along the Thames near Beachville since pioneer days. In 1975 the Village of Beachville joined Dereham and West Oxford townships to form South-West Oxford, and the village is the only part of the township north of the river.

The census counts Beachville with the farms around it, so these figures are estimates for the village. They come to about 300 homes, more than nine in ten of them single detached houses. More than half were built in 1960 or earlier and about a quarter between 1961 and 1980. About one in ten were built between 1981 and 2000, and a few in 2001 or later.

Beachville Road, Oxford Road 9, runs through the village, west to Ingersoll, about 7 km and 9 minutes away by road, and east to Woodstock City Hall, about 10 km and 14 minutes away. Highway 401 runs just south of the village.

The Beachville District Museum grounds cover 4.5 acres beside the Thames, with antique harvesting equipment, a small amphitheatre and a porch used for outdoor events through the year. The village playground has a climber, swings and a composite structure, with a tennis and basketball court, bleachers and picnic tables beside it, and Loweville Park in the Loweville subdivision has nearly 2 acres of green space and modern play equipment.

• Laurie Hawkins Public School — JK to Grade 8. The public school for Beachville, on Innes Street in Ingersoll.
• Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute — Grades 9 to 12. The public secondary school for most of Beachville, on Alma Street in Ingersoll.
• Woodstock Collegiate Institute — Grades 9 to 12. The public secondary school for Oak Street and Beachville Road, on Riddell Street in Woodstock, with French immersion.
• Oliver Stephens Public School — Grades 1 to 8 in French immersion. The public French immersion school for Beachville, on Fyfe Avenue in Woodstock; it also has an English program.
• St. Jude's Catholic School — JK to Grade 8. The Catholic elementary school for Beachville, on Caffyn Street in Ingersoll.
• Holy Family French Immersion Catholic School — SK to Grade 8 in French immersion. The Catholic French immersion school for all of Oxford, on Oxford Street in Woodstock.
• St. Mary's Catholic High School — Grades 9 to 12. The Catholic secondary school for Beachville, on Juliana Drive in Woodstock.