Cholsey

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Cholsey
Cholsey shown within Oxfordshire
Population	about 3,000
OS grid reference	SU587863
- London	45.25mi
Parish	Cholsey
District	South Oxfordshire
Shire county	Oxfordshire
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WALLINGFORD
Postcode district	OX10
Dialling code	01491
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Oxfordshire
Ambulance	South Central
European Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Wantage
List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire

Coordinates: 51°34′30″N 1°08′06″W / 51.575, -1.135

Cholsey is a large village and civil parish, two miles from Wallingford, in the district of South Oxfordshire in the English county of Oxfordshire (previously in Berkshire). It has a population of over 3,000. The village green is known as The Forty. Winterbrook, at the north end of Cholsey parish adjoins Wallingford, and is the site of Winterbrook Bridge, which crosses the Thames.

Cholsey is served by Cholsey railway station, a calling point for stopping services operated by First Great Western on the Great Western Main Line between Reading and Didcot. The station was also the junction for a branch line to Wallingford, which is now used on an intermittent basis by the heritage Cholsey and Wallingford Railway.

[edit] History

The prehistoric road, the Icknield Way, crosses the River Thames at Cholsey.

The village was originally founded on an island (Ceol's Isle) in marshy ground close to the Thames. There is evidence that the Wessex Royal family owned land in Cholsey in the 6th and 7th century.

St Marys' Church, Cholsey

A royal nunnery, Cholsey Abbey, was founded in the village in 986 by Queen Dowager Ælfthryth, on land donated by her son, King Ethelred the Unready. The nunnery is thought to have been destroyed by invading Danes in 1006 when they camped in Cholsey after setting nearby Wallingford ablaze. However, Anglo-Saxon masonry still survives in the present village church of St Mary. Most of this flint and stone building was erected in the 12th century. The novelist Agatha Christie's grave can be found in the churchyard. She died at Winterbrook House in the parish in 1976.

In the 13th century, a tythe barn was built in the village. It was, at the time, the largest aisled building in the World, being 51 feet high, 54 feet wide and over 300 feet long. The barn was demolished in 1815.

[edit] Local Amenities

Village Shop - Tesco Express, The Forty. Open: Mon-Sat 6:00am-11:00pm, Sun 7:00am-10:00pm.
Post Office - Inside the Tesco Express. Open: Mon-Fri 9:00am-13:00pm (lunch)14:00pm-17:30pm.
Butchers - Opposite Tescos.
Chemists - The Forty. Open: Mon-Fri 9:00am-17:00pm.
Estate Agents - Next door to the Chemists. Open: Mon-Fri 9:00am-17:00pm
Public Houses: The Red Lion, Wallingford Road ,and The Morning Star, Papist Way.
Chinese Restaurant - Shangki-Li, above Tescos.
Indian Restaurant - Memories of Bengal, Wallingford Road.
Cholsey Primary School, Church Road (built in 1971).
Church - St Marys', Church Road.
Marlenes Burger Van, Reading Road.