| Sonning Common | |
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Sonning Common
Sonning Common shown within Oxfordshire |
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| Population | 3,778 (2001 census)[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SU7180 |
| Parish | Sonning Common |
| District | South Oxfordshire |
| Shire county | Oxfordshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Postcode district | RG4 |
| Dialling code | 0118 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Henley constituency |
| Website | Sonning Common Parish |
| List of places: UK • England • Oxfordshire | |
Sonning Common is a village and civil parish the Chiltern Hills 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire. It is on the B481 road between Reading, Berkshire to the south and Nettlebed to the north.
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During the English Civil Wars the village itself did not exist: its present site was merely an area of open land on the route between Reading – occupied alternately by the Parliamentarians and Royalists – and Oxford, which was the King's headquarters.[2] In 1647 after the end of the first civil war, the King was imprisoned at nearby Caversham House (now the location of BBC Monitoring in Caversham); however he was allowed out under escort to play bowls at an inn (latterly called "The King Charles Head") near Cane End, approximately one mile west of Sonning Common.[3][4] His route between these places would have brought him close to the present-day village.
The site of the village was called "Sonning Common" from at least the 1640s, long before any fixed settlement existed. The name is literal, referring to its originally being the common grazing land belonging to Sonning Parish.[5]
Churches are Christ the King (Church of England),[6] Saint Michael's (Roman Catholic),[7] and Sonning Common Free Church.
Sonning Common has a primary school.[8] Chiltern Edge School[9] is a secondary school in the village. It has fewer than 1,000 pupils. It has a drama studio, named after the actor Dan Stevens, that was opened in 2007. A few pupils living in Sonning Common attend Gillotts School, Henley-on-Thames, although most children are in walking distance of Chiltern Edge.
Sonning Common has three public houses: the Bird in Hand, the Butchers Arms[10] and the Hare and Hounds.
It also has a Herb Farm (with Saxon maze), Thames Valley Gymnastics Club and a health centre.[11] Two neighbouring parishes, Kidmore End and Rotherfield Peppard, have their war memorial halls on the parish boundaries. Sonning Common also has a duck pond with a duck-house in the middle called "Duckingham Palace", and a Millennium Green (a large area of open public land), which lies at the southern end of the village between Kennylands Road and Peppard Road.
The main route through the village is Peppard Road (the B481), which runs between Reading and Nettlebed. Wood Lane turns off this, and is where most of the village's shops and health centre are. It has an Indian restaurant,[12] a Chinese take-away, fish and chip shop, sandwich shop, post office, florist,[13] supermarkets, bank, petrol station, dental practice[14] and several other shops. The village hall is also in the middle of Wood Lane.
The area is surrounded by mainly beech woodland and countryside, which is popular for walks and picnics. Sonning Common is where the Health Walks project was started. It was set up by Dr William Bird, a former GP in the village. It aims to improve people's fitness, both in body and mind, by encouraging them to use their local countryside for walking. Together with Val Lunn, a local fitness instructor, Dr William Bird promoted the project which has now grown into a very successful scheme that has been adopted nationwide, and even internationally.[15]
The village has an amateur dramatic group, The Chiltern Players, that was formed in 1974.
The village has three children's parks, at Baskerville Road, Churchill Crescent and Lea Road, near Sonning Common Primary School.