Bucklebury
| Bucklebury | |
 The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin |
|
  Bucklebury Bucklebury shown within Berkshire | |
| Population | 2,066 (2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SU5570 |
| Civil parish | Bucklebury |
| Unitary authority | West Berkshire |
| Ceremonial county | Berkshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Reading |
| Postcode district | RG7 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Newbury |
| Website | The Bucklebury Wikispace |
Bucklebury is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. The village is about 5 miles (8.0 km) north-east of Newbury and about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north of the A4 road. It has a population of 2,066.[1]
Geography
The parish of Bucklebury has three main parts. The original village is on the banks of the River Pang. Directly south of Bucklebury village, and on higher ground, is Bucklebury Common, which is 826 acres (334 ha) of open grazing on managed heather and woodland. The common is open to all commoners but is privately owned. At the eastern boundary of the common is Chapel Row, incorporating local landmarks such as the Blade Bone public house, a butcher's shop with the same name, a General Practitioner's practice and a tea shop.
In recent years the village of Upper Bucklebury has become the parish's larger residential area. This is on a hill about a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of Bucklebury village at the western tip of the common. Upper Bucklebury has a general store, a public house, the new Church of England parish church of All Saints, and a Church of England primary school.
The hamlet of Marlston is also part of the parish.
History
Bucklebury was a royal manor owned by Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042–1066).[2] The village and parish church are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.[2] Henry I (reigned 1100–35) granted Bucklebury to the Cluniac Reading Abbey, which retained it until it surrendered all its lands to the Crown in the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540.[2]
The place-name 'Bucklebury' is first attested in the Domesday Book, as 'Borgeldeberie', which means 'Burghild's fortified place or borough' ('Burghild' is a woman's name).[3]
During the Second World War much of Bucklebury Common was cleared for the stationing of troops. Some of the concrete paths laid down still remain and are now used as bridleways.
Parish church
The parish church (Anglican) of Saint Mary the Virgin is thought to have been built in the second half of the 11th century.[2] The ornate south doorway is late Norman[4] and was added in about 1170.[2] A north transept was added to the nave at the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century.[2] Late in the 13th century a second arch was added to turn the transept into a two-bay north aisle.[2] One of the windows in the south wall of the nave was added in the 14th century.[2]
In the 15th century the nave and north aisle were lengthened westwards by the addition of a third bay, and new east and two new north windows were inserted in the north aisle.[2] In the second half of the 15th century the Perpendicular Gothic[5] bell tower was added.[2] The chancel was rebuilt in 1591 and the porch was added in 1603.[2] The chancel was partly rebuilt again in 1705 and the porch has also been rebuilt.[2] A vestry has also been added.[2]
The Rectory has an early 18th-century facade.[5] In 1966 the garden included two sculptures by Henry Moore: Draped Reclining Woman 1957–58 and Reclining Figure (1961–62).[5]
Notable residents
- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
- Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, English politician and philosopher
- Hutin Britton, English actress
- Henry Octavius Coxe, English librarian and scholar
- George Lailey, woodturner
- George Palmer, proprietor of the Huntley & Palmers biscuit manufacturers
- George William Palmer (England), Liberal Member of Parliament, son of George Palmer.
- Robert Still, English composer, educator and amateur tennis player
References
- ↑ "Area selected: West Berkshire (Unitary Authority)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 Page & Ditchfield, 1923, pp. 291–296
- ↑ Eilert Ekwall (1940) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names; 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press; p. 69.
- ↑ Pevsner, 1966, p. 106
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Pevsner, 1966, p. 107
Sources
- Page, William; Ditchfield, P.H., eds. (1923). Victoria County History: A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 3. pp. 291–296.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). The Buildings of England: Berkshire. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 106–107.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bucklebury. |
