Great Shefford
| Great Shefford | |
 St Mary's parish church |
|
  Great Shefford Great Shefford shown within Berkshire | |
| Population | 896 (2001 Census) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SU3875 |
| Civil parish | Great Shefford |
| Unitary authority | West Berkshire |
| Ceremonial county | Berkshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Newbury |
| Postcode district | RG17 |
| Dialling code | 01488 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Newbury |
| Website | Great Shefford and Shefford Woodlands |
Great Shefford (or West Shefford) is a village and civil parish on the River Lambourn in West Berkshire, England. The modern civil parish includes the historical parish of Little or East Shefford, a small hamlet and lost settlement downstream.[1] The parish also includes the village of Shefford Woodlands, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest of Great Shefford and near M4 junction 14.
The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 896,[2] and 880 are listed on the Millennium Stone opposite the petrol station.[citation needed]
Toponymy
The toponym of both Sheffords is derived from the Old English for "sheep ford".
Amenities
Great Shefford village has a parish church, public house, school, shop and petrol station.
Transport
Newbury and District bus service 4 (Newbury-Lambourn) serves Great Shefford.[3] From 1898 until 1960 Great Shefford railway station on the Lambourn Valley Railway served the parish.
Churches
St Mary
The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary is one of two existing round-tower churches in Berkshire. The other one is at St Gregory's parish church at nearby Welford.
Unlike the three round-towered churches in Sussex, where the towers are plain flint cylinders with few openings, the tower at Great Shefford is built up of sections with ample fenestration, more like the East Anglian type. The base of the tower at least seems to date from the 13th century, and it joins the west wall of the nave in such a way that suggests it was constructed at the same time as the nave, which shows early gothic features.
St Stephen
The church of Saint Stephen at Shefford Woodlands is a former Methodist chapel that was consecrated as part of St Mary's Church of England parish in 1911.[4]
St Thomas
St Thomas' Church, East Shefford contains important monuments to the widespread Fettiplace family.
References
- ↑ Ford, David Nash. "Royal Berkshire History". East Shefford St. Thomas' Church. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
- ↑ "Area selected: West Berkshire (Unitary Authority)". Neighbourhood Statistics: Full Dataset View. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ↑ "Connect Service 4" (pdf). Timetables. Newbury and District. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ↑ "History of Great Shefford". Great Shefford and Shefford Woodlands. The Parish of Great Shefford. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
Further reading
- Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds. (1924). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4. Victoria County History. pp. 238–242.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 148–149.
External links
Media related to Great Shefford at Wikimedia Commons
