Mortimer Common

For other uses, see Mortimer (disambiguation).
Mortimer Common

Church of St.John the Evangelist, Mortimer
Mortimer Common
 Mortimer Common shown within Berkshire
Population 5,089 
OS grid referenceSU6565
Civil parishMortimer Common
Unitary authorityWest Berkshire
Ceremonial countyBerkshire
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town READING
Postcode district RG7
Dialling code 0118
Police Thames Valley
Fire Royal Berkshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentWokingham
List of places
UK
England
Berkshire

Coordinates: 51°22′37″N 1°03′47″W / 51.377°N 1.063°W

Mortimer Common, generally referred to as Mortimer, is a village in the civil parish of Stratfield Mortimer in Berkshire. Mortimer is in the local government district of West Berkshire and is seven miles south-west of Reading.

History and Name

Historian David Nash Ford believes the name Mortimer stems from the Lords of the Manor, the Mortimer family, a powerful magnate family and the Earls of March from Wigmore, Herefordshire. The family were given the manor, along with Wigmore Castle by William I shortly after the Norman Conquest and held it throughout the Middle Ages, as recorded in the Domesday Book. Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March was for three years de facto ruler of England after leading a successful rebellion against Edward II, before being overthrown and executed in 1330 by Edward III, with his lands (including Mortimer) seized by the crown. The Mortimers came close, during the reign of Richard II, to the English throne again, but the claims of the family were ignored and the throne was vested in Henry IV instead.

During the Tudor period Mortimer was one of the lands granted to each of the wives of Henry VIII.

There are several Bronze Age burial mounds in the area. Excavations at one have shown that it was later used for burials when the Anglo-Saxons moved into the area.

In 1976 Princess Anne visited Mortimer as part of a horse display at the fairground.

Geography

Mortimer Common Barrows. Holden's Firs Barrows, Barrow Cemetery

Mortimer stands at the top of Mortimer Hill, at the bottom of which is Stratfield Mortimer. To the North lies Burghfield Common and Wokefield. To the West lies Mortimer West End and Padworth Common. The Lockram Brook flows through the middle of the parish and joins into Burghfield Brook further to the Northeast, this in turn feeds into Foudry Brook, a tributary of the Kennet and Avon Canal. There is much woodland in the area, including Starvale Woods, Wokefield Common and Holden Firs. The three main roads in Mortimer are The Street, West End Road and Victoria Road.

Sport and leisure

Mortimer has several senior football teams including Mortimer FC as well as two youth football teams; Mortimer Stingers and Mortimer Hornets.

Mortimer FC is currently in the Reading Football League Senior Division, in tier 11 of the football pyramid. Mortimer has won the League four times; in 1993-4, 1994–5, 1996–7 and 2001–02.

Mortimer has amateur cricket and tennis clubs, cubs, scouts, girl guides and brownies clubs as well as the Mortimer Dramatic Society. A community centre was completed in the autumn of 2009, which is used as a cricket pavilion. The fairground is also used for travelling funfares.

On taking over from Sewards Supermarket, Budgens also took over the tradition of arranging the annual 'fun run', a 10 kilometre race around the village, which generally takes place on the last Sunday of September.

In 2013, volunteers from the village established MortimerMusicLIVE, an organisation to promote and host life music in the village.

Amenities

Mortimer has three village halls (The Community Hall, St. John's and the Methodist Hall), a surgery, a chemist, a dentist, a bank (Natwest), a library, a post office, a fire station and a community police station.

In terms of shops and restaurants and other amenities Mortimer offers a hair-dresser, a photographic studio and picture framers (DARA Portraits), a travel agency a hardware store (Dads Shop), a Budgens supermarket (formerly Sewards), a newsagents McColls (formerly Forboys), The Loon Tin Chinese take away, The Cinnamon Tree Indian restaurant, a café, and two estate agencies.

Mortimer has three public houses: The Victoria Arms, The Turners Arms and The Horse and Groom.

There are four churches in Mortimer: The Church of England parish church of St John the Evangelist, St Mary the Virgin, Mortimer Methodist and St.Saviours (in Mortimer West End). Next to St John's church is St John's Infant School, serving reception and years 1 to 2. Next to St Mary's church is St. Mary's school fed by St John's and serving years 3 to 6 inclusive.

Transport

Bus travel from Reading is provided by Reading Buses services 2 and 2a.[1] Mortimer railway station, on the Reading to Basingstoke Line, is in the nearby village of Stratfield Mortimer.

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ http://www.reading-buses.co.uk/files/timetables/24%20Sept%202012/vitality%202%20timetable%2024%20Sept%2012%20inc%20tadley%20web.pdf
  2. ↑ "Lieutenant-Colonel H. St. Maur Carter". The British Medical Journal 1 (5018): 591. 9 March 1957. JSTOR 20361081.
  3. ↑ . The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/bowls/3025702/Bowls-Triples-gives-Newman-the-full-set.html. Retrieved 10 April 2002. Missing or empty |title= (help) (French)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mortimer Common.