Faringdon
Encyclopedia
Faringdon is a market town
in the Vale of White Horse
, Oxfordshire
, England
. It is on the edge of the Thames Valley
, between the River Thames
and the Ridgeway
. It was part of Berkshire
until the 1974 boundary changes
transferred it to Oxfordshire.
The civil parish is formally known as Great Faringdon, to distinguish it from Little Faringdon
in West Oxfordshire
.
On 1 February 2004, Faringdon was granted Fairtrade Town
status, becoming the first Fairtrade Town in the South East of England. In 1990, the town was twinned with Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe
in France
. Faringdon is the base for the Faringdon Enterprise Gateway, which is run by the South East England Development Agency
to help and advise businesses in rural west Oxfordshire.
The name Faringdon means fern covered hill. The Anglo-Saxon
kings of Wessex
and later England
had a palace located in Faringdon However, claims that King Edward the Elder
died there are misguided.
In the Domesday Book
of 1086, Faringdon is recorded as a manor and a mill. The town was granted a weekly market in 1218. The weekly market is still held today. King John
also established an abbey
in Faringdon in 1202, (probably on the site of Portwell House)but it soon moved to Beaulieu
in Hampshire
.
The Church of England parish church
of All Saints may date from the 12th century, and the clerestorey and possibly the west end of the nave
survive from this period. A Norman
doorway survives, although not in its original position, in the baptistery
. The chancel
and north transept
are 13th century and the west chapel is 14th century. The north chapel is a late mediaeval Perpendicular Gothic addition with 15th century windows.
All Saints has a central bell tower, which was reduced in height in 1645 after it was damaged by a cannon-ball in the English Civil War
. Faringdon was fought over because it commands the road to the Radcot Bridge
over the River Thames. The tower now has a ring
of eight bells. The three oldest bells were cast in 1708. James Wells of Aldbourne
, Wiltshire
cast the tenor bell in 1779 and another bell in 1803. The three youngest bells, including the treble, were cast in 1874 by Mears and Stainbank
.
The Old Town Hall (formerly the Market Hall) dates from the late 17th century or early 18th century. It remains the centre of the town and its focal point.
The £1.6 million three-mile A420
bypass opened in July 1979.
Just east of the town is Folly Hill or Faringdon Hill, a Greensand
outcrop (at grid reference SU 298957). In common with Badbury Hill
to the west of the town, it has an ancient ditched defensive ring (hill fort
). This was fortified by supporters of Matilda
sometime during the Anarchy
(1135–1141) - her campaign to claim the throne from King Stephen
- but was soon razed to the ground by Stephen. Oliver Cromwell
fortified it in his unsuccessful campaign to defeat the Royalist
garrison at Faringdon House. The Pye family had Scots Pine
s planted around the summit, around the time that Faringdon House was rebuilt in the late 18th century. This is a conspicuous and recognisable landmark that can be seen from afar, including from the Vale of White Horse
, White Horse Hill, the Berkshire Downs
near Lockinge
and the Cotswold Hills to the north.
The folly
on Folly Hill was designed by Gerald Wellesley, Marquess of Douro
for Lord Berners and built in 1935. It is 140 feet (42.7 m) high and affords panoramic views of the Vale of White Horse
. During the Second World War the Home Guard
used it as an observation post. In 1982 Robert Heber-Percy restored it and gave it to the town in trust.
Near the top of London Street near Faringdon Folly is the pub bearing the same name. Resembling a small living room with a bar placed in the middle, it is a popular haunt for those that like an "Old Fashioned" Pub.
. Its owner at the time, Sir Robert Pye
, who was a Royalist, was put under siege by his own son Robert
who was a Parliamentarian colonel. Building of the current, smaller, began about 1780 and was not completed until after 1785. It was the home of Lord Berners in the middle part of the twentieth century. It currently belongs to the writer Sofka Zinovieff
, though she does not live there.
Faringdon is home to the famous Faringdon Sponge Gravel, a Cretaceous
unit filled with spectacular fossil sponges, other invertebrates, a few vertebrate bones and teeth, and wonderful examples of bioerosion
.
and Oxford
by the half-hourly 66 bus service run by Stagecoach in Swindon
.
Faringdon is connected to Wantage
by a regular bus service operated by RH Transport. The journey takes approximately 30 minutes and connects intervening villages to the two towns. A service to Wantage is also provided by the Stanford in the Vale Community Bus.
(GWR) at Uffington
, with construction funded by the Faringdon Railway Company (bought outright by the GWR in 1886). Passenger traffic peaked in 1913, but later declined to such extent that the passenger service was withdrawn in 1951. Freight traffic continued to use the line until the Beeching
closures of 1964. The station building is still extant, having been used for various commercial purposes (currently a nursery school).
Faringdon is notable for the dyed pigeons at Faringdon House. The custom of dyeing pigeons was originally started by the eccentric Lord Berners.. Around the town one can see a number of stone plaques with comments such as "Please do not throw stones at this notice" reflecting Lord Berners' ongoing influence on the Town.
Since 2004, Faringdon has held an annual arts festival over one weekend in early July. The festival is currently (2010) being organised by Focus on Faringdon CIC: a Community Interest Company established for the ongoing benefit of the town.
Home of international professional wrestler, "The Star Attraction" Mark Haskins
.
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
in the Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is on the edge of the Thames Valley
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley Region is a loose term for the English counties and towns roughly following the course of the River Thames as it flows from Oxfordshire in the west to London in the east. It includes parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, North Hampshire, Surrey and west London...
, between the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
and the Ridgeway
The Ridgeway
thumb|right|thumb|The ancient tree-lined path winds over the downs countrysideThe Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road...
. It was part of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
until the 1974 boundary changes
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
transferred it to Oxfordshire.
The civil parish is formally known as Great Faringdon, to distinguish it from Little Faringdon
Little Faringdon
Little Faringdon is a village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire, about north of Lechlade in neighbouring Gloucestershire.-History:In the late Anglo-Saxon period Little Faringdon was part of a large estate that included Faringdon , from which it took its name...
in West Oxfordshire
West Oxfordshire
West Oxfordshire is a local government district in north west Oxfordshire, England including towns such as Woodstock, Burford, Chipping Norton, Charlbury, and Witney ....
.
On 1 February 2004, Faringdon was granted Fairtrade Town
Fairtrade Town
Fairtrade Town is a status awarded by a recognized Fairtrade certification body describing an area which is committed to the promotion of Fairtrade certified goods...
status, becoming the first Fairtrade Town in the South East of England. In 1990, the town was twinned with Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe
Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe
Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France.In 1990, the town was twinned with Faringdon in England.-References:*...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Faringdon is the base for the Faringdon Enterprise Gateway, which is run by the South East England Development Agency
South East England Development Agency
SEEDA, more officially the South East England Development Agency, is one of a number of regional development agencies in England. It was set up as a non-departmental public body in 1999 to promote the region and to enable a number of more difficult regeneration projects which otherwise might not...
to help and advise businesses in rural west Oxfordshire.
History
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
kings of Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
and later England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
had a palace located in Faringdon However, claims that King Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder
Edward the Elder was an English king. He became king in 899 upon the death of his father, Alfred the Great. His court was at Winchester, previously the capital of Wessex...
died there are misguided.
In the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086, Faringdon is recorded as a manor and a mill. The town was granted a weekly market in 1218. The weekly market is still held today. King John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
also established an abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
in Faringdon in 1202, (probably on the site of Portwell House)but it soon moved to Beaulieu
Beaulieu Abbey
Beaulieu Abbey, , was a Cistercian abbey located in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1203-1204 by King John and peopled by 30 monks sent from the abbey of Cîteaux in France, the mother house of the Cistercian order...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
.
The Church of England parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of All Saints may date from the 12th century, and the clerestorey and possibly the west end of the nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
survive from this period. A Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
doorway survives, although not in its original position, in the baptistery
Baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistry may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...
. The chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
and north transept
Transept
For the periodical go to The Transept.A transept is a transverse section, of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In Christian churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture...
are 13th century and the west chapel is 14th century. The north chapel is a late mediaeval Perpendicular Gothic addition with 15th century windows.
All Saints has a central bell tower, which was reduced in height in 1645 after it was damaged by a cannon-ball in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. Faringdon was fought over because it commands the road to the Radcot Bridge
Radcot Bridge
Radcot Bridge is a crossing of the River Thames in England, south of Radcot, Oxfordshire and not far north of Faringdon, Oxfordshire . It carries the A4095 road across the river on the reach above Radcot Lock...
over the River Thames. The tower now has a ring
Change ringing
Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes". It differs from many other forms of campanology in that no attempt is made to produce a conventional melody....
of eight bells. The three oldest bells were cast in 1708. James Wells of Aldbourne
Aldbourne
Aldbourne is a village and civil parish about northeast of Marlborough in Wiltshire, England. It is in a valley in the south slope of the Lambourn Downs, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
cast the tenor bell in 1779 and another bell in 1803. The three youngest bells, including the treble, were cast in 1874 by Mears and Stainbank
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry is a bell foundry in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The foundry is listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain...
.
The Old Town Hall (formerly the Market Hall) dates from the late 17th century or early 18th century. It remains the centre of the town and its focal point.
The £1.6 million three-mile A420
A420 road
The A420 is a road between Bristol and Oxford in England. Between Swindon and Oxford it is a primary route.-Present route:Since the opening of the M4 motorway, the road is in two sections. The first section begins on Old Market Street near the centre of Bristol, it passes through Kingswood before...
bypass opened in July 1979.
Faringdon Folly
Greensand
Greensand or Green sand is either a sand or sandstone, which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment, that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called glauconies and consist of a mixture of mixed-layer clay...
outcrop (at grid reference SU 298957). In common with Badbury Hill
Badbury Hill
Badbury Hill is a hill in the civil parish of Great Coxwell near Faringdon in the English county of Oxfordshire. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire....
to the west of the town, it has an ancient ditched defensive ring (hill fort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
). This was fortified by supporters of Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
sometime during the Anarchy
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
(1135–1141) - her campaign to claim the throne from King Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
- but was soon razed to the ground by Stephen. Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
fortified it in his unsuccessful campaign to defeat the Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
garrison at Faringdon House. The Pye family had Scots Pine
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
s planted around the summit, around the time that Faringdon House was rebuilt in the late 18th century. This is a conspicuous and recognisable landmark that can be seen from afar, including from the Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
, White Horse Hill, the Berkshire Downs
Berkshire Downs
The Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in southern England, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
near Lockinge
Lockinge
Lockinge is a civil parish in Oxfordshire in England, consisting of the villages of East Lockinge and West Lockinge, as well as the hamlet of Betterton, which is also a lost settlement. It is located between the town of Wantage and the village of Ardington. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire...
and the Cotswold Hills to the north.
The folly
Folly
In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...
on Folly Hill was designed by Gerald Wellesley, Marquess of Douro
Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington
Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington, KG , styled Lord Gerald Wellesley between 1900 and 1943, was a British diplomat, soldier, and architect....
for Lord Berners and built in 1935. It is 140 feet (42.7 m) high and affords panoramic views of the Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
. During the Second World War the Home Guard
British Home Guard
The Home Guard was a defence organisation of the British Army during the Second World War...
used it as an observation post. In 1982 Robert Heber-Percy restored it and gave it to the town in trust.
Near the top of London Street near Faringdon Folly is the pub bearing the same name. Resembling a small living room with a bar placed in the middle, it is a popular haunt for those that like an "Old Fashioned" Pub.
Faringdon House
There is a manor house and estate, close to the edge of Faringdon, called Faringdon House. The original house was damaged during the English Civil WarEnglish Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. Its owner at the time, Sir Robert Pye
Robert Pye (elder)
Sir Robert Pye was an English courtier, administrator and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1629. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....
, who was a Royalist, was put under siege by his own son Robert
Robert Pye
Sir Robert Pye was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1660. He fought on the Parliamentary side in the English Civil War....
who was a Parliamentarian colonel. Building of the current, smaller, began about 1780 and was not completed until after 1785. It was the home of Lord Berners in the middle part of the twentieth century. It currently belongs to the writer Sofka Zinovieff
Sofka Zinovieff
Dr Sofka Zinovieff is a British journalist and author.-Early life:Zinovieff was born in London. She is of Russian descent on her father's side, her grandparents having left St Petersburg for the United Kingdom shortly after the 1917 revolution...
, though she does not live there.
Geology
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
unit filled with spectacular fossil sponges, other invertebrates, a few vertebrate bones and teeth, and wonderful examples of bioerosion
Bioerosion
Bioerosion describes the erosion of hard ocean substrates – and less often terrestrial substrates – by living organisms. Marine bioerosion can be caused by mollusks, polychaete worms, phoronids, sponges, crustaceans, echinoids, and fish; it can occur on coastlines, on coral reefs, and...
.
Buses
Faringdon is connected to SwindonSwindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
by the half-hourly 66 bus service run by Stagecoach in Swindon
Stagecoach in Swindon
Stagecoach in Swindon is the sector of the Stagecoach Group that operates buses in Swindon.It was formerly part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, then from 1983 part of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Omnibus Company . From 1983 it operated under the name Swindon and District...
.
Faringdon is connected to Wantage
Wantage
Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....
by a regular bus service operated by RH Transport. The journey takes approximately 30 minutes and connects intervening villages to the two towns. A service to Wantage is also provided by the Stanford in the Vale Community Bus.
Railway
A 3.5 miles (5.6 km) branch line was opened in 1864, between Faringdon and the Great Western RailwayGreat Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
(GWR) at Uffington
Uffington railway station
Uffington railway station is a former station on the Great Western Main Line. The station was about northeast of the village of Uffington, a village in what was then part of Berkshire, on the west side of the road between Uffington and Baulking.In 1864 Uffington became a junction as the Faringdon...
, with construction funded by the Faringdon Railway Company (bought outright by the GWR in 1886). Passenger traffic peaked in 1913, but later declined to such extent that the passenger service was withdrawn in 1951. Freight traffic continued to use the line until the Beeching
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
closures of 1964. The station building is still extant, having been used for various commercial purposes (currently a nursery school).
Culture
Since 2004, Faringdon has held an annual arts festival over one weekend in early July. The festival is currently (2010) being organised by Focus on Faringdon CIC: a Community Interest Company established for the ongoing benefit of the town.
Home of international professional wrestler, "The Star Attraction" Mark Haskins
Mark Haskins
Mark Haskins , is an English professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . He is also known for his appearances in Dragon Gate.-Total Nonstop Action Wrestling :...
.