Streatley, Berkshire
Encyclopedia
Streatley is a village and civil parish on the River Thames
in Berkshire, England.
and 16 miles (25.7 km) from Oxford
. It is in the Goring Gap
on the River Thames
and is directly across the river from the Oxfordshire
village of Goring-on-Thames
. The two villages are connected by Goring and Streatley Bridge
, with its adjacent lock and weir
, and are often considered as a single settlement. Goring & Streatley railway station
on the Great Western Main Line
is in Goring and serves both villages. The village is mostly surrounded by National Trust
land: Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down
.
The Ridgeway
long distance path passes through the village, which is the finishing line for the annual "Ridgeway 40" walk and trail run.
The Thames Path
, Icknield Way
and the Ridgeway cross the Thames at Streatley.
Nearby towns and cities: Oxford
, Reading
, Wallingford
Nearby villages: Aldworth
, Goring-on-Thames
, Lower Basildon
, Moulsford
, Pangbourne
tools have been found at the base of Lough Down,and Bronze age
artefacts have been found in the village. There is also a remaining Roman milestone still present in the village, at the Bull crossroads. Sixty people were drowned here in 1674 when a ferry capsized in the flash lock.
The whole of Streatley used to be owned by the Morrell family of brewers from Oxford, whose resistance to change enabled the village to withstand the trainline and extra houses that went to Goring. However, the mill burned down in 1926, and wasn't rebuilt, and on the death of Emily Morrell in 1938 the estate was sold, and the manor house as well as other houses in the village became part of the Royal Veterinary College
, which had moved out of London during the Blitz
. They left in 1958.
The village is mentioned in the poem "A Streatley Sonata" by J. Ashby-Sterry
from the late 19th century
A bomb exploded in a postman's bag on a bicycle
in the village in 1979. It was apparently the work of the IRA
.
of Stichens Green.
The parish is bordered to the north and east by the Oxfordshire parishes of Moulsford
, South Stoke
and Goring
. To the west and south it is bordered by the Berkshire parishes of Basildon
, Ashampstead
and Aldworth
.
The parish falls within the area of the unitary authority
of West Berkshire
. Both the parish council and the unitary authority are responsible for different aspects of local government. The parish also forms part of the Newbury parliamentary consituency
.
'. It serves a great variety of beers and ales for all customers that visit the village. Food and accommodation is available here also. The Bull's garden is also the rather unusual burial site of a monk and a nun executed in 1440 for 'misconduct'.
Near the Bull is the youth hostel. The next nearest hostel is 19 miles (30.6 km) away at Oxford
.
There is a 4-star hotel and restaurant in the village – the Swan at Streatley, which during the 1970s was owned by the drag artiste Danny La Rue
. During the summer small electric boats can be rented from here to explore the Thames.
The Church of England parish church
of Saint Mary
in Streatley used to be part of the Reading Episcopal Area of the Diocese of Oxford
, but has now moved to the Dorchester Episcopal Area, crossing the old Wessex
-Mercia
boundary for the first time in 1400 years. The village has a Church of England
primary school with a feeder pre-school attached to it.
The annual Goring and Streatley Regatta is held each July on the Streatley side of the river. In the 19th century it was a serious regatta to rival Henley
or Marlow
, but now it is a local regatta for amateur teams of inhabitants of the two villages.
A Torchlight Procession of villagers and visitors merges with another stream from Goring each Christmas Eve, in an attractive night-time spectacle which continues onto Streatley Recreation Ground where celebrations continue with an annual Carol Singing Service.
There is a golf course in the village, founded in 1895, which has views of the Thames and Ridgeway.
Streatley Hill is a destination for cycling hill climbs
– the annual Reading Cycle Hill Climb takes place every September. The hill featured in the Tour of Britain in 2008 as a designated King of the Mountains climb.
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,...
in Berkshire, England.
Location
Streatley is about 8 miles (12.9 km) from ReadingReading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
and 16 miles (25.7 km) from 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...
. It is in the Goring Gap
Goring Gap
The Goring Gap is a British geological feature located on the River Thames approximately 8 miles upstream from Reading.Half a million years ago the River Thames flowed on its existing course through Oxfordshire, but then turned northeast to flow through Hertfordshire before eventually reaching the...
on 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 is directly across the river from the Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
village of Goring-on-Thames
Goring-On-Thames
Goring-on-Thames is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, about south of Wallingford.-Geography:...
. The two villages are connected by Goring and Streatley Bridge
Goring and Streatley Bridge
Goring and Streatley Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England. The bridge links the twin villages of Goring-On-Thames, Oxfordshire, and Streatley, Berkshire, and is adjacent to Goring Lock....
, with its adjacent lock and weir
Goring Lock
Goring Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames in England at the Goring Gap in the Chiltern Hills. The lock is located on the Oxfordshire bank at Goring-On-Thames, with Streatley, Berkshire on the opposite side of the river. It is just upstream of Goring and Streatley Bridge...
, and are often considered as a single settlement. Goring & Streatley railway station
Goring & Streatley railway station
Goring & Streatley railway station is a railway station serving the twin villages of Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire and Streatley, Berkshire in England. The station is served by local services operated by First Great Western .-History:...
on the Great Western Main Line
Great Western Main Line
The Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great...
is in Goring and serves both villages. The village is mostly surrounded by National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
land: Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down
Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down
Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down are three adjacent National Trust countryside properties in the English county of Berkshire. They are situated on the edge of the Berkshire Downs above the village of Streatley and overlooking the Goring Gap...
.
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...
long distance path passes through the village, which is the finishing line for the annual "Ridgeway 40" walk and trail run.
The Thames Path
Thames Path
The Thames Path is a National Trail, opened in 1996, following the length of the River Thames from its source near Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Thames Barrier at Charlton. It is about long....
, Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
and the Ridgeway cross the Thames at Streatley.
Nearby towns and cities: 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...
, Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, Wallingford
Nearby villages: Aldworth
Aldworth
Aldworth is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, close to the modern northern county boundary with Oxfordshire. It is in the rural area between Reading, Newbury and Streatley. The parish includes the neighbouring hamlet of Westridge Green.Aldworth is on the high...
, Goring-on-Thames
Goring-On-Thames
Goring-on-Thames is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, about south of Wallingford.-Geography:...
, Lower Basildon
Lower Basildon
Lower Basildon is a small village in the civil parish of Basildon, near to Pangbourne, in the English county of Berkshire. It is the location of the parish church of St Bartholomew. The National Trust property, Basildon Park, is just above it....
, Moulsford
Moulsford
Moulsford is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire to the county of Oxfordshire, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire....
, Pangbourne
Pangbourne
Pangbourne is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in the English county of Berkshire. Pangbourne is the home of the independent school, Pangbourne College.-Location:...
History
Being in such a vital crossing point on the Thames, Streatley has been around for a long time and was mentioned in the Domesday book. Its history is even older, and NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
tools have been found at the base of Lough Down,and Bronze age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
artefacts have been found in the village. There is also a remaining Roman milestone still present in the village, at the Bull crossroads. Sixty people were drowned here in 1674 when a ferry capsized in the flash lock.
The whole of Streatley used to be owned by the Morrell family of brewers from Oxford, whose resistance to change enabled the village to withstand the trainline and extra houses that went to Goring. However, the mill burned down in 1926, and wasn't rebuilt, and on the death of Emily Morrell in 1938 the estate was sold, and the manor house as well as other houses in the village became part of the Royal Veterinary College
Royal Veterinary College
The Royal Veterinary College is a veterinary school located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. The RVC was founded in 1791 and joined the University of London in 1949...
, which had moved out of London during the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
. They left in 1958.
The village is mentioned in the poem "A Streatley Sonata" by J. Ashby-Sterry
Joseph Ashby-Sterry
Joseph Ashby-Sterry was an English poet and novelist. He works include Boudoir Ballads, a collection of poetry, now out of print....
from the late 19th century
A bomb exploded in a postman's bag on a bicycle
Bicycle bomb
A bicycle bomb is an improvised explosive device that is placed on a bicycle.-History:The first two wheel bomb would be the horse-drawn vehicle used for the Wall Street bombing in 1920 in New York City...
in the village in 1979. It was apparently the work of the IRA
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
.
Government
Streatley is a civil parish with an elected parish council. Besides the riverside village of Streatley, the parish covers an area of the Berkshire Downs to the east, and includes the hamletHamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
of Stichens Green.
The parish is bordered to the north and east by the Oxfordshire parishes of Moulsford
Moulsford
Moulsford is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire. In 1974 it was transferred from Berkshire to the county of Oxfordshire, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire....
, South Stoke
South Stoke, Oxfordshire
South Stoke is a village and civil parish on the River Thames, about north of Goring-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire.The parish includes the hamlet and manor house of Littlestoke, north of the village.-Manor:...
and Goring
Goring-On-Thames
Goring-on-Thames is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, about south of Wallingford.-Geography:...
. To the west and south it is bordered by the Berkshire parishes of Basildon
Basildon, Berkshire
Basildon is a civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It comprises the small villages of Upper Basildon and Lower Basildon, named for their respective heights above the River Thames...
, Ashampstead
Ashampstead
Ashampstead is a small village and civil parish in the rural area between Reading, Newbury and Streatley in Berkshire. The parish population is about 400, occupying some 150 dwellings.-History:...
and Aldworth
Aldworth
Aldworth is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, close to the modern northern county boundary with Oxfordshire. It is in the rural area between Reading, Newbury and Streatley. The parish includes the neighbouring hamlet of Westridge Green.Aldworth is on the high...
.
The parish falls within the area of the unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of West Berkshire
West Berkshire
West Berkshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England, governed by a unitary authority . Its administrative capital is Newbury, located almost equidistantly between Bristol and London.-Geography:...
. Both the parish council and the unitary authority are responsible for different aspects of local government. The parish also forms part of the Newbury parliamentary consituency
Newbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Newbury is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returns one Member of Parliament , elected by the first-past-the-post voting system....
.
Amenities
Streatley contains only one public house, The Bull at Streatley, which was made famous by Jerome K Jerome's 'Three men in a boatThree Men in a Boat
Three Men in a Boat ,The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog! published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K...
'. It serves a great variety of beers and ales for all customers that visit the village. Food and accommodation is available here also. The Bull's garden is also the rather unusual burial site of a monk and a nun executed in 1440 for 'misconduct'.
Near the Bull is the youth hostel. The next nearest hostel is 19 miles (30.6 km) away at 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...
.
There is a 4-star hotel and restaurant in the village – the Swan at Streatley, which during the 1970s was owned by the drag artiste Danny La Rue
Danny La Rue
Danny La Rue, OBE was an Irish-born British entertainer known for his singing and drag impersonations.-Early life:...
. During the summer small electric boats can be rented from here to explore the Thames.
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 Saint Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
in Streatley used to be part of the Reading Episcopal Area of the Diocese of Oxford
Diocese of Oxford
-History:The Diocese of Oxford was created in 1541 out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln.In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Berkshire was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to Oxford...
, but has now moved to the Dorchester Episcopal Area, crossing the old 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...
-Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
boundary for the first time in 1400 years. The village has a Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
primary school with a feeder pre-school attached to it.
The annual Goring and Streatley Regatta is held each July on the Streatley side of the river. In the 19th century it was a serious regatta to rival Henley
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
or Marlow
Marlow Regatta
The Marlow Regatta is Marlow's international rowing regatta. It takes place on Dorney Lake, Buckinghamshire near Eton next to the River Thames in southern England. It attracts crews from schools, clubs and universities from around the United Kingdom, Europe and the USA...
, but now it is a local regatta for amateur teams of inhabitants of the two villages.
A Torchlight Procession of villagers and visitors merges with another stream from Goring each Christmas Eve, in an attractive night-time spectacle which continues onto Streatley Recreation Ground where celebrations continue with an annual Carol Singing Service.
There is a golf course in the village, founded in 1895, which has views of the Thames and Ridgeway.
Streatley Hill is a destination for cycling hill climbs
Hillclimbing (cycling)
A hill climb is a cycling event, as well as a basic skill of the sport. As events a hill climb may either be an individual time trial or a regular road race. A hill climb usually represents an event which gains altitude continuously, usually terminating at a summit. Well known hill climbs...
– the annual Reading Cycle Hill Climb takes place every September. The hill featured in the Tour of Britain in 2008 as a designated King of the Mountains climb.
See also
- List of places in Berkshire
- List of civil parishes in England
- Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough DownLardon Chase, the Holies and Lough DownLardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down are three adjacent National Trust countryside properties in the English county of Berkshire. They are situated on the edge of the Berkshire Downs above the village of Streatley and overlooking the Goring Gap...
Sources and further reading
Ordnance Survey (1999). OS Explorer Map 170 – Abingdon, Wantage & Vale of White Horse. ISBN 0-319-21794-9. Ordnance Survey (1999). OS Explorer Map 171 – Chiltern Hills West, Henley-on-Thames & Wallingford. ISBN 0-319-21795-7.External links
- English Heritage historic photos most of them taken by Henry TauntHenry TauntHenry William Taunt was a professional photographer based in Oxford, England. His studio was in Broad Street, Oxford.Henry Taunt was born in Penson's Gardens in St Ebbe's, Oxford...
- Goring & Streatley Amenity Association Website
- Goring Gap News
- Goring and District Twinning Association
- All about Streatley-on-Thames