Woolhampton
Encyclopedia
Woolhampton is a village
and civil parish in the English
county of Berkshire
. The village is situated on the London to Bath (A4) road between the towns of Reading
(8 miles) and Newbury
(6 miles). The village lies on the northern edge of the flat flood plain of the River Kennet
, with the Berkshire Downs
rising above the village to the north.
Besides the A4 road, both the Reading to Taunton railway line
and the Kennet and Avon Canal
also pass through the village. On the railway, Woolhampton is served by Midgham station
in the village. The station was originally known as Woolhampton station but, according to local legend, was renamed Midgham station (after the village of Midgham
, one mile west-northwest
) in order to avoid possible confusion with the similarly named Wolverhampton station
.
The A4 road forms the main street of the village. An unclassified road runs to the south, towards the village of Brimpton
. This crosses the railway line by the station on a level crossing
, followed shortly afterwards by a swing bridge
across the river and canal (which share a common channel at this point). Woolhampton Lock
lies just to the west. Two other unclassified roads leave the village to the north, climbing into the Berkshire Downs.
Because of its location on the Bath road, Woolhampton was well known for its coaching inn
s. Two of these survive on the main road, The Falmouth Arms and The Angel. A third public house
, The Rowbarge, is, as its name suggests, situated alongside the Kennet and Avon Canal next to the swing bridge.
On the higher land some half mile to the north of the village is the adjacent settlement of Upper Woolhampton
, which contains both Woolhampton (St Peters) church and the village school. A further half mile to the north, but still within the civil parish, is the Benedictine
Douai Abbey
community, and its now-closed Douai School
. Between Douai Abbey and the village is the historic Woolhampton House, which now houses Elstree School
, a preparatory school
that relocated to Woolhampton from the London
suburb of Elstree
during the second world war
.
The civil parish of Woolhampton includes the village of Woolhampton, the adjacent settlement of Upper Woolhampton, and the rural area to the north, east and south of the village. It has a parish council, and also lies in the West Berkshire
local government district and the Newbury
parliamentary constituency.
The Woolhampton Reed Bed
, a Site of Special Scientific Interest
, lies alongside the River Kennet within the parish and to the south east of the village. The dense reed bed
, with smaller areas of tall fen
vegetation and carr woodland, is notable for its nesting passerine
bird populations and for the diversity of insects it supports.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in the English
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...
county 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...
. The village is situated on the London to Bath (A4) road between the towns of 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....
(8 miles) and Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
(6 miles). The village lies on the northern edge of the flat flood plain of the River Kennet
River Kennet
The Kennet is a river in the south of England, and a tributary of the River Thames. The lower reaches of the river are navigable to river craft and are known as the Kennet Navigation, which, together with the Avon Navigation, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Thames, links the cities of Bristol...
, with 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...
rising above the village to the north.
Besides the A4 road, both the Reading to Taunton railway line
Reading to Taunton line
The Reading to Taunton line also known as the Berks and Hants is a major branch of the Great Western Main Line that diverges at Reading, running to Cogload Junction near Taunton, where it joins the Bristol to Exeter line....
and the Kennet and Avon Canal
Kennet and Avon Canal
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is commonly used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the central canal section...
also pass through the village. On the railway, Woolhampton is served by Midgham station
Midgham railway station
Midgham railway station is a railway station named after the village of Midgham in the county of Berkshire in England. In fact the station is in the nearby valley bottom village of Woolhampton and some distance downhill from Midgham village itself.-History:...
in the village. The station was originally known as Woolhampton station but, according to local legend, was renamed Midgham station (after the village of Midgham
Midgham
Midgham is a village and civil parish in the Kennet Valley about east of Newbury, Berkshire. It has a population of 282.The village extends to the Berkshire Arms public house in the west, New Road Hill in the east, Midgham Marsh to the south of the A4 road and Midgham Green to the north...
, one mile west-northwest
Boxing the compass
Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names are formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, and are very handy to refer to a heading in a general or colloquial fashion, without...
) in order to avoid possible confusion with the similarly named Wolverhampton station
Wolverhampton railway station
Wolverhampton railway station in Wolverhampton, West Midlands is on the West Coast Main Line. It is served by London Midland, CrossCountry, Virgin Trains and Arriva Trains Wales.-History:...
.
The A4 road forms the main street of the village. An unclassified road runs to the south, towards the village of Brimpton
Brimpton
Brimpton is a rural village and civil parish in Berkshire, South East England, with a population of 613. The village is located between the River Kennet and the River Enborne, and is near the Hampshire county boundary.- History :...
. This crosses the railway line by the station on a level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
, followed shortly afterwards by a swing bridge
Swing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
across the river and canal (which share a common channel at this point). Woolhampton Lock
Woolhampton Lock
Woolhampton Lock is a lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, in the village of Woolhampton in the English county of Berkshire. The lock has a rise/fall of and is administered by British Waterways....
lies just to the west. Two other unclassified roads leave the village to the north, climbing into the Berkshire Downs.
Because of its location on the Bath road, Woolhampton was well known for its coaching inn
Coaching inn
In Europe, from approximately the mid-17th century for a period of about 200 years, the coaching inn, sometimes called a coaching house or staging inn, was a vital part of the inland transport infrastructure, as an inn serving coach travelers...
s. Two of these survive on the main road, The Falmouth Arms and The Angel. A third public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, The Rowbarge, is, as its name suggests, situated alongside the Kennet and Avon Canal next to the swing bridge.
Upper Woolhampton
Upper Woolhampton is a settlement in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated to the north of the parent village of Woolhampton, on higher ground...
, which contains both Woolhampton (St Peters) church and the village school. A further half mile to the north, but still within the civil parish, is the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
Douai Abbey
Douai Abbey
Douai Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey at Woolhampton, near Thatcham, in the English county of Berkshire, situated within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. Monks from the monastery of St. Edmund's, in Douai, France, came to Woolhampton in 1903 when the community left France as a result of...
community, and its now-closed Douai School
Douai School
Douai School was the public school that was run by the Douai Abbey Benedictine community at Woolhampton, England, until it closed in 1999.- History :...
. Between Douai Abbey and the village is the historic Woolhampton House, which now houses Elstree School
Elstree School
Elstree School is an English preparatory school based in Woolhampton, near Reading in Berkshire.-1848-1938 in Elstree, Herts:As its name suggests, the school was originally founded in 1848 in Elstree, Hertfordshire, at Hill House on Elstree Hill, an 18th-century Grade II Listed Building...
, a preparatory school
Preparatory school (UK)
In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...
that relocated to Woolhampton from the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
suburb of Elstree
Elstree
Elstree is a village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire on the A5 road, about 10 miles north of London. In 2001, its population was 4,765, and forms part of the civil parish of Elstree and Borehamwood, originally known simply as Elstree....
during the second world war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The civil parish of Woolhampton includes the village of Woolhampton, the adjacent settlement of Upper Woolhampton, and the rural area to the north, east and south of the village. It has a parish council, and also lies in the 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:...
local government district and the Newbury
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....
parliamentary constituency.
The Woolhampton Reed Bed
Woolhampton Reed Bed
Woolhampton Reed Bed is a 5.77 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest in the civil parish of Woolhampton in the English county of Berkshire. The site was officially notified in 1985....
, a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
, lies alongside the River Kennet within the parish and to the south east of the village. The dense reed bed
Reed bed
Reed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions andestuaries. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reed colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground...
, with smaller areas of tall fen
Fen
A fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...
vegetation and carr woodland, is notable for its nesting passerine
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird populations and for the diversity of insects it supports.