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Aldermaston
File:Aldermaston comp.png
Viewing Aldermaston's main street from the south. The top photograph was taken in c.1959, and the bottom photograph in 2006
Population927 (Civil Parish, 2001)
OS grid referenceSU590652
• London45 miles (72 km)
Civil parish
  • Aldermaston
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townREADING
Postcode districtRG7
Dialling code0118
PoliceThames Valley
FireRoyal Berkshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Berkshire

Aldermaston is a rural village and civil parish in Berkshire, South East England, with a population of 927. Located 45 miles (72 km) west of London, the village is sited on the southern edge of the River Kennet flood plain, near the Hampshire border. It is located equidistant from Newbury, Basingstoke and Reading. In 2006, the village won Berkshire Village of the Year.[1]

The parish is home to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), which designs and maintains Britain's nuclear deterrent. Built on the site of the former RAF Aldermaston, the plant has been the site of numerous Aldermaston Marches. The development of the nuclear plant has, however, had little effect on the village – which, apart from increased traffic, has remained a small country village.

Toponymy

The village of Aldermaston derives its name from "Aeldremanestone" or "Hedlremanstone", the Old English for "Ealdorman's Homestead".[2] The Ealdorman – or Alderman – was a person of extreme importance, equating to the modern-day Lord-Lieutenant of the County. Although his country estate was in Aldermaston, he would have spent most of the time in the original county town of Wallingford.[3] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that the first known Ealdorman of Berkshire, Aethelwulf, fought the Danes with Ethelred of Wessex at nearby Englefield in 871.

The 1896 edition of John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales listed "Adminston" as a possible name for the area.[4]

History

Prior to the Norman Conquest in 1066, the land and properties of Aldermaston had formed part of the estates of England's foremost magnate, Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex – who would later become King Harold II of England.

In the Domesday Survey of 1086, the Aldermaston estate included a mill, worth twenty shillings, and two fisheries, worth five shillings, and was held by William the Conqueror.[2] William and his army are believed to have camped on the estate on their way north from their victory at Hastings to cross the River Thames at Wallingford before advancing on London. During the remainder of the reign of William, and later his son William Rufus, Aldermaston was owned by the Crown. There is no evidence of there being a large house at that time.

Aldermaston Manor

See also: Aldermaston Court
Achard
Achard
Forster
Forster
Keyser
Keyser
The coats of arms of Aldermaston's Lords of the Manor

The history of the Lords of the Manor of Aldermaston can be traced to Achard D'Aldermaston, who was born in 1036.[5]

The Achard Family (11th century – 1361)

Achard D'Aldermaston's successor, Robert FitzArchard (1070-1161[5]) was granted the estate in 1100 by Henry I of England. FitzAchard was a distinguished Norman soldier whose son built the north transept in the parish church. According to the Pipe Rolls of 1168, the name had become Aldermannestun. The Achard family hosted Henry III at the manor in 1227,[3] but later gave the parish church away to Monk Sherborne Priory in Hampshire; the family are all buried at their secondary manor of Sparsholt.[3] The estate remained in the family for over 250 years until Peter Achard died in 1361 without a male heir, when the estate was inherited by Thomas de la Mare, Achard's son-in-law.[5]

The De la Mare Family (1361 – 1490)

De la Mare was from Somerset, and became the High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1370. His son was bestowed with this same position during Richard II's reign in the late 14th century.[6] Robert de la Mare, Thomas's grandson, married into the Brocas family of Beaurepaire, near Bramley, and was made a Knight of the Shire by Henry V. Robert's son was the last of the de la Mare lineage, and a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre.[6]

Elizabeth de la Mare, whose male relatives predeceased her, inherited Aldermaston. She married into the Forster family from Northumberland.[6] Stephen Forster, an ancestor, had previously become the Lord Mayor of London in 1454.[6]

The Forster Family (1490 - 1752)

Elizabeth's husband, George Forster, was the son of Sir Humphrey Forster I from Harpsend near Henley.[6] When Elizabeth and George married, George became the owner of Aldermaston Manor along with other manors previously owned by the De la Mare family.[6] He was knighted by Henry VII in 1501, becoming Sheriff of Berkshire and Oxford in 1517. He was made a Knight of the Bath in 1525. His assumed wealth meant that he was part of Henry VIII's entourage at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.[6] George was succeeded by his son, Humphrey II, in 1533.[6]

During Humphrey II's lordship, he faced strong disputes with Francis Parkyns (alternatively spelled "Perkins"[7]), who was the brother of the Squire of Ufton and tenant of nearby Padworth Manor. Parkyns was unhappy with Forster's "over-lordship" of Aldermaston, and Forster retaliated by breaking into Parkyns's house and severely assaulting him while he ate breakfast. Anne Parkyns, Francis's wife, begged for his life. Forster – along with an armed entourage – dragged Francis to Ufton, where the family of his brother Richard were breakfasting. More violence broke out, with Lady Marvyn – Richard's wive – also begging for Francis's life to be spared.[6] Francis was eventually taken to Aldermaston where he was jailed in the lock-up behind the village pub.[6]

Humphrey was later succeeded by his son, William (who married Jane, daughter of Anthony Hungerford).[5][8]

Elizabeth I visited Aldermaston twice. Her first visit, in 1558, was during the lordship of William, and the second – in 1592 – during his son Humphrey III's tenure.

Humphrey III's son, William II, fathered a son – Humphrey IV – in 1595.[5] He and his wife Anne began building a mansion house, known as Aldermaston House, in 1618 by laying a new cornerstone.[6] The house was completed in 1636,[3] and was dedicated with a short verse:

We live and build with one mind and
dedicated both our lives and this house to
God and to fortune.
In the year of our Lord 1636

Sir Humphrey and Lady Anne Forster, on the completion of Aldermaston House in 1636

Aldermaston saw a lot of activity during the English Civil War. In 1643, after the First Battle of Newbury, Robert Devereux's Parliamentarians were attacked by Prince Rupert of the Rhine in Padworth Lane. The road is now known as Red Lane, having taken its name from the bloodshed.[9]

In October of the following year, a regiment of Parliamentary troops under the command Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester camped in the Aldermaston area.[6] They were defending the crossing at the River Kennet, an operation that came about due to Humphrey Forster's staunch Royalist support.[3] After the civil war, all the estates were sequestered because of these affiliations, and were not returned until 1660.[3] Humphrey IV died in 1663.[5]

The Hind's Head Inn in the village gets its name from the Forster family crest,[10] and the family's name was adopted for one of the village's farms.[11]

In the early 18th century, the Forster family oversaw the building of almshouses in Church Road. Built by R Dixon in 1706, the dwellings became known as "Dixon's Cottages".

Above: The gatehouses and Eagle Gates at the north entrance to the estate
Below: The Charity Gates at the east side of the estate

The Congreve family (1752 - 1843)

By 1752 the Forster male line died out and the estate passed to Ralph Congreve – the husband of Sir Humphrey's grand-niece.[6]

In 1780, Ralph Congreve died and the estate passed to his second-cousin, William (a relation of the dramatist of the same name[4]). Many changes to their estate occurred during the William's ownership. The lake by the house was created by damming the stream. The wrought-iron Eagle Gates, at the north-east of the estate, were won at a game of cards and moved to their present location from Midgham.[10] In order to install them, the estate's north-east lodge (a dower house[9]) was dissected (removing the 60 square metres (650 sq ft) centre section). The estate's east gates are known as the Charity Gates; Congreve's daughters frequently sat by the gates and gave alms to the poor.[6]

William Congreve's butler at Aldermaston House, John Manning, died on 31 August 1811. Congreve erected the headstone on his grave in the village churchyard.[12]

In 1830, the Swing Rioters marched across Aldermaston, wrecking twenty-three agricultural machines. Workers were so frightened by the riots that they left their machinery in the open in an attempt to limit additional damage.[3]

On 13 January 1843, a serious fire destroyed more than a third of the manor house.[2] William Congreve never recovered from the fire and died the same year.[13] The Congreve name is retained in the name of a cul-de-sac in the village.[14]

During the Congreves' ownership of the manor, the River Kennet (along the north side of the estate) was made navigable between Reading and Newbury.[15]

The Burr family (1849 - 1893)

Detail on Burr's grave in the village graveyard

The property passed into the Court of Chancery, and was eventually purchased in 1849 by Daniel Higford Davall Burr.[2] Since 1836, Burr had owned the Alvington estate in Gloucestershire (having inherited it upon his mother's death). Burr's ancestors, the Higford family, had previously owned Alvington between the 17th and 19th centuries.[16]

Burr was somewhat eccentric, and kept monkeys and snakes as pets. He commissioned Philip Hardwick to build a new manor house at Aldermaston in a Neoclassical style; Aldermaston Court was built using as much of the old material as possible that had been saved from the fire. Around this time, the National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland noted that the village may have been known as Admiston.[4]

Burr died on 29 November 1885 at the age of 74, and the estate passed to his son, Higford Higford (who, rather than taking his father's surname, assumed the name of a distant ancestor).[16] Higford only lived at Aldermaston for a few years before putting it up for sale. He sold Alvington in 1912.[16]

The Keyser family (1893 - 1938)

In 1893, the estate was bought for £160,000 by Charles Edward Keyser, a stockbroker[2][17] and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.[18] Keyser, who was born on 10 September 1847 and came from Hertfordshire[19] had previously established a successful career in the City of London, having gained a Master's Degree in Law at Cambridge University. His accumulated wealth allowed him to specialise in his chosen area, and became a distinguished figure in English Church Architecture – specialising in mediæval churches.[20]

Keyser's attention was drawn to Aldermaston by his sister Agnes, who said that the court reminded her of her stay at Sandringham House. Keyser seized the opportunity to buy the estate when it was put up for sale at the Hind's Head.[20]

File:Aldermaston Petrol.png
The AA's first roadside petrol station on the Bath Road near Aldermaston. The road bridge near Aldermaston railway station can be seen in the background

Keyser was obsessed with the idea of keeping the village unchanged, which in his definition meant "unspoilt". He forbade advertisements, opposed all modernisation and refused to allow any expansion by the building of houses. He did, however, commission the building of a parish hall in 1897 and provided the village with a water supply.[2] The water fountain on the small village green was installed to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee at the Keyser's behest. He also oversaw the restoration of the village almshouses in 1906.

The AA opened their first roadside petrol filling station on the Bath Road near Aldermaston on 2 March 1919.[21][22] The following year, one villager requested that a pump be installed by his house. Mr Ford, who lived in The Forge, was told by Keyser that it must be "behind a wall and recessed".[23] The location of this pump is marked by a square hole in the present wall.

Keyser died in 1929, at the age of 81. His death certificate lists the place of death as Bucklebury.[24] At the time of his death, estate duties were high. Keyser's estate was valued at £770,000, resulting in a death duty of £150,000. The income from the estate would not have equalled the cost to maintain its day-to-day running.[17] Keyser's wife, Mary died in 1938. Their son, Charles Norman Keyser, had no interest in running the estate and his heavy asthma led him to move to Adderbury near Banbury.[17] Muriel and Sybil, the Keyser daughters, had expensive taste with racehorses and ponies, and Charles Norman sold the whole estate to a syndicate, Messrs Cribble, Booth and Shepherd, for £100,000.[17]. The syndicate auctioned the estate off in separate lots at Reading Town Hall, beginning on 20 September 1939.[17] Many of the lots were bought by their occupants. The house and its immediate grounds were bought by Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) for £16,000.[17]

Recent activity (1939 - present)

After AEI's purchase of the manor, it was requisitioned by the government and used as a barracks for the Women's Land Army.[6] The extensive parkland was also sold, but very soon afterwards was chosen by the government as a site for an airfield, RAF Aldermaston.[17] RAF Aldermaston was designated as a satellite air field for RAF Andover.[6]

After the war, Aldermaston Court was acquired by BOAC, who operated it as a pilot training academy and – from 1947 to 1950 – a civilian airport. Air use subsequently transferred to Blackbushe and Luton Airports.[17] In 1949, the Ministry of Supply outlined plans to base the AWRE at RAF Aldermaston; the site was purchased by the Ministry of Works in 1950.[17] Towards the end of the 1960s (reported dates vary[6]), Collier MacMillan Schools took over the manor house. With expenses proving too high, the company reluctantly sold the estate. The 137-acre (55 ha) estate was bought in 1983 by Blue Circle, who restored the Manor House and gardens by the end of the 1980s. Since 1997, part of the estate has been leased from its private owner by Compass Group, who operate the Manor House as a hotel. The remainder is now leased by AWE.

World War I

Over 100 men from Aldermaston served in The Great War, 22 of which were killed – the highest percentage of town population in the country.[9] The west wall of the village church features an oak tablet that bears the names of all the men who were killed. The cost was defrayed by Charles Keyser.[9]

Maria Hale

Maria Hale (occasionally written as Martha Hale [6]) was born in 1791,[25] and lived in Park Cottage on the edge of the court's parkland.[3] It was rumoured that she was a witch,[2] and would turn herself into a hare and sit outside the Falcon pub in Tadley to learn gossip. The hare was shot in the leg by the gamekeeper, and Hale reportedly had a limp thereafter. Other rumours suggest that she cursed villagers' gardens when they refused her request for flowers, and that she bestowed illness upon her son when he left home for Windsor so that he would return.[3]

The United Kingdom Census 1871 listed Hale as living in Mortimer.[25] However, the census divided the county into subdivisions – Aldermaston being within the Mortimer division.[26] She died 8 years later in 1879.

Church

A view of the church from the south. The two annexes are the Forster Chapel (left) and the vestry (right)
St Mary's Church was established in the 12th century, and has seen numerous additions and increases in size

The church of St Mary (in the Diocese of Oxford) was established in the early 12th century.[27] The Norman church was built upon throughout the following millennium.[27] The 12th century building now comprises the current nave, with additions seen in the Forster Chapel and chancel (13th century), the steeple (14th century), and the vestry (17th century).[27] Various additions were made in the 14th and 15th centuries, primarily to the walls and ogee windows.[27]

In 1896, Charles Keyser oversaw and funded the church's renovation, which was guided by Edward Doran Webb. Alongside the routine repairments to paving and roofing, the renovation uncovered evidence of an early water drainage system in the sill of a window; this was converted into a piscina. Additionally, the repairs to the walls of the nave showed that they were lined plaster upon a wooden framing – this was removed, and after repairs, the walls were decorated with tempera artwork.[27] The stained glass in the chancel is the work of Charles Eamer Kempe.[6]

Further repair work to the roof and tower was undertaken in the 1950s, with surveying overseen by Frederick Ernest Briant Ravenscroft of Reading. Ravenscroft – who was in his 70s when the work began – died before the work was finished; the completion documents were signed off by George William Judd, a fellow architect.[28]

The church font dates from the mid 19th century, and the lecturn is a memorial to the Second World War. The tower has eight bells; two of which date from 1681.[6]

Forster Chapel

The southern transept was added in the 13th century. Now known as the Forster Chapel, the lady chapel contains the alabaster effigial monument of Sir George Forster and his wife Elizabeth, which was built in 1530. Part of the effigy was damaged when part of the church's roof collapsed; George's face, however, remained undamaged.[10]

The two roundels in the north window portray the Annunciation the Coronation of the Virgin. These date from the 13th century and are the oldest glass in Berkshire.[29]

Notable interments

Maria Hale, a villager accused of being a witch, is buried south-west of the church's entrance beside a yew tree. Her coffin was supposedly weighed down with stones and bricks, and the gravediggers jumped on the grave to ensure that she would never rise.[3] It became tradition for villagers to place extra stones on her grave for years after her death.[30] It is rumoured that placing a pin in the church door and running around the church three times will summon her ghost.[3][30]

Charles Keyser, Daniel Burr, and John Stair (possibly the first cultivator of the Williams pear) are all buried in the Aldermaston churchyard.

Architecture

The majority of houses in the village were built between the 17th and late 19th centuries, including examples of Victorian Gothic architecture.[10] Only one house has been built in the village since the early 20th century.[31] The parish hall, built in 1897, is predominantly flint and brick[17] with the second storey in the Tudor Revival style.

Administration

Aldermaston is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It 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.

Demographics

Population

The 2001 United Kingdom Census shows that the parish had a population of 927. In 2005, 30% of all parish residents lived in the village:[32]

Location Percentage of residents
Aldermaston Village 30%
Aldermaston Wharf 10%
Falcon Fields 10%
Ravenswing/Pinelands 30%
Raghill and other outlying areas 20%

Falcon Fields is a housing development on the southern border of the parish, completed in the early 2000s. Ravenswing and Pinelands are mobile home parks near the Hampshire border.[33][34]

Age

The average age of residents in the parish is approximately 50. The average age of residents of Aldermaston Wharf is 30.7, and in the mobile home parks the average age is 53.9.[32]

Gender

In the 2005 parish survey, 53.3% of residents were female.[32] This is in contrast to the 2001 census data, which showed that 49.8% were female.[35]

Employment

In 2005, 3% of the parish population were unemployed and 25% were retired. The retirement figure increased in the Pinelands and Ravenswing areas, with a statistic of 42%.[32] Residents' places of work are primarily in the surrounding towns, with their location in the parish largely dictating where to look for work – the 2005 survey identified that residents in the south of the parish (Falcon Fields and Ravenswing/Pinelands) travel towards Tadley and Basingstoke whereas those further north in the parish tend to find work in Reading, Newbury and London.[32]

Geography

The Loosey with the fountain (left) and well (to the right of the oak tree) visible

Aldermaston is located in West Berkshire, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) from the Hampshire border. The village is located 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the A4 road that links the parish to Newbury (to the west) and Reading (to the east). The main street of Aldermaston, The Street, is formed by the A340 road and links the village to Pangbourne (north-east) and Basingstoke (south). Ermin Street, the roman road connecting Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester) to Glevum (Gloucester) via Corinium Dobunnorum (Cirencester) ran to the south of the village, though none of the road survives in the area.[36]

At the southern end of The Street is a small triangular village green known as The Loosey. The Loosey is the location of a Roman well, discovered in 1940 by a cow that almost fell down it.[6] The Loosey was previously home to the village maypole (which was routinely climbed by Daniel Burr's monkey) and a drinking fountain erected by Charles Keyser to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Although no longer in use, the drinking fountain remains intact on the Loosey.

The parish of Aldermaston forms a trinity with the local parishes of Wasing and Brimpton. The three parishes are covered by the monthly Parish Magazine, featuring stories from churches, organisations, schools, businesses and various miscellany.[37] Other nearby settlements include Tadley, Mortimer and Silchester.

Sections of Grim's Bank lie within the parish. Part of the earthwork in the AWE complex survives at a height of 3.3 metres (11 ft) and with a ditch 0.9 metres (3.0 ft) deep.[38]

Geology

The landscape of Aldermaston is influenced by Paices Hill and Rag Hill – extremities of the chalk formation the North Wessex Downs. The gradient of the land rises gently to the south of the village (to a height of roughly 100 metres), and the northern end of The Street effectively marks the foot of the hill (at 58 meters AMSL).

Flooding

The geology and location of Aldermaston has proved consequential on two occasions.

The flood grilles on Church Road (the rebuilt section of the wall is clearly contrasted against the older sections)

July 1989 floods

In July 1989, thunderstorms and torrential rain deposited 6 inches (150 mm) of rain on the village in two hours. The balancing ponds at the Atomic Weapons Establishment were unable to cope with the rainfall and five feet of water broke through a brick wall, flooding the village. The destroyed wall was rebuilt with 17 grilles to avoid another build-up of water.[9]

July 2007 floods

See also: 2007 United Kingdom floods
The flooding affected the lower end of The Street

In July 2007, torrential rain flooded the village and local primary school, with the event making national news.[39] The storm coincided with the annual Glade music festival, and jeopardised the event.[40] The festival gates were temporarily closed while organisers assessed the flooding, which submerged one of the stages.[41] The festival's car park was incapacitated, with thousands of revellers stranded in the village and surrounding lanes.[42]

The floods also hit the Church of England primary school, with the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service evacuating pupils and staff from within the school in life rafts.[43][44] The evacuation used four rafts, rescuing pupils and teachers from the school through windows.[45] The 165 people (140 pupils and 25 members of staff) were taken uphill to the parish hall, where blankets and sleeping bags had been provided.[45]

Ian Henderson, a police constable at Thames Valley Police stated that the emergency services were "really stretched because of what happened over the county and the Glade event", that "the [A340] junction was two or three foot under water", and predicted that "a lot of householders [would be] homeless."[45]

Economy and industries

Watercolour of Aldermaston (and The Congreve Arms) by G. Shepherd (1819)

Agriculture

There have been numerous farms in Aldermaston parish. The two remaining farms, Church Farm and Forster's Farm, are both within the village.

In the late 1760s, a schoolmaster living in the village cultivated the Williams pear. Various sources cite different schoolmasters – Mr Stair or Mr Wheeler – as the original cultivator, but the pear (a cultivar of the European Pear) was named after Richard Williams who grew several grafts of the original tree. A commemorative plaque is visible on the wall of the Cedars school.

Cricket bats

Old Village Farm (on Fishermans Lane) is now the location of a sawmill, used since the 1930s to prepare local willow for the production of cricket bats.[32] 70 trees are felled annually for this purpose, with approximately 1000 trees growing at any given time.[46] The wood yard was featured on A Question of Sport, when cricketer Graham Gooch took part in the programme's "Mystery Guest" round.[9] Gooch continued to endorse the bats, which were sold by Surridge. When he scored 333 runs against India at Lord's in the 1990 test season, the Turbo 333 bat, made from Aldermaston wood, was launched in his honour.[9][47]

Pottery

In 1955, the world-famous Aldermaston Pottery was established on the main street[48] by studio potters Alan Caiger-Smith and Geoffrey Eastop.[48] The pottery was renowned for tin-glazed and porcelain wares,[48] and closed in 2006.[49] It had previously closed as a result of the early 1990s recession.[9]

Pubs and brewing

The local pub is named The Hind's Head in honour of the Forster family crest. Built in the 17th century and originally operating as a coaching inn,[10] the establishment was named The Pack Horse during the De La Mare and Forster lordships and The Congreve Arms throughout the Congreves' ownership.[2][50]

The Hind's Head Inn

The building has a large black and gold clock set into the gable, and a small bellturret upon which is a gilt fox-shaped weather vane.[10][27] The bell was intended to be rung as an air-raid siren during the Second World War.[50]

In the early 19th century, the pub's signboard carried the arms of the Congreve family, as well as branding for a company named "Adams". In the British Parliamentary Papers of 1817, the Committee on the State of the Police in the Metropolis reported evidence of a John Adams – a Reading-based distiller and hop merchant, who competed for business against Simonds' Brewery.[51]

By 1850, the pub brewed beer on-site; a brewery was built as an out-building behind the main pub building. A John Knight produced beer at the pub for 40 years, selling it for 2d. The brewery building is still in existence, with the wooden louvres still operational.[50] The building is, however, now used as the pub's kitchen.

During the 20th century, the pub was owned by Whitbread.[50] In the mid-1990s the pub was taken over by Gales Brewery (having previously been a free house) upon which it was assumed by Fuller's Brewery on their acquisition of Gales in 2006.[52][53] In the 1970s, the pub was home to the Kennet Folk Club.[50]

The pub has its own gaol-house, the lock-up, located to the rear. Last used in 1865, its drunk inhabitant burnt himself to death trying to keep warm.[2][9] The lock-up was designated as a Grade II listed building in April 1967.[54] Another pub in the parish, The Butt Inn, is located approximately 1.25 miles (2.01 km) north-east of the village.[55]

The Aldermaston Brewery was established at Aldermaston Wharf in 1770, and was demolished in the 1950s.[56]

Small businesses

A number of small businesses are based in the village, and include a hairdressing salon, a software development company and the village shop.[57] In the 1970s, the hairdressers was a music shop, which was opened by Terry Wogan.[9]

Two business parks are located within the parish – Calleva Business Park (on the Berkshire/Hampshire border)[58] and Youngs Industrial Estate (on Paices Hill).[59] The latter opened in the early 1980s, and is the location of Paices Wood Country Parkland, an English Nature-sponsored wildlife project.[60]

In 2007, Aldermaston won the Business Category Award in the regional final of the Calor Village of the Year competition. The judges stated that the village "has a very successful business community" and that "local businesses are well-supported by villagers and in return these businesses support village activities".[61] In addition to the business award, the village was announced as the Overall Winner of the Calor "Berkshire Village of the Year" competition in 2006, as well as category winners in the "Building Community Life", "Business", "Young People" and "ICT" categories.[62][63][64]

Atomic weapons

The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is located less than 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the village. In April 1958, the first Aldermaston March was held.[65] The march saw around 3,000 protesters march from London to Aldermaston over four days, with a total attendance of 12,000 at the establishment's gates.[65] The 50th anniversary of the event was marked on 24 March 2008 with the "Bomb Stops Here" protest, attended by Vivienne Westwood and CND president Walter Wolfgang.[66][67] The 2008 demonstration was the biggest protest staged by CND in ten years.[68]

Aggregates

Aldermaston parish is home to various sites owned by Lafarge Aggregates. In 1974, the village won an appeal against Pioneer Concrete's application for gravel extraction near the village.[9] Similar events took place in March 2003 when hundreds of local residents protested against an application of gravel extraction by Lafarge.[9] Larfarge's initial appeal, in April 2003, was turned down by West Berkshire Council. A further application to extract aggregate at the Wasing Estate is due to be decided in 2010.[69]

Transport

Rail

Aldermaston railway station is located in Aldermaston Wharf,[70] 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the village itself. Managed by National Rail,[70] the station serves First Great Western services between Reading, Newbury and Bedwyn. The nearest stations to Aldermaston station are Midgham to the west and Theale to the east. Journey times approximate 17 minutes to either Reading or Newbury.

Road

The village is located on the A340 road, and has nearby access to the A4 road and the M4 motorway.

Aldermaston is served by Newbury Buses route 104, with services terminating in Newbury, Calcot and Reading.[71]

Air

The nearest operating airstrip, Brimpton Airfield, is located less than 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the village, within AWE's restricted airspace.[72] RAF Aldermaston ceased to operate as a civilian airport in 1950.[17]

Water

Aldermaston village is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south east of the Reading Marine Company's headquarters on the Kennet and Avon Canal.[73] The canal provides links to London (via the Thames) and Bristol (via the River Avon).[74]

Education

Aldermaston is the site of two primary schools. Aldermaston Primary School is a state-run Church of England school located in Wasing Lane and has approximately 150 pupils enrolled.[75] The school was established in 1830 and originally located in Church Road, moving to the present location in 1988.[76] The school uses the names of the manor's squires in their house system.[76]

The Cedars opened in the 1990s and is a private school located in the buildings formerly occupied by the Church of England school. The school has approximately 40 pupils enrolled.[77]

Culture

Every three years, the village holds a candle auction. The auction, which sees a horseshoe nail driven through a tallow candle an inch below the wick, is held in the parish hall.[2] The lot is the three-year lease of Church Acre,[3] a plot 2 acres (0.81 ha) in area that was granted to the church after the Inclosures Act.[10] The proceedings are overseen by the vicar and churchwardens, who smoke clay pipes and drink rum punch throughout the auction.[2][10]

Since 1957 there has been an annual performance of the York Nativity Play from the 15th century 15th-century York Mystery Cycle. The performances are at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in early December. The performers are local people and many have appeared in the play for many years.[78]

Aldermaston was the original location of the The Glade festival. The 2007 event was jeopardised by torrential rains and flooding but cautiously went ahead.[79] Since 2009, the festival has been held near Winchester.[80][81]

The village has its own amateur dramatics society, The Aldermaston Players, who since 1966 have staged annual fundraising events in the Village Hall since 1966.[82]

Sport

Aldermaston is home to a number of sports teams. The village cricket team, Aldermaston Village CC, play at nearby Wasing Park.[83] Aldermaston RFC and A.F.C. Aldermaston both play their home games at the Recreational Society at AWE.[84] Tadley RFC is located within the parish,[85] approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the village.

The cricket club originally played at a pitch at Aldermaston Court, which was lost when the airfield was established. Sir William Mount, 1st Baronet allowed a portion of the Wasing estate to be used for cricket. The original football club played adjacent to the cricket pitch. The club's strip was sponsored by Mr G L Heighton – the proprietor of the village shop.[9]

References

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  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Aldermaston – A Brief History" (PDF). Aldermaston Parish Council. 7 June 2007. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Nash Ford, David. "Aldermaston". Royal Berkshire History. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
  4. ^ a b c Hinson, Colin (15 December 2006). "The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1896)". County of Berkshire. GENUKI. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Nash Ford, David (2001). "Pedigree of the Lords of the Manor of Aldermaston, Berkshire". Brittania. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Timmins, Gordon (2000). Aldermaston: a village history. Hampshire County Council.
  7. ^ Nash Ford, David. "History of Ufton Court". Royal Berkshire History. Retrieved 2010-04-14.
  8. ^ Reddan, Nick. "Forster of Aldermaston, Berkshire" (PDF). Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Sally-Anne Martin, ed. (2005). Memories of Life in an English Country Village. The Book Project. ISBN 0-9549636-0-1.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h "A-Z Gazetteer of British Villages". Book of British Villages. London: Reader's Digest. 1990. p. 18. ISBN 0276420187. OCLC 35330841. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  11. ^ Bucknell (1965). "Records of Middle Farm, Ufton, Berkshire, Lower Farm, Denford, Berkshire and Forsters Farm, Aldermaston, Berkshire". The Bucknell Family Collection. Museum of English Rural Life. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  12. ^ The inscription on Manning's headstone reads "In memory of Mr JOHN MANNING. Butler at Aldermaston House. This stone is erected by WILLIAM CONGREVE Esq. in whose Family he lived for many years, most deservedly esteemed and died sincerely lamented on the 31st day of August 1811 in the 50th year of his age."
  13. ^ Nash Ford, David (2001). "Aldermaston Court". Royal Berkshire History. Nash Ford Publishing. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
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  19. ^ The inscription on Keyser's grave reads "IN MEMORY OF / CHARLES EDWARD KEYSER / BORN SEP 10, 1847, DIED MAY 23, 1929"
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Further reading

  • Nash Ford, David. "Aldermaston". Royal Berkshire History. Retrieved 2006-11-04.
  • Timmins, Gordon (2000). Aldermaston: a village history. Winchester: Hampshire County Council.
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