Lambourn

"LAMBOURN, (or Chipping Lambourn) a parish and market town in the hundred of Lambourn, in the county of Berks, 8 miles N.W. of Hungerford, and 25 N.W. of Reading. It is situated near Ridgeway, on the river Lambourn, and contains Woodlands, Eastbury, Hadley Blagrave, Upper Lambourn, and Bockhampton. It was anciently presented to Alfrith by his uncle, King Alfred, and has since fallen to the families of De Essex and Fitzwarren. Ashdown Park, now the seat of the Earl of Craven, is supposed by some to have been the spot where Alfred defeated the Danes, in A.D. 871. There are on the Ridge, the Blowing Stone, Uffington Castle, and the White Horse. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Oxford, value with the curacy of Eastbury annexed, £204, in the patronage of the bishop. The parish church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient cruciform building, in the Norman and perpendicular styles, with stained-glass windows, two chantry chapels, an embattled tower, and a peal of eight bells. It contains brasses of J. Eastbury (1400), and tombs of the family of De Essex. There is likewise a district church at Woodlands, the living of which is a perpetual curacy,* value £220, in the patronage of Christ's College, Cambridge. There are National and free schools for both sexes, and almshouses for poor men, founded in 1582 by John Eastbury. Market day is Friday; and fairs are held on 12th May, 14th October, and 4th December.

"BLAGRAVE, a tything in the parish of Lambourn, hundred of the same name, in the county of Berks, not far from Lambourn."

"BOCKHAMPTON, a tything in the parish of Lambourn, and hundred of the same name, in the county of Berks, close to Lambourn."

"EASTBURY, a chapelry in the parish and hundred of Lambourn, county Berks, 2 miles S.E. of Lambourn, and 6 N. of Hungerford station. Here was formerly a chapel dedicated to St. James, but it has been demolished. The Wesleyans have a chapel, and there is a school with an endowment of £10 per annum."

"HADLEY, a tything in the parish and hundred of Lambourn, county Berks, 2 miles S.W. of Lambourn."

"LAMBOURN WOODLANDS, a village in the parish and hundred of Lambourn, county Berks."

"UPPER LAMBOURN, a tything in the parish and hundred of Lambourn, county Berks, 1½ mile N.W. of Chipping Lambourn.

"WOODLANDS ST. MARY, an ecclesiastical district in the parish and hundred of Lambourn, county Berks, 8 miles N.W. of Hungerford, and 2 from Lambourn. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Oxford, value £90. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, was erected in 1842."

From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland(1868). Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003.

Other descriptions can be found from other periods in various trade directories covering Berkshire from the early 19th century onwards, from Berkshire FHS, and from A Vision of Britain Through Time.