Barkham is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in the
borough of Wokingham
The Borough of Wokingham is a Districts of England, local government district in Berkshire, United Kingdom. It is named after its main town, Wokingham. Other places in the district include Arborfield, Barkham, Charvil, Earley, Finchampstead, H ...
in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, located around southwest of the town of
Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell.
History
Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...
.
Geography
The old part of Barkham is the small settlement by the
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
and is close to Barkham Street. However most of the population lives in the north-east of the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
, around the
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
, or in the
Arborfield Garrison
Arborfield Garrison was a British Army garrison, now the site of Arborfield Green, a new village approximately south east of the village of Arborfield Cross in the English county of Berkshire. The army vacated the site in 2015 and it is now b ...
, which is largely in Barkham. It is a rural parish, mostly consisting of dairy farmland and woods, despite being surrounded by the town of
Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell.
History
Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...
and the large villages of
Winnersh
Winnersh is a large suburban village and civil parish in the borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. The village is located around northwest of Wokingham town centre and around southeast of central Reading. It is roughly bounded by the ...
,
Arborfield Cross and
Finchampstead
Finchampstead is a village and civil parish in the Wokingham Borough in the shire of Berkshire, England. Its northern extremity is south of Wokingham, west of Bracknell, south-east of Reading, and west of Central London. It is an affluent ar ...
.
Manor
![Barkham Manor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Barkham_Manor.jpg)
The
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
"Barkham" is derived from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''bercheham''
meaning "
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
home" referring to the birch trees on the edge of
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for many ...
.
The name evolved ''via'' forms including ''Berkham in the 14th century and ''Barcombe'' in the 18th century.
[ In King ]Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
's reign the income from Barkham Manor helped to pay for the rebuilding of Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
and, not long afterwards, timber from Barkham was sent to make the roof of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.[
For many centuries the ]manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
was a secondary home of the Bullock
Bullock may refer to:
Animals
* Bullock (in British English), a castrated male bovine animal of any age
* Bullock (in North America), a young bull (an uncastrated male bovine animal)
* Bullock (in Australia, India and New Zealand), an ox, an adu ...
family.[ The Bull Inn ]public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
in Barkham is named in reference to their surname.[ The Bullocks had inherited the manor from the family of William Neville, a 13th-century valet to Saint ]Thomas Cantilupe
Thomas de Cantilupe (25 August 1282; also spelled ''Cantelow, Cantelou, Canteloupe'', Latinised to ''de Cantilupo'') was Lord Chancellor of England and Bishop of Hereford. He was canonised in 1320 by Pope John XXII.
Origins
Thomas was the thir ...
, the Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.
The episcopal see is centred in the Hereford, City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is in the Hereford Cathedr ...
and Chancellor of England
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
, from whom the manor was originally bought.[ The manor passed by marriage and inheritance through the Standen, Waterman, Kingsmill and Pitt families. In about 1783, the manor was purchased by the Dowager Countess Gower, the third wife of ]John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower
John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower, PC (10 August 1694 – 25 December 1754), was an English Tory politician and peer who twice served as Lord Privy Seal from 1742 to 1743 and 1744 to 1754. Leveson-Gower is best known for his political caree ...
, and became the property of the Leveson-Gower
Leveson-Gower ( ), also Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, is the name of a powerful British noble family. Over time, several members of the Leveson-Gower family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the family include the duke ...
family.[ The present manor house is a late 18th-century][ ]Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
building of two wings of differing dates. Barkham had two moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
ed farm-houses.[ One of these survives, having been divided into two cottages.][
]
Parish church
The earliest known record of the 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 each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of Saint James dates from 1220.[ However, the present church building was built in 1860–61][ or 1862.][ It was designed in a 13th-century ]Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style[ by the architects J.B. Clacy and Son][ of ]Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
. The chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
and transepts
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...
were added[ or rebuilt][ in 1887. The building retains two features from the earlier church: a late 13th-century wooden memorial effigy of a woman, and the late 18th-century ]baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism.
Aspersion and affusion fonts
The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...
.[ The ]bell-tower
A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
has a ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
of four bells cast in 1863 by John Warner and Sons
John Warner and Sons was a metalworks and bellfoundry based in various locations in the UK, established in 1739 and dissolved in 1949.
Previous businesses
A company was founded by Jacob Warner, a Quaker, in 1739 and originally produced water pu ...
of Cripplegate
Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London.
The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into tw ...
in the City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
.
A number of members of the Leveson-Gower
Leveson-Gower ( ), also Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, is the name of a powerful British noble family. Over time, several members of the Leveson-Gower family were made knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the family include the duke ...
family are buried in the church, including Lady Mary Tufton, Countess Gower, widow of the first Earl Gower; her son Admiral John Leveson-Gower (d.1792); his son, General John Leveson-Gower and daughter-in-law Isabella Mary Leveson-Gower (née Broke); as well as his grandson, John Leveson-Gower (d.1883), with his wife Charlotte (d.1876), son Sackville (d.1874), and mother-in-law the Right Hon. Lady Harriet Mitchell (d.1855).
Rev. David Davies (1741–1819) was Rector of Barkham from 1782 until his death in 1819.[ He studied the condition of the labouring poor, recorded statistics of their wages, cost of food, etc. in various districts of ]England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.[ He published his findings in 1785 in the form of a book called ''Cases of Labourers in Husbandry Stated and Considered''.][ Rev. ]Peter Ditchfield
Rev. Peter Hempson Ditchfield, FSA (1854–1930) was a Church of England priest, an historian and a prolific author. He is notable for having co-edited three Berkshire volumes of the ''Victoria County History'' which were published between 1907 ...
, FSA (1854–1930) was Rector of Barkham from 1886 until his death. He was a Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
, historian and prolific author. With William Page he co-edited three Berkshire volumes of the ''Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of En ...
'', which were published in 1907, 1923 and 1924.
Social and economic history
Another prominent farming family, that of Ball, is erroneously said to be that of George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
's mother, Mary Ball Washington
Mary Washington (; born sometime between 1707 and 1709 – August 25, 1789), was the second wife of Augustine Washington, a planter in Virginia, the mother-in-law of Martha Washington, the paternal grandmother of Bushrod Washington, and ...
. They lived in the parish from the late 15th to the mid-17th century, but William Lee Ball
William Lee Ball (January 2, 1781 – February 29, 1824) was a nineteenth-century slave owner and politician from Virginia who served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1817 to until his death in 1824.
Biography
Born in ...
, the man once thought to have emigrated to Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
and become Mary's great grandfather, may have actually died in London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and his family lived in the East Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
area for at least two more generations. This is still disputed by Americans
Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...
relatives of Mary Ball.[ An ]open field system
The open-field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe during the Middle Ages and lasted into the 20th century in Russia, Iran, and Turkey. Each manor or village had two or three large fields, usually several hundred acre ...
of farming prevailed in the parish until early in the 19th century. Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
passed the Inclosure Act
The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1 ...
for Barkham in 1813, but it was not implemented until 1821.[
]
Parish Council
Barkham Parish council meets regularly at the Arborfield
Arborfield is a village on the A327 road in Berkshire about south-east of Reading, about west of Wokingham. It lies in the civil parish of Arborfield and Newland in the Borough of Wokingham, about west of its sister village of Arborfield Cr ...
Green Community Centre.[Barkham Parish Council]
It has 10 councillors that are elected by the parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
residents for a term of four years.[
]
Residents Association
Barkham Village Residents’ Association (“BVRA”) was formed in 1987, initially in response to a Planning Application for housing development within the Coombes - a woodland rich in a diversity of wildlife and designated an area of special scientific interest. Planning issues remain an interest of the BVRA. After the threat to the Coombes subsided, the BVRA continues to contribute to Barkham's community spirit by running social events and the production of a quarterly newsletter and website.BVRA
/ref>
Schools
Bohunt School Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell.
History
Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...
, opened at Arborfield
Arborfield is a village on the A327 road in Berkshire about south-east of Reading, about west of Wokingham. It lies in the civil parish of Arborfield and Newland in the Borough of Wokingham, about west of its sister village of Arborfield Cr ...
Green in Barkham parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
in 2016, is a mixed-sex independent academy.
References
Sources
*
*
External links
*
{{authority control
Villages in Berkshire
Borough of Wokingham
Civil parishes in Berkshire