Bockhampton, Berkshire on:
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Bockhampton () is an 
Bockhampton () is an abandoned village
An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, f ...
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 ...
that was enclosed in the late 18th century. Situated on the River Lambourn
The River Lambourn is a chalk stream in the English county of Berkshire. It rises in the Berkshire Downs near its namesake village of Lambourn and is a tributary of the River Kennet, which is itself a tributary of the River Thames.
The river ...
southeast and downstream of Lambourn
Lambourn is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies just north of the M4 Motorway between Swindon and Newbury, and borders Wiltshire to the west and Oxfordshire to the north. After Newmarket it is the largest centre of ra ...
it was also known as Lower Lambourn, as opposed to Upper Lambourn
Upper Lambourn is a small village in the county of Berkshire, England. The village is situated in the civil parish of Lambourn , and is 1.2 miles (2 km) to the north-west of the village of Lambourn, just off the Lambourn to Shrivenham road. ...
which is upstream. Bockhampton was mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 as "Bochentone: Ralph the earl's son; Odo and Edward, king's thane
Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...
s. Mill." who held the land in return for keeping the King's harriers. Bockhampton 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 built in the 16th Century by Thomas Blagrave
Thomas Blagrave (died 18 June 1590) was Acting Master of the Revels (1573–79) and Surveyor of the Queen's Works (1578–90) under Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Thomas came from Uttoxeter in Staffordshire and had at least three siblings, Willi ...
(and subsequently rebuilt in the 17th and 18th Centuries) and absorbed the three old manors of East Bockhampton, West Bockhampton and Hoppeshortland. The village was uprooted and the land enclosed
Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
in 1776 thanks to the 1773 Inclosure Act, as sheep farming
Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin an ...
proved to be more profitable than tillage
Tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shoveling, picking, mattock work, hoein ...
. There is a road sign for Bockhampton on the Newbury Road pointing down Bockhampton Road towards the old site of the village in the sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
pasture next to the electric substation.
References
{{Reflist Deserted medieval villages in England West Berkshire District