Boxford 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 authorit ...

in the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural Dist ...

, England. The village is on the east bank of the River Lambourn, about northwest of Newbury but south of the M4 motorway. The

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Westbrook is on the opposite bank of the

Berkshire Downs The Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in South east England split between the counties of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. They are part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The western parts of the downs ...

tributary.

Archaeology

A number of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

features have been recorded near Boxford, and an urn of this period has been found. A hearth and pottery fragments from the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

, including a La Tène pot, have been found near the north end of Boxford Common. Iron Age pottery fragments and a possible earthwork have also been found near Borough Hill. Mud Hall Cottage on Wyfield Farm is the site of a large

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

building which was excavated about 1870. Roman pottery and coins have been found at Boxford Rectory. The course of the

Ermin Way Ermin Street or Ermin Way was a Roman road in Britain. It linked Glevum (Gloucester) and Corinium (Cirencester) to Calleva (Silchester). At Glevum, it connected to the road to Isca (Caerleon), the legionary base in southeast Wales. At Corini ...

Roman road that linked ''

Corinium Dobunnorum Corinium Dobunnorum was the Romano-British settlement at Cirencester in the present-day English county of Gloucestershire. Its 2nd-century walls enclosed the second-largest area of a city in Roman Britain. It was the tribal capital of the Dobun ...

'' (

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

) and '' Calleva Atrebatum'' ( Silchester) passes through the south of the parish. A section is visible from

aerial archaeology Aerial archaeology is the study of archaeological remains by examining them from a higher altitude. In present day, this is usually achieved by satellite images or through the use of drones. Details Aerial Archaeology involves interpretation an ...

near William's Copse. The

Boxford Roman mosaic Boxford Roman mosaic is a mosaic at Boxford, West Berkshire, England, discovered during an archaeological dig in August 2017. It dates from the Roman period. The 4th century (AD) mosaic is over long. Its central panel is thought to show Beller ...

, perhaps square, was found in 2017. It was on the floor of a

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

dating from the 4th century AD.

Manor

In 958 King

Eadred Eadred (c. 923 – 23 November 955) was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder brother, Edmund, was killed try ...

granted property at ''Boxore'' to his servant Wulfric, and in 968 King

Edgar the Peaceful Edgar ( ang, Ēadgār ; 8 July 975), known as the Peaceful or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. The younger son of King Edmund I and Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, he came to the throne as a teenager followin ...

granted a similar amount of property here to his servant Elfwin.Page & Ditchfield, 1924, pages 44–48 Both men ceded their holdings to

Abingdon Abbey Abingdon Abbey ( '' " St Mary's Abbey " '' ) was a Benedictine monastery located in the centre of Abingdon-on-Thames beside the River Thames. The abbey was founded c.675 AD in honour of The Virgin Mary. The Domesday Book of 1086 informs ...

, which thus held the whole manor of Boxford before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

. 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 manus ...

of 1086 records Boxford as ''Bochesorne''. It says under the list of lands that belonged to Abingdon Abbey: Boxford House is a Grade II listed country house which is believed to date from 1825. It is built of ashlar masonry in a Gothic revival style, with

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

ed and transomed windows. It has a slate roof and a parapet.

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of Saint Andrew consists of a

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. Ov ...

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

, north-west

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

, south porch and a west bell tower. The chancel may be Anglo-Saxon, and an Anglo-Saxon window was discovered in a wall of the church in 2011. The Jacobean pulpit dates from 1618,Pevsner, 1966, page 93 the font from about 1662 and the west tower from about 1692.Pevsner, 1966, page 92 Much of the church was rebuilt in the Victorian era and in 1841 the north aisle was added. However, the arcade between the nave and north aisle was probably by

John Oldrid Scott John Oldrid Scott (17 July 1841 – 30 May 1913) was a British architect. Biography He was the son of Sir Gilbert Scott (George Gilbert Scott) and his wife Caroline (née Oldrid). His brother George Gilbert Scott Junior and nephew Sir Giles G ...

and Sons in 1908. The building is Grade II* listed.

Social and economic history

The village has a number of thatched cottages and a watermill.

Boxford railway station Boxford railway station was a railway station in Boxford, Berkshire, UK, on the Lambourn Valley Railway. The hut has been saved from being destroyed as a disused bus shelter and is now being restored by the GWSR for use on their site. History ...

was opened by the Lambourn Valley Railway in 1898 and closed by British Railways in 1960. Boxford is known for the Boxford Masques, an outdoor midsummer celebration, held on Hoar Hill in woodland above the village, overlooking the Lambourn valley. It was originally created in the late 19th century by Charlotte Peake, a local writer and lover of music, drama and poetry. The Boxford Masques were performed by locals and lasted up until the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was revived in the year 2000 by the

Watermill Theatre The Watermill Theatre is a repertory theatre in Bagnor, Berkshire. It opened in 1967 in Bagnor Mill, a converted watermill on the River Lambourn. As a producing house, the theatre has produced works that have subsequently moved on to the West E ...

of Bagnor, near Newbury, following extensive research by John Vigor; it has been very popular since. The 2012 production was performed at the nearby Welford House and bore the name ''A Little Drama at the Big House'', telling the story of the founding of the plays, based on fact and re-imagined by Geraldine McCaughrean.

Geography

Boxford has several sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI); Easton Farm Meadow, Boxford Chalk Pit and Boxford Water Meadows.

Demography

References

Sources

* *

External links

{{authority control Villages in Berkshire West Berkshire District Civil parishes in Berkshire