East Woodhay 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
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, England. The village is approximately south-west of
Newbury 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 ...
. At the 2011 census the parish had a population of 2,914.
![war-memorial-east-end-newbury](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/War-memorial-east-end-newbury.jpg)
The parish contains a number of villages and
hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
, including Ball Hill,
Heath End, Hatt Common,
Woolton Hill
Woolton Hill is a village in Hampshire, England, in the civil parish of East Woodhay. The village lies approximately south-west of the centre of Newbury and encompasses the hamlet of Broad Layings on its northern edge.
History
The area was ...
and East End. The last two have schools: Woolton Hill Junior School, St Thomas's Church of England Infant School, and St. Martin's Church of England Primary School. The parish has a small, triangular
village green
A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...
which has a war memorial and was once the site of the village
stocks
Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...
.
Woolton Hill has a village shop and post office, and "The Chase", a wooded area administered by the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
.
The summit of
Pilot Hill, the highest point in the county of Hampshire, lies within the parish.
History
Name
The name East Woodhay has changed over the years.
*1144: Wydenhaya
*1150: Wideheia
*1171: Wydenhaye
*1351: Estwydehay
The name may possibly be from the Old English "Wudeuhege" or "Wudeugehaeg" meaning "Wood enclosure" (using artificial fences), or more likely from the earlier "widu" meaning "broad enclosure".
17th century
Thomas Ken
Thomas Ken (July 1637 – 19 March 1711) was an English cleric who was considered the most eminent of the English non-juring bishops, and one of the fathers of modern English hymnody.
Early life
Ken was born in 1637 at Little Berkhampstead, ...
(1637–1711) was briefly
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
to
Princess Mary, and later to the
British Fleet
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
. In 1685, he became
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.
The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...
. He was one of several bishops imprisoned in the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
for refusing to sign
King James II
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
's "
Declaration of Indulgence
The Declaration of Indulgence, also called Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, was a pair of proclamations made by James II of England and Ireland and VII of Scotland in 1687. The Indulgence was first issued for Scotland on 12 February and t ...
". Earlier in his career, he was vicar of East Woodhay for a few years until 1672.
1830
East Woodhay as described in ''Rural rides'' (1830) by
William Cobbett
William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restrain foreign ...
"It was dark by the time that we got to a village, called EAST WOODHAY. Sunday evening is the time for courting, in the country. It not convenient to carry this on before faces, and, at farm-houses and cottages, there are no spare apartments; so that the pairs turn out, and pitch up, to carry on their negotiations, by the side of stile or a gate. The evening was auspicious; it was pretty dark, the weather mild, and Old
Michaelmas
Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, a ...
(when yearly services end) was fast approaching; and, accordingly, I do not recollect ever having before seen so many negotiations going on, within so short a distance. At WEST WOODHAY my horse
adcast a shoe, and, as the road was abominably flinty, we were compelled to go at a snail's pace; and I should have gone crazy with impatience, had it not been for these ambassadors and ambassadresses of
Cupid
In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...
, to every pair of whom I said something or other. I began by asking the fellow my road; and, from the tone and manner of his answer, I could tell pretty nearly what prospect he had of success, and knew what to say to draw something from him. I had some famous sport with them, saying to them more than I should have said by day-light, and a great deal less than I should have said, if my horse had been in a condition to carry me away as swiftly as ..."
1870–1872
East Woodhay, as described in John Goring's ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' (1870–72)
![Bourne House 1997](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Bourne_House_1997.jpg)
"WOODHAY (East), a parish, with numerous
hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
and with
Woolton-Hill chapelry
A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century.
Status
It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...
, in
Kingsclere
Kingsclere is a large village and civil parish in Hampshire, England.
Geography
Kingsclere is approximately equidistant ) from the towns of Basingstoke and Newbury on the A339 road.
History
Kingsclere can trace back its history to a p ...
district, Hants; 4½ miles
kmSSE of
Kintbury
Kintbury is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, between the towns of Newbury and Hungerford. The village has a convenient railway to and , proximity to other transport and local cultural destinations, including Roman and Norman si ...
r. station, and 4½
iles (7 km)SW of
Newbury. Post town, Newbury. Acres, 4,966
0 km² Real property, £6,795. Pop., 1,533. Houses, 346. The property is much subdivided. A palace of the
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
s of
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
was here. The living is a
rectory
A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage.
Function
A clergy house is typically ow ...
, united with
Ashmansworth
Ashmansworth is a village and civil parish in the Basingstoke and Deane district of the English county of Hampshire.
Geography
The village is about south west of Newbury in Berkshire, and north east from Andover in Hampshire, just south west ...
, in the diocese of Winchester. Value, £1,078.* Patron, the Bishop of W. The church's chancel was rebuilt in 1850. The vicarage of Woolton-Hill is a separate benefice. There are Baptist and
Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...
chapels, national schools, and charities £16. Bishops Hooper, Ken, and Lowth were rectors."
20th century
![BourneHouseRoof](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/BourneHouseRoof.jpg)
East Woodhay as mentioned in ''Highways and Byways in Hampshire'', by D. H. Moutray Read, Macmillan & Co, London, 1908:
''Afterwards the ladies met, and corresponded with every sign of mutual liking, a regards evidently not extended to Miss Pokckie; "such a low-bred, narrow-spirited woman", Dean Lyttleton wrote to Mrs Montagu, that she "would disgrace an
episcopal
Episcopal may refer to:
*Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church
*Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese
*Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name
** Episcopal Church (United State ...
house." The highly classical education on which her brother throve, appears to have had unhappy results for the sister!''
''To appreciate
Highclere
Highclere (pronounced ) is a village and civil parish situated in the North Wessex Downs (an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. It lies in the northern part of the county, near the B ...
one should not come down by the path of the downs but alight from a railway train and drive from
Woodhay Station up the gravel road, by the fine timber, and through the large village of trim villas in a station cab! Wild spaces and dreams of primitive men accord but ill with orderly
parterres
A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...
and velvet lawns, and in the country along the
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 ...
border we find again a modern
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 ...
we all know and some us do not care about, the England of "desirable residences within easy reach of the railway station", and "on
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
soil," not forgetting "with fine views"; and the sport if the "sport" of syndicates. But as the railway line is left behind the country grows wilder, and the Downs are again approached; the rough lanes twine and tumble in and over the spurs and valleys that run up the dominating heights of
Walbury and
Inkpen
Inkpen is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire southeast of Hungerford, most of the land of which is cultivated fields with scattered woodland was once part of a former forest of Savernake. Inkpen has boundaries with Wiltshire and Ha ...
. On one such rise stands the church of East Woodhay, well above that village. The grey, ivy-covered stones in the
graveyard
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
look venerable enough, but the
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
, as a table on the tower announces, was rebuilt in 1823, and the only possible word in its favour is that the brick of which its partly composed gives a touch of colour among the elms of the litten, where the
rook
Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to:
Games
*Rook (chess), a piece in chess
*Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game
Military
*Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft
* USS ' ...
s caw evident approval of the
water-wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with a number of blades or bucket ...
that protrudes itself within a few feet of the tower. But if the church belongs to the genteel age of architecture, the yew by the rectory is said to have been planted by
Bishop Ken
Thomas Ken (July 1637 – 19 March 1711) was an English cleric who was considered the most eminent of the English non-juring bishops, and one of the fathers of modern English hymnody.
Early life
Ken was born in 1637 at Little Berkhampstead, ...
, when that old friend of
Rector Isaac Mills held the living.''
A good deal of "pleasant modern glass" by designer Louise Davies (1919) is found in the East Window at Saint Martin's Church.
["Hampshire Churches" by Margaret Green, Winton Publications Ltd. Reprinted 1976.
]
Woodhay railway station, which closed on 7 March 1960, was built on the former Woodhay heath in the north-eastern Broad Laying, Woolton Hill corner of the parish. It also served Wash Water and Enborne over the border in Berkshire.
Filmography
A ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' story called the ''
Pyramids of Mars
''Pyramids of Mars'' is the third serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Robert Holmes and Lewis Greifer under the pseudonym of "Stephen Harris" and directed by Paddy Russell, the ...
'' (featuring
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the Fourth Doctor, fourth incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Wh ...
) was filmed at
Stargroves
Stargroves (also known as Stargrove House) is a manor house and associated estate at East Woodhay in the English county of Hampshire. The house belonged to Mick Jagger during the 1970s and was a recording venue for the Rolling Stones and variou ...
, a large estate at the top of East End. Baker visited the children of St Martin's School and donated a large pyramid from the set to the school.
Notable rectors
*
Thomas Ken
Thomas Ken (July 1637 – 19 March 1711) was an English cleric who was considered the most eminent of the English non-juring bishops, and one of the fathers of modern English hymnody.
Early life
Ken was born in 1637 at Little Berkhampstead, ...
(1637–1711)
*
George Hooper George Hooper may refer to:
* George Hooper (bishop) (1640–1727), English bishop
* George K. Hooper (1868–1939), American engineer and architect
* George Hooper (artist) (1910–1994), British artist
* Arthur George Hooper
Arthur George Ho ...
(1640–1727)
*
Robert Lowth
Robert Lowth ( ; 27 November 1710 – 3 November 1787) was a Bishop of the Church of England, Oxford Professor of Poetry and the author of one of the most influential
textbooks of English grammar.
Life
Lowth was born in Hampshire, England, G ...
(1710–1787)
References
External links
East Woodhay parish councilSt. Martin's SchoolSt. Martin's ChurchEast Woodhay on Sir George Young's website archived in 2005
Woolton Hill website
{{authority control
Villages in Hampshire
Civil parishes in Basingstoke and Deane