Grazeley is an area covering the small villages of Grazeley in the
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 ...
of
Shinfield
Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, just south of Reading. It contains and is administered by the unitary authority of Wokingham District. Shinfield Park is the northern part of the parish, becoming ph ...
and Grazeley Green in the civil parish of
Wokefield
Wokefield is a hamlet and civil parish in the West Berkshire district of Berkshire, England, south of Reading. The parish includes the hamlets of Goddard's Green and Bloomfield Hatch. It also includes part of the former parish of Sulhamstead ...
, south of
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...
in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of
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 Ber ...
.
To the east is the village of
Spencers Wood, to the west is Wokefield and to the south is
Beech Hill.
Local government
Grazeley was historically divided between 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 ...
es of
Sulhamstead
Sulhamstead is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. It occupies an approximate rectangle of land south of the (Old) Bath Road ( A4) between Reading, its nearest town and Thatcham. It has several small clusters of homes and wo ...
Abbots, Sulhamstead Bannister and
Shinfield
Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, just south of Reading. It contains and is administered by the unitary authority of Wokingham District. Shinfield Park is the northern part of the parish, becoming ph ...
.
The part around Grazeley Village remains in the
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 ...
of Shinfield.
That part around Grazeley Green was a detached
tithing
A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or s ...
of the ancient parish of Sulhamstead Bannister and another area was a detached part of Sulhamstead Abbots.
These formed into a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1860. The latter became a separate civil parish in 1866.
Vision of Britain website
/ref> Both the Sulhamstead parts of Grazeley were later absorbed by the parish of Wokefield
Wokefield is a hamlet and civil parish in the West Berkshire district of Berkshire, England, south of Reading. The parish includes the hamlets of Goddard's Green and Bloomfield Hatch. It also includes part of the former parish of Sulhamstead ...
.
History
Agriculture was the dominant feature of the village and the surrounding areas is still seen in the fields of Grazeley, although there are a few farm animals to be seen. The name first appears as Grazeley around 1598 and is derived from the Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
''Graeg-Sol'' meaning Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...
s' Wallowing Place. It has also been known by the names of Greyshall, Greasull, Greyshull, Gresley and Graseley. Around the late 19th century, it was also referred to as Lambwood Hill. In 1802, Dr. George Mitford, the flamboyant father of local author Mary Russell Mitford
Mary Russell Mitford (16 December 1787 – 10 January 1855) was an English author and dramatist. She was born at Alresford in Hampshire. She is best known for '' Our Village'', a series of sketches of village scenes and vividly drawn characte ...
, moved to Grazeley Court Farm for the purpose of "being an English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
country gentleman with an estate and dignities accruing to the position". His flamboyancy, self-importance and addiction to gambling at cards brought him and his family into debt and unhappiness.
Grazeley Court served two purposes for the family – the house was used for the extravagant balls and parties and the outhouses and stables used to establish Dr. Mitford's greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...
kennels. During his time here, George renamed the property to Bertram House after an ancestor, Sir Roger Bertram, Baron Mitford, who lived in Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
in the 13th century. William Isaac Palmer
William Isaac Palmer (1824–1893) was a member of the Palmer family, proprietors of the Huntley & Palmers biscuit manufacturers of Reading in England. He was the brother of George Palmer, the first of the Palmer family to be involved in the fir ...
, a member of the local Palmer family of biscuit fame, lived at Grazeley Court from 1879 to 1895. A 2003 case study of Hartley Court Farm by the Museum of English Rural Life
The Museum of English Rural Life, also known as The MERL, is a museum, library and archive dedicated to recording the changing face of farming and the countryside in England. The museum is run by the University of Reading, and is situated in Red ...
looked at the activities of local organisations and individuals in the local area, including Grazeley and Shinfield
Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, just south of Reading. It contains and is administered by the unitary authority of Wokingham District. Shinfield Park is the northern part of the parish, becoming ph ...
.
Local facilities
The village has never had a village shop or 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 ...
. In the early 20th century, letters were received via Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...
with collection boxes outside the church and outside Grazeley Court farm. Money orders could be sent from the nearest office in Three Mile Cross and the nearest Telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
Office was at Spencers Wood.
Holy Trinity Church
Opened in 1850, the 14th century style 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 the Holy Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
was a gift from the Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his elect ...
. Built in flint and stone, it 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.
Ove ...
, 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 ...
, south porch and belfry with a single bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
. Inside the Church an oak tablet (which has since been moved to the village hall
A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as:
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...
) on the north wall remembers the local men who lost their lives during the two World Wars
A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...
, with the inscription:
:Ye that live on in English Pastures Green,
:Remember us and think what might have been
The church closed in January 2006.
School
Grazeley Parochial Primary School
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
was built in 1861 at a cost of £442 16s 9d, initially to accommodate 100 pupils. As children walked from nearby Spencers Wood, Shinfield
Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, just south of Reading. It contains and is administered by the unitary authority of Wokingham District. Shinfield Park is the northern part of the parish, becoming ph ...
and Burghfield
Burghfield is a village and large civil parish in West Berkshire, England, with a boundary with Reading. Burghfield can trace its history back to before the Domesday book, and was once home to three manors: Burghfield Regis, Burghfield Abbas a ...
, two extensions to the school in 1893 and 1913 increased capacity to 150. The Merry's Educational Foundation, established by deed in 1862, then proved by will in 1873, provided £20 a year in accordance with the donor's will to provide clothing for poor children – ten boys and ten girls attending the school. Built into the school was the Merry's Trust Cottage where the District Nurse
District Nurses work manage care within the community and lead teams of community nurses and support workers. The role requires registered nurses to take a NMC approved specialist practitioner course. Duties generally include visiting house-bound ...
lived rent free with heating and maintenance costs being partly covered by dedicated savings left in the bank for this purpose. After years of disuse, the cottage was refurbished in 1996 for use by the school for administrative and child resource areas. Originally an all-age school it became a primary school in 1944 and now teaches up to 90 pupils aged between five and eleven, mainly from Grazeley village, Beech Hill, Three Mile Cross, Spencers Wood and parts of Burghfield
Burghfield is a village and large civil parish in West Berkshire, England, with a boundary with Reading. Burghfield can trace its history back to before the Domesday book, and was once home to three manors: Burghfield Regis, Burghfield Abbas a ...
.
Grazeley Village Memorial Hall
Opened in 1956 the village memorial hall
A memorial hall is a hall built to commemorate an individual or group; most commonly those who have died in war. Most are intended for public use and are sometimes described as ''utilitarian memorials''.
History of the Memorial Hall
In the aft ...
, normally known simply as Grazeley Village Hall
A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as:
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...
, provides a venue for the local community, clubs and societies. The Hall is on Grazeley 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 ...
, adjacent to the school and the church. Throughout 2006 it celebrated its golden jubilee
A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...
with numerous events including a fun run
A fun run is a friendly race that involves either road running or cross country running with participants taking part for their own enjoyment rather than competition. A fun run will usually be held to raise funds for a charity, with sponsors pr ...
and a summer ball.
AWE Burghfield
Within the Grazeley Green part of Wokefield
Wokefield is a hamlet and civil parish in the West Berkshire district of Berkshire, England, south of Reading. The parish includes the hamlets of Goddard's Green and Bloomfield Hatch. It also includes part of the former parish of Sulhamstead ...
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 ...
and in adjoining Burghfield
Burghfield is a village and large civil parish in West Berkshire, England, with a boundary with Reading. Burghfield can trace its history back to before the Domesday book, and was once home to three manors: Burghfield Regis, Burghfield Abbas a ...
is the Ministry of Defence's Atomic Weapons Research Establishment factory responsible for the final assembly, maintenance and decommissioning of the UK's nuclear deterrent alongside the main AWE site at Aldermaston
Aldermaston is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1015. The village is in the Kennet Valley and bounds Hampshire to the south. It is approximately from Newbury, Basingsto ...
.
Sources
*Kirkwood, Kerr (1992). ''Grazeley village 1800–1940: personnified'' ic''by its farmers.'' Reading: Berkshire Local History Association.
References
External links
Grazeley Village Hall
{{authority control
Villages in Berkshire
West Berkshire District
Borough of Wokingham
Sulhamstead
Former civil parishes in Berkshire