Mortimer Common, generally referred to as Mortimer, is a village 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 authority ...

Stratfield Mortimer Stratfield Mortimer is a village and civil parish, just south of Reading, in the English ceremonial county of Berkshire and unitary authority area of West Berkshire. Parish geography The south and south-east half of the parish consists of farms ...

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 ...

. Mortimer is in the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

district of

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 Distric ...

and is seven miles south-west 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 ...

Geography

Mortimer stands at the top of Mortimer Hill, at the bottom of which is

. To the north lies

Burghfield Common 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 ...

and Wokefield. To the West lies

Mortimer West End Mortimer West End is a village and civil parish in north Hampshire in England. It lies in the northernmost point of the county. History At one time it was the Hampshire part of the cross-county parish of Stratfield Mortimer (mostly in Berkshire) ...

and

Padworth Common Padworth Common is a hamlet and common in the English county of Berkshire, within the civil parish of Padworth. It is bounded by Burghfield to the east and Aldermaston to the west. To the north is Padworth and to the south is Mortimer West End ...

. The

Lockram Brook Lockram Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises near the Berkshire village of Mortimer, and is a tributary of Burghfield Brook. Route Lockram Brook rises in various areas of woodland and farmland near Mortimer. These include dra ...

flows through the middle 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 ...

and joins into

Burghfield Brook Burghfield Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises in Wokefield Common between the Berkshire villages of Mortimer and Burghfield Common. It is a tributary of Foudry Brook, which it joins near Hartley Court Farm, just to the south ...

which is further to the Northeast, this in turn feeds into

Foudry Brook Foudry Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises from a number of springs near the Hampshire village of Baughurst, and flows to the east and then the north, to join the River Kennet to the south of Reading. The upper section is call ...

, a tributary of the

Kennet and Avon Canal The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the cent ...

. There is much

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

in the area, including Starvale Woods,

Wokefield Common 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 a ...

and Holden Firs. The three main roads in Mortimer are The Street, West End Road and Victoria Road.

Businesses

There is a surgery,

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

, a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

, pharmacy, a

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 ...

, Dads Shop (hardware),

Budgens Budgens Stores Ltd, trading as Budgens, is a chain of grocery stores in the United Kingdom. The business was founded in 1872 by John Budgen, who opened the first shop in Maidenhead, Berkshire and was incorporated as a private limited company o ...

supermarket,

McColl's McColl's Retail Group is a British convenience shop and newsagent operator, trading under the trading names Morrisons Daily and McColl's (for convenience stores), Martin's (newsagents and pound shops) and RS McColl for some stores in Scotland ...

convenience store,

travel agent A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinatio ...

, Chinese/fish and chips take away, 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 ...

St John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given t ...

. Next to the church is St John's

Infant School An infant school is a term used primarily in England and Wales, for the education of children between the ages of four and seven years. It is usually a small school serving a particular area. It is sometimes a department in a larger primary school ...

. There are three

pub 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 ...

s in Mortimer Common, each on one of the three main roads through the village: ''The

Horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

and Groom'' in The Street opposite Mortimer Fairground, ''The Victoria Arms'' in Victoria Road and ''The Turner's Arms'' in West End Road.

Community halls

A new Mortimer

Community Hall Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

with a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

has been constructed on the common, it is available for hire. There is also the St John's Hall, that houses the Mortimer Pre-School, holds amateur dramatic shows and is available for hire.

Transport

Bus travel from

is provided by

Reading Buses Reading Buses is a bus operator serving the towns of Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead, Wokingham and the surrounding areas in the counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and Hampshire, England, as well as parts of Greater L ...

services 2 and 2a.

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

, on the

Reading to Basingstoke Line 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 (spelling ...

, is down The Street from the main village, and frequent services are operated by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

Sport and leisure

Mortimer Village Partnership (MVP) is an independent

not for profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organisation that was set up by volunteers in 2009. The purpose of the MVP is to involve people and groups in the life of the village, to improve communications, to connect people together and facilitate activities and events in order to enhance the lives of those who live and work in Mortimer and nearby. Several events are organised annually. including a regular lunch club,

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

trips, travelling theatres, events for children and the famous annual Mortimer Fun Day in July which attracts thousands of visitors from all around. In 2014 the group was awarded The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service and it continues to recognise the hundreds of volunteers annually by presenting them with a certificate and the addition of their name into a book of honour. Mortimer has several senior

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

teams including Mortimer FC as well as two youth football teams; Mortimer Stingers and Mortimer Hornets. Mortimer Football Club was founded as the Mortimer Garth Club by Miss Bertha G. P. Capron of Garth House (and later of Little Garth), Mortimer. Miss Capron also paid for the construction of a hall for the Garth Club, known as the Garth Hall, in 1915. Miss Capron (1863-1954) was the eldest daughter of the Rev. George Halliley Capron of Soouthwick Hall and

Stoke Doyle Stoke Doyle is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire in England, two miles south-west of Oundle. The population of the village at the 2011 Census was included in the civil parish of Wadenhoe. The village's name means 'Outlying f ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, and settled in Mortimer with her unmarried sisters after her brother inherited the Southwick estates in 1909. Mortimer FC is currently in the Reading Football League Senior Division, in tier 11 of the

football pyramid In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

. Mortimer has won the League four times; in 1993–4, 1994–5, 1996–7 and 2001–02. Mortimer has amateur

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

clubs, cubs,

scouts Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

girl guides Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

and brownies clubs as well as the Mortimer Dramatic Society. A

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

was completed in the autumn of 2009, which is used as a cricket

. The fairground is also used for travelling

funfair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...

s. On taking over from Sewards Supermarket,

also took over the tradition of arranging the annual '

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 pro ...

', a 10 kilometre race around the village, which generally takes place on the last Sunday of September.

History

The name Mortimer stems from the

lords of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...

, the Mortimer family, a powerful magnate family and the

Earls of March Earl of March is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or borderlands between England and either Wales ( Welsh Marches) or Scotland (Scottish Mar ...

from Wigmore,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

. The family were given the manor, along with

Wigmore Castle Wigmore Castle is a ruined castle about from the village of Wigmore, Herefordshire, Wigmore in the northwest region of Herefordshire, England. History Wigmore Castle was founded after the Norman conquest of England, Norman Conquest, probabl ...

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

shortly after 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 Conque ...

and held it throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, as recorded 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 ...

Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerful Marcher Lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marri ...

was for three years de facto ruler 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 ...

after leading a successful rebellion against

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

, before being overthrown and executed in 1330 by

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 ...

, with his lands (including Mortimer) seized by

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

. The Mortimers came close, during the reign of

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father died ...

, to the English throne again, but the claims of the family were ignored and the throne was vested in Henry IV instead. During the

Tudor period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in History of England, England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in Englan ...

Mortimer was one of the lands granted to each of the wives of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. There are several

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 pri ...

burial mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a ...

in the area. Excavations at one have shown that it was later used for burials when the

Anglo-Saxons 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- ...

moved into the area.

Notable people

* Julia Foot (née Neville) RGN, RMN, DN, BSc (Hons) –

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 ...

and Community

Matron Matron is the job title of a very senior or the chief nurse in several countries, including the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and other Commonwealth countries and former colonies. Etymology The chief nurse, in other words the person ...

and Non Medical Prescriber from 1965 to the present day, was born in Briar Lea Road and lived in West End Road and Summerlug (off

St Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

s Road). She worked at

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...

District

Hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

, Battle Hospital

and Chase Farm in

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

. Community Nursing in Enfield and

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

. *

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Kenneth Mason MC (1887-1976), Professor of

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

1932–53, lived at Sylvanway, West End Road, Mortimer. * Rt Hon Sir John Mowbray, 1st Bt, PC, MP, JP, DL, DCL (1815-1899), was MP for Oxford University from 1868-99 and was Father of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1898–99, lived at Warennes Wood, Mortimer. * Sir Robert Mowbray, 2nd Bt, MP, JP, DL (1850-1916), was MP for

Prestwich Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford and south of Bury. Historically part of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ancient parish o ...

and

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

, lived at Warennes Wood, Mortimer. * Robert Newman is a former England

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

champion * Lt. Col. Herbert St Maur Carter D.S.O., M.D.- a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

who retired to Mortimer after service in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

. Decorated by the British and Serbian governments. *

David Tuttle David Philip Tuttle (born 6 February 1972 in Mortimer Common, Berkshire) is an English former footballer. He is currently manager of AFC Aldermaston. Career As a player, Tuttle was a central defender. He began his playing career at Tottenham ...

is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and manager *Roy Pounder is a contestant on

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

representing

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

References

External links

Mortimer Village WebsiteMortimer Life (news, events and resources)
{{authority control Villages in Berkshire West Berkshire District