Oare is a small 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 authorit ...

Chieveley Chieveley is a village and large civil parish centred north of Newbury in Berkshire, close to the M4 motorway and A34 road. Chieveley services are within the parish. Geography A map of 1877 gave the area as . The landscape is of gently ro ...

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 ide ...

county of Berkshire.

History

Oare boasts the earliest documented history within the parish. In 638, King Edgar gave Oare Chapel to the

Abbot of Abingdon The Abbot of Abingdon was the head (or abbot) of Anglo-Saxon and eventually Benedictine house of Abingdon Abbey at Abingdon-on-Thames in northern Berkshire (present-day Oxfordshire), England. The following is a list of abbots of Abingdon: Fict ...

, a gift witnessed by Saint Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. Ten hides of land (around 1200 acres) accompanied it. A

monastic grange Monastic granges were outlying landholdings held by monasteries independent of the manorial system. The first granges were owned by the Cistercians and other orders followed. Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, most of which were largely ...

was built by the abbot at which he could rest on the arduous journey between Abingdon and Winchester. The grange was where Oare Farm House now stands. All that remains of the original is a very fine garden wall. The pond beside the church was formerly used by the

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s and prior to hold carp for their Friday meals. The grange was pulled down during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII, leaving the little church for the people. Oare became a chapel of Chieveley at that time.

References

*Much of the text for this page was originally taken, with permission, fro
www.chieveley.info

External links

{{authority control Villages in Berkshire Chieveley