Peasemore 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

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 ...

ceremonial and historic county 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 ...

in the

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 ...

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 ...

area, west of the

A34 road The A34 is a major road in England. It runs from the A33 and M3 at Winchester in Hampshire, to the A6 and A6042 in Salford, close to Manchester City Centre. It forms a large part of the major trunk route from Southampton, via Oxford, to B ...

and north of the town of Newbury.

Geography

Peasemore is a small community with a typical clustered centre. A selection of footpaths lead across surrounding fields and across lanes into 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 ...

which surround the village on all sides. All of the land of the village falls within this

AONB An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of rural area, countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for protected area, conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are desig ...

. It is west of the A34, a dual carriageway trunk route between the

M40 motorway The M40 motorway links London, Oxford and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately . The motorway is dual three lanes except for junction 1A to junction 3 (which is dual four lanes) a short section in-between the exit and entry slip-r ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

) and NNW of Newbury.

History

Peasemore is mentioned 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 ...

. There is a plaque on 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 ...

relating to the entry. In 1978, Peasemore won Berkshire's best-kept village competition. The plaque for the award is placed in the entrance to St Barnabas' church, which is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. The mainly mid-18th century church is one of many designed by G E Street.

Amenities and sport

Peasemore has a

public house 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 wa ...

: ''The Fox at Peasemore''. Its civil parish council hires out its village hall and hosts community and self-organised events. It has dance classes, children's parties, fitness training, exhibitions and social gatherings. Its

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 ...

joins in the East Downland

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

organising weekday events for nine

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 north of Newbury. Peasemore Cricket Club is the main organised sporting activity. At the sports field is a children's adventure

play area A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...

run using the parish council precept.

Former amenities

Peasemore had a

village school One-room schools, or schoolhouses, were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and s ...

, built in 1850, closed in the 1950s. Its own

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 se ...

in Hailey Lane closed around 1980 and was converted to a private residence. Now, the nearest grocery shop and primary school are in

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 ...

which hosts the majority of weekday church events.

Transport

Buses connect the village with Newbury, service 107.Bus 107 timetable
Reading Buses#Newbury Buses Retrieved 2014-12-11.

Notable residents

* William Lyford, Anglican then non-Anglican clergyman and author, elected to the

Westminster Assembly The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and the Assembly's work was adopt ...

, rector (

priest). *

Miss Read Dora Jessie Saint MBE (17 April 1913 – 7 April 2012), née Shafe, best known by the pen name Miss Read, was an English novelist and, by profession, a schoolmistress. Her pseudonym was derived from her mother's maiden name. She is best know ...

, author, temporary headmistress at Peasemore. *

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

, raised in Peasemore.

Demography

References

External links

Peasemore Parish Plan

Domesday Book online

Peasemore Village website
{{authority control Civil parishes in Berkshire Villages in Berkshire West Berkshire District