Kintbury 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 Berkshire,

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 ...

, between the towns of Newbury and

Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...

. The village has a convenient railway to and , proximity to other transport and local cultural destinations, including

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

sites, and forms part of a very large

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

, the North Wessex Downs which extends from the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

at Streatley to West

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

Amenities

Amenities in the village have included the Church of England parish church,

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 ...

, 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 ser ...

, a corner shop, and a

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as cafés, serving coffee and tea to customers who w ...

. A

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

youth retreat and work centre,

St Cassian's Centre St Cassian's Centre is a Catholic Youth Retreat Centre in the village of Kintbury in the English county of West Berkshire. It is owned and operated by the Ireland, Great Britain and Malta District of the de La Salle brothers. The centre was set ...

, is south-west of the village centre, between Inglewood and Titcomb. There are two

pubs 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 ...

in the village; The Blue Ball and The Dundas Arms. The village has sports facilities including

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 ...

, bowls and football clubs, as well as an indoor leisure centre. The village has an area of Site of Special Scientific Interest on its south eastern border called Catmore and Winterly Copses. The Village has a Local nature reserve called

Kintbury Newt Ponds Kintbury Newt Ponds is a nature reserve in Kintbury in Berkshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. The reserve is made up of several ponds, reedbed, scrub and grassland. History Kintbury Newt Pond ...

Kennet and Avon Canal at the Dundas Arms, Kintbury - geograph

Transport

Kintbury railway station in the village is served by local services from and to . The Kennet and Avon Canal runs through the village at

Kintbury Lock Kintbury Lock is a Canal lock, lock on the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Kintbury, Berkshire, England. The lock has a rise/fall of . See also *List of locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal References

Locks on the Kennet and Avon Canal ...

. A horse drawn

widebeam A widebeam is a canal boat built in the style of a British narrowboat but with a beam of or greater.The Canal and River Trust (CRT) gives more than one minimum width for a wide beam on their website: "anything wider than []" in ''Wide beam, wid ...

Canal craft, canal boat runs public trips from Kintbury, either towards Newbury or towards

Sport and leisure

The village holds an annual "Ray Boxshall Orienteering Fun Day". An orienteering event named after Ray Boxshall who was heavily involved in running the event in the years before he died. Kintbury has two amateur dramatic societies - The Kintbury Players (who generally perform comedic plays), and St Mary's Drama Group who perform an annual

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

in the

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

half term holiday. Kintbury has a Sports and Leisure centre - the Kintbury

Jubilee A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of y ...

Centre, run by the community for the community, with fitness classes, clubs, and a hall available to hire. Kintbury is also home to

North Berks Football League The North Berks Football League is a football competition in England. The league was founded in 1908. It has a total of three divisions, with Division One sitting at level 12 of the English football league system. The vast majority of clubs are ...

club Kintbury Rangers F.C., who play at the Recreation Ground. Notable former players include Southampton F.C striker

Charlie Austin Charles Austin (born 5 July 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker. Released from his contract by Reading as a youth, Austin played non-league football up to May 2009, when he was signed by Swindon Town after a pro ...

and former Everton player

Brett Angell Brett Ashley Mark Angell (born 20 August 1968) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was striker and although notably spending time in the Premier League with Everton and Sunderland, he spent the ...

Notable residents

* George Cherry (1822–1887), cricketer and barrister * Robert Harris, author of well-known novels including ''Fatherland'', ''Enigma'' and ''Pompeii'' * Anthony Howard, political journalist, attended school there. * Roger Mortimer ( horse racing journalist) spent his final years living in Kintbury. *

Chapman Pincher Henry Chapman Pincher (29 March 1914 – 5 August 2014) was an English journalist, historian and novelist whose writing mainly focused on espionage and related matters, after some early books on scientific subjects. Early life Pincher was born ...

lived there for many years. * Sir Gordon Richards, 26 times champion jockey, spent his final years there and is buried there. *

William Winterbourne William Winterbourne, also known as William Smith, was the very first of the "Victims of Whiggery" to be hanged at Reading Gaol on 11 January 1831 for his part in the Swing Riots of 1830. He was born in Kintbury in 1798. The riots involved agri ...

, hanged at

Reading Gaol HM Prison Reading, popularly known as Reading Gaol, is a former prison located in Reading, Berkshire, England. The prison was operated by His Majesty's Prison Service until its closure at the start of 2014. It is a Grade II listed building and ...

for his part in the Swing Riots of 1830, buried in the churchyard

Demography

References

External links

Kintbury village website

Kintbury Players

Kintbury Jubilee Centre
* {{Authority control Villages in Berkshire Civil parishes in Berkshire West Berkshire District