Greenham 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. Greenham commences immediately south-east of Newbury and is in

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 ...

. It was 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 manus ...

as ''Greneham''.

Governance

Greenham was originally a

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 ...

in the parish of

Thatcham Thatcham is an historic market town and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, centred 3 miles (5 km) east of Newbury, 14 miles (24 km) west of Reading and 54 miles (87 km) west of London. Geography Thatcham straddles t ...

. In 1878, the northern part was given to Newbury and the southern part became its own parish. West Berkshire administers local government; certain minor local services such as footpaths and sports facilities received grants from the precept of the parish council, formed of residents. The population of the civil parish was 937 at the 2011 Census. The area of the village, in its broad, traditional definition, including the racecourse,

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a ...

and airfield, is .

Amenities

Greenham's parish church of St Mary was built between 1875 and 1895 by

Henry Woodyer Henry Woodyer (1816–1896) was an English architect, a pupil of William Butterfield and a disciple of A. W. N. Pugin and the Ecclesiologists. Life Woodyer was born in Guildford, Surrey, England, in 1816, the son of a successful, highly resp ...

in the

Early English style English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

. It 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 Irel ...

. There is a public open space by the church, called Audrey's Meadow after local councillor, Audrey Appleby, administered by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. Schools in the parish include Mary Hare primary school in the village itself, Highwood Copse primary school, St Gabriel's School at Sandleford Priory and Newbury College.

Transport

Newbury Racecourse railway station Newbury Racecourse railway station serves the East Fields area of the town of Newbury, Berkshire, England, and the adjacent Newbury Racecourse. It is measured from . It was opened on 26 September 1905. As the station is next to the racecours ...

is within the parish, served by Great Western Railway local services from to and . Services are augmented on race days. The A339 from Basingstoke runs along the southern edge of the parish before heading north along the former alignment of the A34 into the centre of Newbury. The Kennet and Avon Canal runs along the north-western edge of the parish. The racecourse incorporates an airfield for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

use on race days.

Housing

An area separating southern Newbury from Greenham, sometimes referred to by locals as the 'Greenham Gap', has historically been free of housing, but a development of 36 houses was completed in this area in 2020 and outline plans for further housing were approved in 2017 and 2018, amidst concerns about traffic management and local rights of way.

Industry

Newbury Racecourse Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse and events venue in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps. It hosts one of Great Britain's 36 annual Group 1 flat ...

is within the northern border of the parish. The Greenham Industrial Estate is in the south-eastern corner, beyond the former

RAF Greenham Common Royal Air Force Greenham Common or RAF Greenham Common is a former Royal Air Force station in the civil parishes of Greenham and Thatcham in the English county of Berkshire. The airfield was southeast of Newbury, about west of London. Opened ...

which occupied much of the common between 1942 and 1992.

Demography

References

External links

Royal Berkshire History: Greenham

A History of RAF Greenham Common
Villages in Berkshire West Berkshire District Civil parishes in Berkshire Thatcham {{Berkshire-geo-stub