Rotherfield Peppard (often referred to simply as Peppard by locals) 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 Chiltern Hills in

South Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire, England. Its council is temporarily based outside the district at Abingdon-on-Thames pending a planned move to Didcot, the district's largest town. The a ...

. It is centred west of Henley-on-Thames, north of

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

and southwest of

Rotherfield Greys Rotherfield Greys is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire. It is west of Henley-on-Thames and just over east of Rotherfield Peppard (locally known as Peppard). It is linked by a near-straight minor road to H ...

. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 1,649. The area includes Peppard Hill, which is west of the centre of the village and adjoins

Sonning Common Sonning Common is a village and civil parish in a relatively flat, former common land part of the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, centred west south-west of Henley-on-Thames and north of Reading. History During the English Civil Wa ...

. Peppard Common is public woodland and meadow in between in a ravine. The far east of the parish is a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

and the far west is Kingwood Common which is also wooded

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 ...

. In 1951,

Elizabeth Goudge Elizabeth de Beauchamp Goudge FRSL (24 April 1900 – 1 April 1984) was an English writer of fiction and children's books. She won the Carnegie Medal for British children's books in 1946 for ''The Little White Horse''. Goudge was long a popular ...

(1900-1984), novelist and winner of the Newberry Award for Best Children's Book (The White Horse), moved to Rotherfield Peppard, where she lived until her death. A blue plaque, unveiled in 2008, identifies her home.

Toponym

Rotherfield derives from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''redrefeld'' meaning "cattle lands". In the middle of the area is the open-to-the-public land, Peppard Common, once used for grazing and which can be used by parishioners for small timber.

Church and chapel

The Church of England parish church of All Saints was

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 ...

, but was almost completely rebuilt in 1874. All Saints' is a Grade II* listed building. The

ecclesiastical 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 ...

has become part of the united benefice of Rotherfield Peppard, Kidmore End and

. Providence Chapel was founded in 1795. It later became Peppard Congregational Church. It is now Springwater Congregational Church.

Social and economic history

Blount's Court is an early 19th-century house with neoclassical features, including a 15th-century doorway and 16th-century panelling. It was the childhood home of Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys and is now the

Johnson Matthey Johnson Matthey is a British multinational speciality chemicals and sustainable technologies company headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Early years Jo ...

Technology Centre.

Wyfold Court Wyfold Court is a country house at Rotherfield Peppard in south Oxfordshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. By the year 2000, the estate had been converted into apartments. History The house was designed by George Somers Leigh Clarke for t ...

was designed by

Somers Clarke George Somers Clarke (1841–1926) was an architect and English Egyptologist who worked on the restoration and design of churches and at a number of sites throughout Egypt, notably in El Kab, where he built a house. He was born in Brighton. A ...

and built in 1872–78 for the

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

cotton magnate and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician

Edward Hermon Edward Hermon (2 April 1822 – 6 May 1881) was a British cotton magnate and Conservative Party politician. At the 1868 general election he was elected on his first attempt a Member of Parliament (MP) for the two-seat constituency of Preston i ...

(1822–81). It is a Grade II* listed building. Early in the 20th century a local man, Bert Butler, operated a bus business called the Peppard and District Motor Service. This seems to have ceased operating in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In April 1918 the Reading Branch of British Automobile Traction (BAT) started a bus service between Peppard Common and

Reading 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 ...

on a trial basis using petrol-engined buses. This was short-lived due to wartime petrol rationing and was discontinued in May 1918. BAT later reinstated the service, and from October 1919 extended it to Stoke Row.

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 ...

Pink 25 route now serves Peppard Common. The village has thrice been used for settings in the television drama series '' Midsomer Murders'' and also for many of the scenes (including the eponymous house) in the

Merchant Ivory Productions Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory (b. 1928). Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. During their ...

film ''

Howards End ''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...

''. There was formerly a Peppard Football Club that played in the

Combined Counties Football League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

in the 1990s and

Hellenic Football League The Hellenic Football League, currently known as the Uhlsport Hellenic Football League for sponsorship reasons, is an English men's football league covering an area including the English counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, southern B ...

in the early 2000s until it disbanded.

Amenities

The civil parish council keeps updated a map of all of the amenities of the area. The village has a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

-sponsored primary school, Pubs in the parish are the Greyhound Inn Gallowstree Road, the Red Lion in at Peppard Common and the Unicorn at Kingwood. Peppard has a village shop, a horticultural training and garden centre and a pet shop. Also in the parish are a sports field and pavilion, a

lawn 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 cove ...

club and an RDA

equestrian centre An equestrian facility is created and maintained for the purpose of accommodating, training or competing equids, especially horses. Based on their use, they may be known as a barn, stables, or riding hall and may include commercial operations desc ...

for people with disabilities.Wyfold Riding for the Disabled
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Nearest places

References

Sources

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External links

Rotherfield Peppard Parish Council
{{Authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Villages in Oxfordshire