Englefield 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the English county of
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
. The village is mostly within the bounds of the private walled estate of
Englefield House. The village is in the
district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
of
West Berkshire
West Berkshire is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. It is 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 Newbur ...
, close to
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
.
Toponymy
The place-name 'Englefield' is first attested in the
Anglo Saxon Chronicle for 871, where it appears as ''Engla feld''. It appears as ''Englefel'' 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086, and as ''Englefeld'' in the
Feet of Fines
A foot of fine (plural, feet of fines; Latin: ''pes finis''; plural, ''pedes finium'') is the archival copy of the agreement between two parties in an English lawsuit over land, most commonly the fictitious suit (in reality a conveyance) known a ...
for 1196. The name indicates settlement by the
Angles in
Saxon
The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
territory.
Battle of Englefield
In 870, the village was the site of the Battle of Englefield. This was fought between the
Anglo-Saxons
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
, under
Æthelwulf,
Ealdorman
Ealdorman ( , )"ealdorman"
''Collins English Dictionary''. was an office in the Government ...
of Berkshire, and the
Danes
Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
History
Early history
Denmark ...
, and resulted in a resounding victory for the Saxons. The battle was the first of a series in the winter of 870–1. The village may have been named after the battle, Englefield meaning "English field".
Englefield House
Englefield House was the home of the Englefield family, supposedly from the time of
King Edgar and certainly until the
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female ...
when the present building was erected. The house eventually passed to the Benyon family, as part of the largest privately owned estate in West Berkshire.
Village
In the late 19th century,
Richard Fellowes Benyon rebuilt the villagers' houses as a model estate village and provided them with such amenities as a swimming pool, soup kitchen and a new school. Today the estate, owned by a family company, the Englefield Estate, covers some .
The village relies on and contributes to the amenities and organisations in
Theale and
Tilehurst, which bound it to the south and east, as well as Reading.
Demography
References
External links
Englefield Parish CouncilSt Mark's Church EnglefieldEnglefield Social ClubEnglefield Village Hall
{{authority control
Villages in Berkshire
Civil parishes in Berkshire
West Berkshire District