A few posts ago I looked at other settlements named Newbury around the World. With Thatcham it is a different story, try as I might I cannot find another settlement called Thatcham. If you know of any please do get in touch so I can add to my Thatcham history research. There are similar names, …
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a fantastic piece of engineering work that is rightly enjoyed and celebrated by many. Like a lot of history there are a number of misconceptions connected to the canal. This post is a brief history, there is far more history than I will cover, in this post at least. …
In my various history researches I always come across interesting information, some such as noted below, I dig a little deeper on, but are not my direct focus at the time and usually don’t get beyond a note in my research. Going back through my research, some of it, I thought I might share some …
You will not find Newbury in any documents before the Norman conquest, what you will find is Thatcham Hundred consisting of a number of manors. One of those manors is Ulvritone. This was a small settlement somewhere in the Newbury area, possibly in the “City” area. Grey notes in his “The History and Antiquities of …
Continuing with my potted history of the local pubs, three more are described below, only one of which survives to this day. Please note that there was/is a difference between alehouse, beerhouse, tavern, inn, hotel, etc. although the definitions of many are now more clouded. Below I will typically refer to pub to encompass everything. …
A number of years ago I gave a talk in which I mentioned how a group of people from the area, Newbury, Berkshire, UK, moved to North America. The people included Rev. Thomas Parker and Rev. James Noyes. In 1634 they arrived in Ipswich (then known as Agawam) and later in 1635 moved along the …
I mentioned previously about the roadside water pumps, the other thing people often ask about are the milestones. Milestones have a long history going back to at least the Romans. They marked every thousandth double step, hence the latin for thousand, “mille”. This equated to 1618 yards or 1479.5 meters. Throughout history the measure of …
There are a number of pumps dotted around Thatcham and I am often asked about them at history talks. This is a write up of my understanding of the roadside pumps along the A4, I am aware there are other pumps around, in gardens for example. In 1763 people in the Colnbrook area complained about …
Thatcham once covered a much larger area than it does today (a future post will detail the changing boundary) and until the 20th century Ham Mill was part of Thatcham and NOT Newbury. Ham Mill was once part of a large estate known simply as Ham. One mill stood near where Newbury Manor Hotel is …
Having given a few talks on the history of Newbury recently (2016/7) I find myself defending what I believe about Newbury Grammar School, or rather St Bartholomew’s. Locally Henry Wormstall is credited with the founding of the school. It is said that from the will of Wormstall in 1466 he left specific instructions for the …
