Bucklebury is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, about north-east of Newbury and north of the A4 road. The parish has a population of 2,116, but the village is much smaller. Bucklebury Common, with an area of over , is one of the largest commons in the ceremonial and historic county of Berkshire.

Toponymy

The place-name "Bucklebury" is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as Borgeldeberie, which means "Burghild's fortified place or borough" ("Burghild" is a woman's name).

Geography

thumb|left|Hillfoot Farm

thumb|New Barn Farm, Pig Farm

The parish of Bucklebury has three main parts. The original village is on the banks of the River Pang close to its three sources in the parish. Directly south of Bucklebury village and on higher ground is Bucklebury Common, which is of open grazing on managed heather and woodland. The common is, under the Inclosure Acts, open to villagers only as commoners and privately owned. At the eastern boundary of the common is Chapel Row, incorporating local landmarks such as the Blade Bone public house, a doctors' surgery and a teashop.

The village of Upper Bucklebury became the parish's largest residential area in the late 20th century. This is on a hill about a south-west of Bucklebury village at the western tip of the common. Upper Bucklebury has a general store, a public house, a modern Church of England church, All Saints, and a Church of England primary school.

The hamlet of Marlston is also in the parish. It is mostly fields, with a smaller area of woodland.

History

Bucklebury was a royal manor owned by Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042–66). The village and parish church are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.

In the Second World War much of Bucklebury Common was cleared for the stationing of troops. Some of the concrete paths laid down still remain and are now used as bridleways.

Notable buildings

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary has a style consistent with being built in the second half of the 11th century. and was added in about 1170.

The Rectory has an early 18th-century frontage. 2bsd is the collective name for the churches of Bucklebury, Bradfield and Stanford Dingley. The parishes of Bucklebury with Marlston, Bradfield and Stanford Dingley from a group of rural parishes with six very different church buildings architecturally as well.

Bucklebury House and estate

The 1,600–acre (647 ha) agricultural Bucklebury manor estate was confiscated from Reading Abbey at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540 and granted to John Winchcombe (died 1557), who built himself a fine Elizabethan mansion. When it was owned by the Hartley family, a fire in 1830 destroyed the greater part of the house, which was later demolished. The parts left standing were the kitchen, with a huge fireplace, the brewhouse, and the stables, which had been rebuilt by Winchcombe's descendant-in-law, Lord Bolingbroke in the early 18th century, although on the stables is a date 1626 with the initials H. W. for Henry Winchcombe (died 1642). It is currently the home Michael and Carole Middleton, the parents of the Princess of Wales.

Demography

{| class="wikitable"

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|+ 2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005

  • Coral Atkins (1936–2016), actress, known for A Family at War and Emmerdale.
  • Chris Tarrant (born 1946) OBE, TV and radio presenter
  • Carole Middleton (born 1955), mother of Catherine, Princess of Wales, Philippa Matthews (born 1983), and James Middleton (born 1987)
  • Catherine, Princess of Wales (born 1982), wife of William, Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne

References

  • Parish Council
  • The Bucklebury Bowl Turners