| Padworth | |
|---|---|
| Village andcivil parish | |
 Padworth church is next toPadworth College, once themanor of the parish. | |
  Padworth Location withinBerkshire | |
| Area | 5.71 km2 (2.20 sq mi) |
| Population | 919 (2011 census)[1] |
| • Density | 161/km2 (420/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SU619661 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Reading |
| Postcode district | RG7 |
| Dialling code | 0118 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | http://www.padworthparishcouncil.gov.uk/ |
| 51°23′35″N1°06′50″W / 51.393°N 1.114°W /51.393; -1.114 | |
Padworth is adispersed settlement andcivil parish in the English county ofBerkshire, with the nearest town beingTadley. Padworth is in theunitary authority ofWest Berkshire, and its main settlement is atAldermaston Wharf or Lower Padworth, where there isAldermaston railway station. It has its southern boundary withMortimer West End, Hampshire. The south of the parish is wooded towards its edges and the north of the parish is agricultural with a hotel beside theKennet and Avon Canal. In the centre of the parish is aGeorgianmanor house, later used as a school,Padworth College.
Padworth is built around theNorman church and the manor house, which from 1748 was the home of the Darby-Griffith family. In 1963 the house was converted intoPadworth College, anindependent school. In spring 2025, the school announced it would close at the end of the 2024–25 academic year, and the building put up for sale.[3]
The two halves of the parish can be separated thus:
A 'fishery in the Kenette' was among the possessions of the manor in 1586, and a fishery is mentioned as early as 1378. There is aScheduled Monument fish-pond north of the former manor house. In 1870 its property was valued at £1,839 (equivalent to £222,258 in 2023) while its population was much smaller than today, 298, living in 59 houses.[4]
The whole parish is noted by the 1920s to be very well watered, and the north-eastern part draws on the natural advantage of a fairly flat landscape and water close to the surface from theRiver Kennet. The soil retains a strength from its inorganic layers being gravel and the subsoil impermeable clay.[5] The local economy in the 1920s centred on the chief crops: wheat, barley, oats and root vegetables.[5] These remain regular crops in Padworth alongside hay meadows for livestock, horses and donkeys.
Gravel extraction, education, agriculture, transport and tourism all provide jobs in Padworth itself. Aldermaston railway station at Aldermaston Wharf serves two of these sectors. Commuting to towns, industrial, logistic and trading business centres is the most common source of employment as at the2011 census, with for instanceReading andNewbury about 20–30 minutes away whether by rail or by access to theM4 motorway.[1] Tadley, the nearest town, also provides a major source of retail, leisure and general high street service employment.
Grim's Ditch which runs from the mid-south of the area 0.5 miles (0.80 km) (into the southern forest ofUfton Nervet) is posited to be a 'sub-Roman' bank and ditch dug to defendCalleva Atrebatum (Silchester) when theAnglo-Saxons began to settle in the area. The place is recorded in such documents as theAssize Rolls and nationalFeet of Fines (on property sale) as Peadanwurthe (10th century); Peteorde (11th century); Pedewurth (12th century); Padewrd, Padworze (13th century); Padesworth, Pappeworth (14th century).[5]
A full descent of the manor, including its earliest known grant of 956 and during theBlack Death, is provided by the fully referenced text of theVictoria County History for this parish, compiled here in 1923.[5] A secondary manor of Padworth, Hussey's, existed under John de la Husse in the 13th century, after whom it was named. In theDomesday Book, 2½hides were farmed; which was held by William de Ow and a man named 'Gozelin'. In this instance, itsSaxon era owner was recorded as 'Ælfstan', with its nominal dues going toEdward the Confessor.
The period of titled bearers owning either manor was when the main manor was held by theTichborne baronets and theForster baronets (1629–1681). The manor house is a grade II*listed building.[6] It was built afresh in 1769 by the designs of John Hobcraft, and has plasterwork byJoseph Rose. Its entrance is a double-height space, and has a staircase with a wrought ironbalustrade to three sides. It has a vaulted 3-bay archedarcade on each floor to one side withDoric columns on the ground floor and columns withAdamesque capitals on the floor above.[6]
| Beenham and Padworth Inclosures Act 1811 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
.svg) | |
| Long title | An Act for inclosing several Open and Common Fields, Meadows, Pastures; and other Commonable and Waste Lands in the several Parishes of Beenham and Padworth, in Berks. |
| Citation | 51 Geo. 3. c. cxlii |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 31 May 1811 |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Place names that were here in the 17th century are: Ball's Pidle, Yew Pidle, Pondes Close, Little and Great Burfeildes, Culmers Wood and Bartholomew's, Brickworth Coppice.[5] Theinclosure of thecommon land at Padworth was by its localact of Parliament, theBeenham and Padworth Inclosures Act 1811 (51 Geo. 3. c. cxlii), under the established limited compensatory procedures of the time.[5]
TheChurch of England parish church ofSt John the Baptist, is aisleless and built about 1130 with two three-lightTudor styled ornately carved windows, and with itsvestry and porch having been added in 1890. A smaller Tudor window, with two lights on the south-east square tower façade, above the font, which does not have the entrance. The roof of the nave was largely replaced in the 19th century.[5] Rare features include theNormanchancel arch and north and south doorways, the semi-domedapse and the 18th-century monuments.[7] It is grade Ilisted building.[8]
The church'sadvowson was fromPamber Priory in 1291 when varioustithes and donations provided thePrior's pension.[5] Upon theDissolution of the Monasteries, the advowson was exercised by the Crown until the 19th century. A parishrentcharge, totalling £250 in 1848, was received by therector, the parishioners having commutated the tithes. The parishglebe stood at 28 acres (0.11 km2).[9] By 1923 the rector's patron was theLord Chancellor.[5] The parish is united as part of thebenefice ofStratfield Mortimer,Mortimer West End and Padworth which has four churches and twochurch schools.
| Output area | Homes owned outright | Owned with a loan | Socially rented | Privately rented | Other | Usual residents | km² |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civil parish | 88 | 130 | 68 | 40 | 8 | 919 | 5.71 |
Media related toPadworth at Wikimedia Commons
