| Shiplake | |
|---|---|
 Parish church of Saint Peter and Paul | |
  Shiplake Location withinOxfordshire | |
| Area | 4.44 km2 (1.71 sq mi) |
| Population | 1,954 (2011 Census) |
| • Density | 440/km2 (1,100/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SU7678 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HENLEY-ON-THAMES |
| Postcode district | RG9 |
| Dialling code | 0118 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Shiplake Villages |
| |
Shiplake consists of three settlements: Shiplake, Shiplake Cross and Lower Shiplake. Together these villages form acivil parish situated beside theRiver Thames 2 miles (3 km) south ofHenley-on-Thames,Oxfordshire, England. The river forms the parish boundary to the east and south, and also the county boundary between Oxfordshire andBerkshire. The villages have two discrete centres separated by agricultural land. The2011 Census records the parish (on its adjusted scale) population as 1,954 and containing 679 homes.[1] The A4155 main road linking Henley withReading, Berkshire passes through the parish.
The largest settlement is Lower Shiplake, formerly Lashbrook, centred aroundShiplake railway station on theHenley Branch Line. It is the economic centre of the parish and contains a store &post office, butcher shop and The Baskervillepub, as well as most of the homes in the parish.
1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Lower Shiplake are the older, contiguous settlements of Shiplake and Shiplake Cross.The settlement of Shiplake village is the historic and religious centre of the parish and contains Shiplake Farm, theParish church ofSaint Peter &Saint Paul on Church Lane, Shiplake House, The Plough pub andShiplake College an independentboarding school. The College occupies the building and site of the historic Shiplake Court. Shiplake village contains numerousGrade II listed buildings and monuments.Shiplake Cross is the sporting and community centre of the parish. It consists of just five roads: Memorial Avenue, Orchard Close, Plough Lane, Plowden Way and Schoolfields. It contains the Shiplake Memorial Hall, Shiplake VillageBowling Club (founded 1920) and ShiplakeTennis & Social Club as well as Shiplake CE Primary School and Nursery.
Historically, the parish also includedBinfield Heath, 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the historic Shiplake village. Since 2003 it has been a separatecivil parish.
The earliest known surviving records of thetoponym "Shiplake" are from the 13th century. TheBook of Fees recordsSciplak in 1236 and theTaxatio Ecclesiastica recordsSchipelak in 1292. It is derived fromOld English and means "stream where sheep were washed".[2] The other supposed origin is a mix of Saxon (Scip=ship) and Danish (Lack= to want or not to possess) 'lack of ships' and may relate to a Viking practice of sinking boats as a cache. Vikings raided the Thames and attacked Reading in 871. The Viking option was[3] preferred by Emily J Climenson in her 1894 tome, 'The History of Shiplake'.
TheChurch of Englandparish church ofSaint Peter and Paul dates from at least the 13th century and is the centre of the Church of England parish of Shiplake. In 1869 the church wasrestored and enlarged to designs by theGothic Revival architectGE Street. Thechancel, northaisle and parts of the south aisle were rebuilt and thetracery of all its windows were replaced.[4] The church is aGrade II* listed building.[5] In the churchyard is a Gothic Revivalshaft cross. It was erected in 1908 as a monument to a member of the Phillimore family. It is Grade II listed.[6]
The church tower has aring of eight bells, all recast by theWhitechapel Bell Foundry in 2009.[7] Shiplake Church also has aSanctus bell cast byGillett & Johnston ofCroydon in 1929.[7] The earliest reference to Shiplake’s bells is in an inventory dating from the reign ofEdward VI (1547–53): "Item – Three belles in ye steeple".[8] The church bells were rung forAlfred Lord Tennyson's wedding on 13 June 1850. The ceremony was performed by the Reverend Robert Rawnsley who was Vicar from 1849-62. Tennyson gave the vicar a poem in lieu of payment for the ceremony:
Vicar of that pleasant spot, Where it was my chance to marry, Happy, happy be your lot, In the vicarage by the quarry: You were he that knit the knot.[9]
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In 1773 theThames Navigation Commission builtShiplake Lock on the River Thames about1⁄2 mile (800 m) downriver from themain village. About 1830 Shiplake House was built.[11] It is a three-storey early 19th-centuryRegency house just east of what is nowShiplake College. Part of the rear and side has a decorative wrought ironverandah.[12] In 1857 theGreat Western Railway opened theHenley branch line betweenTwyford andHenley-on-Thames, crossing the Thames onShiplake Railway Bridge, about 300 yards (270 m) downstream from Shiplake Lock. The GWR builtShiplake railway station at Lasbrook (later Lower Shiplake), 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of the historic Shiplake village. Lower Shiplake has since grown into the largest settlement within the parish. The original railway bridge was of timber. In 1897 the GWR replaced it with the present iron bridge.
In 1889 the authorJerome K. Jerome featured Shiplake in his novelThree Men in a Boat.[13] Most homes in Shiplake were built or rebuilt after the railway arrived. These includeShiplake Court, an historic estate andcountry house beside the parish church that overlooks the Thames. Shiplake Court was re-built between 1890[14] and about 1905.[15] In 1959 it becameShiplake College, an independent boarding school.[16] Some of the college buildings areGrade II listed, including its "extraordinary"[11] water tower.[17] In 2003 the village ofBinfield Heath and thehamlet ofCrowsley were separated from Shiplake civil parish to form the new civil parish of Binfield Heath.[18] Binfield Heath and Crowsley remain part of theChurch of England parish of Shiplake, as doesEye and Dunsden to the south.
Shiplake has two pubs: The Plough (formerly The Plowden Arms) and The Baskerville. The Plough is located on the A4155 at the junction with Plough Lane, and The Baskerville is located in Lower Shiplake, near the railway station.
Shiplake has avillage hall,[19]Women's Institute,[20]amateur dramatic society,[21]bowls[22] andlawn tennis club[23] and many other clubs, such as the art and history societies, as well as various fitness groups. Shiplake has a small number of industrial, storage, retail, distribution and office units.[1]
Primary schooling takes place at Shiplake CE Primary School on Memorial Avenue, a Voluntary AidedChurch of England school with a school role of 178.[24] Older children attend nearbyGillotts School in Henley.Shiplake College is an independent day andboarding school for boys aged 11–18 and girls aged 16–18, located just off the main A4155Henley on Thames toReading road by Saints Peter and Paul parish church.[25]
Shiplake railway station is on theHenley Branch Line. All trains terminate atTwyford, where they connect withGreat Western Main Line trains toLondon Paddington andReading. Two bus routes serve Shiplake.
TheWargrave & Shiplake Regatta was founded in 1867 and is held over an August weekend for non-racing shells (also known as Olympic or fine boats).[28] It receives the most entries forskiffing and dongolas racing on theThames. Theregatta attracts a comparable number of entries to the largest shell-racing regattas on the Thames such asKingston Regatta andMolesey Regatta.
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