| Stratfield Mortimer | |
|---|---|
| Village andcivil parish | |
 St. Mary's Church | |
  Stratfield Mortimer Location withinBerkshire | |
| Area | 9.67 km2 (3.73 sq mi) |
| Population | 3,807 (2011 census including Mortimer Common)[1] |
| • Density | 394/km2 (1,020/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SU6664 |
| 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 | |
| 51°22′23″N1°02′13″W / 51.373°N 1.037°W /51.373; -1.037 | |
Stratfield Mortimer is a village andcivil parish, just south ofReading, in theEnglish county ofBerkshire andunitary authority area ofWest Berkshire.
The manor of Stratfield dates back to the time ofEdward the Confessor. The 1086Domesday Book records it as being held byRalf Mortimer, and it stayed in the ownership of the nobleMortimer family until their descendant, theEarl of March, grandson ofAnne de Mortimer, became KingEdward IV.[2]
In 1559,Elizabeth I granted the manor toLord Hunsdon, who in turn passed it to theMarquess of Winchester who joined it to the manor ofEnglefield, Berkshire.[2]
The parish church of St Mary is a grade II listed Victorian gothic building, built in 1869 by Richard Armstrong on the site of a much older church, including the remains of aSaxon tomb.[3]
The south and south-east half of the parish consists of farms with a small percentage of woodland and is bisected by theFoudry Brook and is adjacent to theReading to Basingstoke Line which is more than 40% on raised embankments but in the far south is in a cutting. Thelinear village of Stratfield Mortimer climbs Mortimer Hill which rises westward from the Foudry Brook. It has no fixed formal or historic boundaries withMortimer Common (often colloquially referred to simply as Mortimer), the more populated parts of the parish are located at the top of the hill.
The north-western 5% of the land is Mortimer Woods orcommon land which blends intoWokefield Common - Mortimer Woods has a set ofscheduled monuments – one large, steepBronze Ageround barrow and three further smallerbowl barrows.[4] The Foudry Brook is crossed by the scenicVictorian Tun Bridge. The Lockram Brook flows through the middle of the parish and there is more than 10% woodland making up the parish open to the public under theCountryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 including Starvale Woods, Wokefield Common and Holden Firs. The southern boundary is a straight footpath called theDevil's Highway because it sits on the line of the western stretch of theRoman road fromLondinium (London) toCalleva Atrebatum (Silchester).[5]
The main settlement in this parish is Mortimer Common which has a surgery, dentist, pharmacy, a post office, a hardware shop,Co-op supermarket,Morrisons convenience store, travel agent, Chinese/fish and chips take away, theChurch of England parish church ofSt John the Evangelist and MortimerMethodist Church. St John's Church was built in 1881 by Richard Benyon ofEnglefield House.[2]
Next to the church is St John's Infant School, now federated withSt. Mary's Junior School which is down the hill, nearer the station. At the centre of Mortimer Common, in The Fairground, are 20 acres of land managed by theparish council for public recreation.
The large house, Mortimer Hill, is the historic home of theHunter family. There are three pubs in the village, each on one of the three main roads through the village: The Horse and Groom in The Street opposite Mortimer Fairground, The Victoria Arms in Victoria Road and The Turner's Arms in West End Road. A new Mortimer village hall with a cricket pavilion has been constructed on the Fairground, it is available for hire. There is also theSt John's Hall, that houses the Mortimer Pre-School, holds amateur dramatic shows and is available for hire.
Before the mid-nineteenth century when parishes were only ecclesiastical, Stratfield Mortimer was a cross-county parish: theHampshire part was known asMortimer West End.[citation needed] It became an ecclesiastical parish in 1866> and acquired its own civil parish in 1894.[6] A faint vestige of this is that Stratfield Mortimer ecclesiastical parish today includes Wokefield Common and a small uninhabited fraction of Mortimer West End.[7]
The village includes the Cinnamon Tree Indian restaurant, (formerly the Fox and Horn, and prior to that, the Railway Arms public house), St Mary'sChurch of England parish church, MortimerSt. John's Infant School, Mortimer St. Mary's Junior School and the headquarters of the Berkshire Federation ofWomen's Institutes. Stratfield Mortimer is served byMortimer railway station on theReading to Basingstoke Line.Reading Buses run the Vitality 2 and 2a routes from Mortimer toPeppard Common viaBurghfield,Reading Station &Sonning Common.
Mortimer Tennis club, play from 2 courts on the Fairground. Mortimer Cricket Club, play out of the Mortimer village hall on the Fairground. Mortimer Football Club, play on theAlfred Palmer Memorial Field to the west of Mortimer, beside The Turners Arms. The localgolf course is atWokefield Park.
| Output area | Homes owned outright | Owned with a loan | Socially rented | Privately rented | Other | km2 roads | km2 water | km2 domestic gardens | Usual residents | km2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civil parish | 543 | 559 | 246 | 181 | 26 | 0.242 | 0.028 | 0.722 | 3807 | 9.67 |
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Media related toStratfield Mortimer at Wikimedia Commons
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