| Pangbourne | |
|---|---|
| Village andcivil parish | |
 Pangbourne village centre | |
  Pangbourne Location withinBerkshire | |
| Area | 6.8 km2 (2.6 sq mi) |
| Population | 3,277 (2021 census) |
| • Density | 482/km2 (1,250/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SU6376 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Reading |
| Postcode district | RG8 |
| Dialling code | 0118 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| 51°29′02″N1°05′13″W / 51.4839°N 1.0869°W /51.4839; -1.0869 | |
Pangbourne is a village andcivil parish on theRiver Thames in theWest Berkshire unitary area of the county ofBerkshire, England. Pangbourne has shops, churches, schools and a village hall. Outside itsgrouped developed area is anindependent school,Pangbourne College.
Pangbourne is situated on theA329 road 6 miles (10 km) west ofReading, the nearest town, and 22 miles (35 km) south east ofOxford. It is across the river from theOxfordshire village ofWhitchurch-on-Thames. The two villages are connected byWhitchurch Bridge and by the traversable weir ofWhitchurch Lock.[2] TheRiver Pang flows through the centre of Pangbourne village before joining the Thames between Whitchurch Lock and Whitchurch bridge.[2] Most of the developed area is just above the currentflood plain of the River Thames which benefits from haymeadows traditionally used as flood meadows to either side of Pangbourne. Fewer than 15 properties here flooded during theWinter storms of 2013–14 in the United Kingdom.
.jpg)
Pangbourne's name is recorded from 844 asOld EnglishPegingaburnan (dative case), which means "the stream of the people of [a man called] Pǣga".[citation needed]
InNorman times, themanor was given toReading Abbey and themanor house – now calledBere Court – became theabbot's summer residence. The last abbot,Hugh Cook Faringdon, was arrested there in 1539 and subsequently executed in Reading. The manor was later purchased by Sir John Davis, theElizabethan mathematician and theEarl of Essex's fellow-conspirator. Hismonument is in theChurch of England parish church ofSaint James the Less.
The Pangbournewar memorial is found in the grounds of the church.[3] It was designed by the artist Vera Waddington.[4] Other monuments andhatchments in the church are mostly to the Breedon family. John Breedon, Senior, bought the manor in 1671. He wasHigh Sheriff of Berkshire and brother of theGovernor of Nova Scotia, whose son later succeeded John at the manor. The family produced a number of sheriffs and MPs for Berkshire, as well as doctors and rectors of the parish.[citation needed]
Kenneth Grahame, author ofThe Wind in the Willows, retired to Church Cottage in Pangbourne. He died there in 1932.E. H. Shepherd's famous illustrations of his book are said to have been inspired by the Thameside landscape there and thewater voles of the river are thought to have inspired the character of Ratty.[5] TheFalkland Islands memorial chapel at Pangbourne College was opened byQueen Elizabeth II in March 2000. It was built to commemorate the lives and sacrifice of all who died during theFalklands War of 1982, and the courage of those who served with them to preserve the sovereignty of the islands.[6] The Queen revisited the Memorial Chapel in 2007 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Falklands war.[citation needed]
Jimmy Page guitarist/producer owned a riverside cottage in Pangbourne from 1967 to 1975. The band Led Zeppelin was formed and rehearsals for their first album took place in Pangbourne.
On 12 April 2024, the men's section of the public toilets were officially opened byDavid Potts, standing in for the plannedJoe Lycett.[7]
Pangbourne is a civil parish with an elected parish council. The parish covers the immediate agricultural green buffer and a part wooded, part cultivated south-western area. The rural area contains no other significant settlements and includes Pangbourne College.[8] The parish shares boundaries with the Berkshire parishes ofPurley-on-Thames,Tidmarsh,Sulham,Bradfield andBasildon. Along the River Thames, to the north, there is also a boundary with the Oxfordshire parish of Whitchurch-on-Thames.[8] The parish is in the area of theunitary authority ofWest Berkshire. Theparish council and the unitary authority are responsible for different aspects of local government. Pangbourne forms part of theReading West and Mid Berkshireparliamentary constituency. The parish istwinned withHoudan inFrance.[9]
The village's railway station is located on theGreat Western Main Line and has stopping services toOxford viaDidcot Parkway, and toLondon Paddington viaReading.
The history of the Pangbourne Band began in 1893 when a fife and drum band used to rehearse in a shed behind the water mill, but when theFirst World War broke out the band broke up, re-forming in 1919 after theArmistice. Regular concerts were held from then until the outbreak of theSecond World War, when many of the bandsmen served in the Armed Forces and the band again broke up and the instruments were held in storage. In 1962, Henry Fuller, a local tutor, started the village brass group. Local musicians became involved when the old instruments were recovered from storage, and the band was established as a full-size contesting brass band within a few years.[10] In 2009, Pangbourne All-Comers' Band was begun, incorporating brass and, for parade days, drums andbell lyre glockenspiel.
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2023) |
| 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 | 478 | 418 | 101 | 187 | 41 | 0.237 | 0.012 | 0.654 | 2978 | 6.8 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
