Arborfield

Arborfield

St Bartholomew's parish church
Arborfield
Arborfield shown within Berkshire
OS grid reference SU7567
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Reading
Postcode district RG2
Dialling code 0118
Police Thames Valley
Fire Royal Berkshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament
Website Arborfield Village

Arborfield is a village in Berkshire about 4.5 miles (7 km) south-east of Reading, about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Wokingham. It is about 0.6 miles (1 km) west of the sister village of Arborfield Cross and the two villages have become collectively known as Arborfield, with no signs marking their boundary. Arborfield Hall was the home of Sir John Conroy, Controller of the Household of the Duchess of Kent.[1]

The village is on the A327 road linking Reading with Farnborough.

Arborfield is in the civil parish of Arborfield and Newland, which is in the district of Wokingham unitary authority.

Churches

The present Church of England parish church of Saint Bartholomew is a Gothic Revival building designed by J Picton and built in 1863.[2]

The new building replaces an older St Bartholomew's church that had been built in the 13th century and altered probably early in the 18th century.[3] When the new church was consecrated the roof of the old one was removed and later layers of plaster stripped from the interior walls, revealing Medieval wall paintings of "figure subjects and geometrical and masonry patterns" that "covered the walls".[4] These have now been lost and the church ruins have greatly deteriorated.[2]

The army garrison (below) has its own garrison church, a 20th-century building dedicated to Saint Eligius.

Army garrison

Arborfield is also known for the School of Electronic & Aeronautical Engineering (SEAE) where the British Army train their Electronic, Aircraft and Avionic engineers for RADAR, Telecommunications, Control Equipment, Aircraft (Airframes and Engines) and Avionic (Aviation electronic and weapon system) modalities. Arborfield Garrison is about 1 mile (1.6 km) the other side of Arborfield Cross and which is mostly in the civil parish of Barkham.

International Cocoa Quarantine Centre

Since 1985, Arborfield has also been the home of the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre whose aim is to investigate and reduce diseases in cocoa plants worldwide.

References

  1. ↑ "Arborfield Hall". Berkshire History. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 Pevsner 1966, p. 66.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Remains of old church at NGR SU 7495 6802 (1313014)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  4. ↑ Ditchfield & Page 1923, pp. 200–203.

Sources

  • Ditchfield, P.H.; Page, W.H., eds. (1923). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 3. Victoria County History. pp. 200–203.
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus (1960). Buckinghamshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 66. ISBN 0-14-071019-1.
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