Great Shefford

Great Shefford

St Mary's parish church
Great Shefford
Great Shefford shown within Berkshire
Area 13.6 km2 (5.3 sq mi)
Population 937 (2011 census)[1]
• Density 69/km2 (180/sq mi)
OS grid reference SU3875
Civil parish
  • Great Shefford
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Newbury
Postcode district RG17
Dialling code 01488
Police Thames Valley
Fire Royal Berkshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament
Website Great Shefford and Shefford Woodlands

Great Shefford (or West Shefford) is a village and civil parish on the River Lambourn in West Berkshire, England. The modern civil parish includes the historical parish of Little or East Shefford, a small, much-reduced community downstream.[2] It also covers the village of Shefford Woodlands, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of Great Shefford, near Junction 14 on the M4 motorway.

Toponymy

The toponym of both Sheffords is derived from the Old English for "sheep ford".

Amenities

Great Shefford village has a parish church, public house, school, shop and petrol station.

Churches

St Mary

The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary is one of two existing round-tower churches in Berkshire. The other one is at St Gregory's parish church at nearby Welford.

Unlike the three round-towered churches in Sussex, where the towers are plain flint cylinders with few openings, the tower at Great Shefford is built up of sections with ample fenestration, more like the East Anglian type. The base of the tower at least seems to date from the 13th century, and it joins the west wall of the nave in such a way that suggests it was constructed at the same time as the nave, which shows early gothic features.

St Stephen

The church of Saint Stephen at Shefford Woodlands is a former Methodist chapel that was consecrated as part of St Mary's Church of England parish in 1911.[3]

St Thomas

St Thomas' Church, East Shefford contains important monuments to the widespread Fettiplace family.

Demography

The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 937,[4] and 880 are listed on the Millennium Stone opposite the petrol station. The population had grown by approximately 5 per cent since the 2011 census.

2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005[1]
Output areaHomes owned outrightOwned with a loanSocially rentedPrivately rentedOtherkm² roadskm² waterkm² domestic gardensUsual residentskm²
Civil parish126146507090.2580.0390.24693713.6

Notable people

In birth order:

Transport

Public transport

Service 4 (Newbury–Lambourn) serves Great Shefford.[5] From 1898 until 1960 the parish was served by Great Shefford railway station on the Lambourn Valley Railway. The nearest mainline station today is Newbury (10.5 miles/16 km), where the journey times to London Paddington are 50–67 minutes.

Roads

The A338 between Hungerford to the south and Wantage to the north runs through the village, one-and-a-half miles north of Junction 14 on the M4 motorway.

References

  1. 1 2 Key Statistics: Dwellings; Quick Statistics: Population Density; Physical Environment: Land Use Survey 2005
  2. ↑ Ford, David Nash. "Royal Berkshire History". East Shefford St. Thomas' Church. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
  3. ↑ "History of Great Shefford". Great Shefford and Shefford Woodlands. The Parish of Great Shefford. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  4. ↑ Population site Retrieved 11 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "Connect Service 4" (pdf). Timetables. Newbury and District Buses. Retrieved 23 July 2013.

Further reading

  • Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds. (1924). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4. Victoria County History. pp. 238–242.
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 148–149.

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