Beech Hill, Berkshire
Historical Description
Beech-Hill, a tithing and ecclesiastical parish formed in 1868 out of Stratfieldsaye parish, Berks, 6 miles S by W of Reading, under which there is a post office; money order and telegraph office, Stratfield Mortimer. Acreage, 950; population, 292. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; net yearly value, £113 with residence. The church is a modern building of brick and flint in the Gothic style. There is also a Baptist chapel.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Berkshire | |
| Civil parish | Stratfield Saye | |
| Hundred | Reading | |
| Poor Law union | Basingstoke |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1868.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church of St. Mary the Virgin is a structure of brick and flint, erected in 1867 in the Gothic style of the 14th century, and consists of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch and a wooden belfry containing 3 bells: there are ten stained windows and a font of various marbles: the church affords 220 sittings.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel
There is a chapel for Baptists, founded in 1796, with 140 sittings and an endowment for the minister.
Civil Registration
Beech Hill was in Basingstoke Registration District from 1837 to 1878, Bradfield Registration District from 1879 to 1937, and Wokingham Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Beech Hill from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Beech-Hill)
- Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1915
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Berkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Beech Hill are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Berkshire papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitations of Berkshire 1532, 1566, and 1665-6 is available online.