Brightwell, Berkshire
Historical Description
Brightwell, a parish in Berks, near the river Thames and the G.W.R., 2½ miles WNW of Wallingford station, and 3½ E of Didcot. It has a post and money order office under Wallingford, which is the telegraph office. Acreage, 2064; population of the civil parish, 613; of the ecclesiastical, with Sotwell, 735. The manor belongs to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. An ancient castle stood here, and was destroyed about the time of Henry II. The living is a rectory, with the chapelry of Sotwell annexed, in the diocese of Oxford; net yearly value, £500 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Oxford. The church is a building of stone in the Early English style. Slade-End and Mackney are hamlets in this parish. Godwin, author of a work on Jewish and Roman antiquities, Bernard the astronomer, and Wintle the Orientalist were rectors.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Berkshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Brightwell St. Agatha | |
| Hundred | Moreton | |
| Poor Law union | Wallingford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1564.
Churches
Church of England
St. Agatha (parish church)
The church of St. Agatha is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, aisles, north porch and an embattled western tower containing 6 bells: in the church are brasses to John Scoffyld, priest, 1507; Robert Court, auditor to Prince Arthur, 1509, and Jane, his wife, and to Richard Hampden, 1512, and Jane, his wife; and there are five stained windows; the rood stairs remain on the north side: the church was thoroughly restored in 1858, the tower baving been rebuilt in 1797; in 1884 it was further restored, at a cost of £1,193, and an organ chamber was added in 1903: there are about 350 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Brightwell was in Wallingford Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Brightwell from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Brightwell (St. Agatha))
- 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 Brightwell 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.