Burghfield, Berkshire
Historical Description
Burghfield or Burfield, a parish in Berks, on the river Kennet, 2½ miles SE of Theale station on the G.W.R., and 5 SW of Reading, under which it has a post and telegraph office; money order office, Burghfield Common. Acreage, 4309; population, 1327. Part of the land is common. A bed of sand and cockle shells, a foot thick, under soft stone was found at Hose Hill. Culverlands and Highwoods are country seats here. Burghfield Common, Burghfield Hatch, Sheffield Bottom, and Pingewood are hamlets in this parish. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net yearly value, £814 with residence, in the gift of the Earl of Shrewsbury. The church, rebuilt in 1843, is a large Romanesque cruciform structure with apse; a chancel was added in 1892. There are also Primitive Methodist and Wesleyan chapels, three almshouses, and some small charities.
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 | Burghfield St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Theale | |
| Poor Law union | Bradfield |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1563.
Churches
Church of England
The Virgin Mary (parish church)
The church of the Virgin Mary, rebuilt at a cost of £2,500, and re-constructed in June, 1843, is an edifice of brick and stone in the Romanesque style, consisting of chancel, rebuilt in 1892, at a cost of £2,000, entirely defrayed by the late Richard Benyon esq. of Englefield (d. 1897), Miss Sophia C. Thursby, of Brighton, and Arthur Harvey Thursby esq. D.L., J.P. late of Culverlands, nave, transepts and an octagonal western tower with a small dome and containing 6 bells: the tower was restored in 1901 at the sole cost of Ernest Chance esq.: at the west end is a stained window, presented by the Rev. Henry Curtis Cherry M.A. rector from 1827; the Rev. F. B. Boyd, a former rector, presented the church with five stained windows; a stained window was also erected by the Rev. Benjamin Bradney Beckett M.A. vicar of Epsom (1839-83), in memory of his brother and two sisters; and another has been placed in the south transept by Arthur Harvey Thursby esq. D.L., J.P. late of Culverlands, in memory of his father and mother; the east window, placed in 1892 by Miss Sophia Charlotte Thursby, of Brighton, is a memorial to the Rev. William Ford Thursby B.C.L. rector of Bergh-Apton, Norfolk (d. 1893), and Eleanor Mary, his wife; in the tower there are two stone effigies and one of oak, all of early date; a floor stone inscribed to the Rev. Garnans Daunser M.A., 1676, has been found under the old chancel: there are 608 sittings. A new burial ground, adjoining the old churchyard, was consecrated in 1886.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist Chapel
There is a Primitive Methodist chapel.
Wesleyan Chapel
There is a Wesleyan chapel.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Burghfield was in Bradfield Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Wokingham Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Burghfield from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Burghfield (St. Mary))
- 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 Burghfield 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.