Chaddleworth, Berkshire
Historical Description
Chaddleworth, a parish in Berks, 6 miles WSW of East Ilsley, 9 NW from Newbury, and 9 S from Wantage Road station on the G.W.R. It includes Woolley tithing, and has a post and telegraph office under Wantage; money order office, Brightwaltham. Acreage, 3400; population, 441. The manor was given by the Conqueror to Robert D'Oyley, and belonged afterwards to the mother of Edward I. Woolley Park, the seat of the Wroughtons, was built in 1690, and was much altered in 1799. An Augustinian priory was founded at Ellensfordsmere (now called Poughley) in this parish in 1161 by Ralph of Chaddleworth, and destroyed in 1532. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; net yearly value, £238 with residence, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. The church is a building of stone of Norman date, and has some interesting monuments and memorials.
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 | Chaddleworth St. Andrew | |
| Hundred | Kintbury-Eagle | |
| Poor Law union | Wantage |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register, which dates from the year 1538, is an uninterrupted record from that period and in good preservation.
Churches
Church of England
St. Andrew (parish church)
The church of St. Andrew is a building of stone of Norman date; consisting of chancel and nave under one roof, south porch and a low western tower containing 3 bells and there is also a Sanctus bell; the upper part of the tower is Perpendicular; at the north side is a square stair turret, and on the western side is the date 1637, when it was probably repaired; the south doorway is good Norman work with finely-carved chevron ornament, and on the right of the entrance is a stoup-niche; the tower arch is in part Norman, but has a Perpendicular ogee head; the windows are chiefly Norman or Transitional; there is a memorial window, erected in 1904, to Commander Cotesworth R.N. and another, presented in 1906, by Mrs. Wroughton, in memory of her youngest son, Christopher C. Wroughton; in the tower is an ancient font, discarded about 1811, when the original Norman font was found and restored; the church contains monuments to the Wroughton family and others to the Nelsons, formerly lords of the manor; among the latter are memorials to Mary Nelson, 1618, and to Dorothy, wife of William Nelson esq. "cheefe: prothonotarie of the common pleas," 1619; the church was restored in 1881 at a cost of £582, and an organ was provided in 1898 at a cost of £150: there are 200 sittings. In the churchyard is an ancient but much dilapidated cross, two oblong monuments and a flat stone with a raised cross thereon.
Methodist
Wesleyan Chapel
There is a Wesleyan chapel.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Chaddleworth was in Wantage Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Chaddleworth from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chaddleworth (St. Andrew))
- 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 Chaddleworth 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.