Cold Ash, Berkshire
Historical Description
Cold Ash, an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1865 out of the civil parish of Thatcham, Berks. It is 3 miles from Thatcham and 2 from Hermitage railway stations, and has a post office under Newbury; money order and telegraph offices, Thatcham and Hermitage. Population, 792. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; value, £100. Patron, the Vicar of Thatcham. The church was built in 1865. It consists of nave and chancel. At each end there are three stained glass windows. The sanctuary is embellished with handsome frescoes. There is an industrial school for girls belonging to the Church of England Society for providing homes for waifs and strays, with accommodation for 30 girls.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1865.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mark (parish church)
The church of St. Mark, erected in 1864, is a structure of brick, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and a western turret containing 2 bells: in the chancel is a memorial window to the Rev. W. M. Pickthall, a former vicar, and his daughter, erected by his widow and the parishioners: the reredos was erected in 1890 by the present vicar, to the memory of his father, and the chancel screen in 1892 to the memory of his two sisters: in 1889 two memorial windows were placed to the late W. P. Padmore esq. by his widow: in 1894 the chancel was adorned with fine mural paintings as a memorial to Mr. and Mrs. Padmore, at the cost of their daughter: and in 1897 a new organ was erected at a cost of £200: there are 225 sittings.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel
There is a Baptist chapel.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist Chapel
There is a Primitive Methodist chapel.
Civil Registration
Cold Ash was in Hungerford Registration District from 1894 to 1974
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Berkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Cold Ash 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.