Compton, Berkshire
Historical Description
Compton, a village and a parish in Berkshire. It bears also the name of Compton Parva, has a station on the G.W.R., and lies on Icknield Street, around Compton Down, near Blewberry Plain, 2 miles SE by E of East Ilsley. It has a post and telegraph office under Newbury; money order office, East Ilsley. Acreage, 3863; population, 629. A large Roman town is thought to have stood on the ground around the church, and a circular camp, formed by the ancient British, afterwards occupied by the Romans, and now called Perborough Castle, is on a neighbouring eminence. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; net yearly value, £177 with residence, in the gift of Lord Wantage. The church is Norman and good. There are Baptist and Primitive Methodist chapels. Race-horses are trained here on the Downs.
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 | Compton St. Nicholas | |
| Hundred | Compton | |
| Poor Law union | Wantage |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1553.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary, St. Swithin or St. Nicholas (parish church)
The church, assigned by various modern authorities to St. Mary, St. Swithin and St. Nicholas, is situated about a quarter of a mile from the village, and is a small building of flint in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, vestry, south porch and a western embattled tower of stone containing 6 bells: the chancel has Early English lancet windows and similar windows light the nave on the north side, several of which are now filled with stained glass: the lower part of the tower is Transition Norman, but has a Perpendicular west window; the north aisle was added in 1904 at a cost of about £2,000: there is a plain Norman font: a brass is recorded here to Richard Pygott and Alice his wife, c. 1520: the chancel has been beautifully decorated at the expense of the late W. Gray esq. formerly lay rector, the work being carried out by Mr. N. Westlake, of London: on the north side is an altar tomb, but without inscription: there are 200 sittings.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist Chapel
There is a Primitive Methodist chapel here, which has a small burial ground attached.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Compton was in Wantage Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Compton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Compton (St. Nicholas))
- 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 Compton 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.