Greenham, Berkshire
Historical Description
Greenham, a township and an ecclesiastical parish formerly partly in Thatcham parish and now partly in the borough of Newbury, Berks. The township is situated on the S border of the county, between the river Kennet and the Kennet Canal on the N, and the Enborne stream on the S, 1½ mile SE of Newbury, and is practically, for trade and industry, suburban to Newbury, at which there is a station on the G.W.R. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Newbury. Acreage of township, 2529 of land and 35 of water; population, 2315; of the ecclesiastical parish, 660. The manor was given by Maud, Countess of Clare, in the time of Henry VI. to the Rnights Hospitallers, and it had a preceptory of these knights. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £98 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Oxford. The church is a modern building of stone in the Early English style, which was built in 1875 and enlarged in 1888. There are Baptist and Primitive Methodist chapels.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Berkshire | |
| Civil parish | Thatcham | |
| Hundred | Faircross | |
| Poor Law union | Newbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1706.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church of St. Mary the Virgin, situated about half a mile from the boundaries of the borough of Newbury, is a modern building of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch, baptistery, and a western turret, containing 2 bells: there are several memorial windows: the foundation stone was laid by the vicar, July 31st, 1875, and the church was consecrated on October 24th, 1876, by the bishop of the diocese; the total cost amounted to £3,500: a new aisle was added in 1888, and since that date the chancel has been decorated with frescoes, the vestry enlarged and wrought iron gates erected to the organ chamber at the cost of Lloyd H. Baxendale esq. J.P.: the organ, erected in 1888, at a cost of about £400, and the baptistery, added in 1895, at a cost of £570; were both the gift of Mrs. Lloyd H. Baxendale: a catalogue of the plate, vestments &c. belonging to the old church at the time of the Reformation and dated 4 Aug. 6 Edward VI. (1552), is preserved at the Record office: there are 220 sittings.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel
There is a Baptist chapel.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist Chapel
There is a Primitive Methodist chapel.
Civil Registration
Greenham was in Hungerford Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Greenham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Greenham)
- 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 Greenham 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.