Kintbury, Berkshire
Historical Description
Kintbury or Kentbury, a village and a parish in Berks. The village stands on the river Kennet, the Kennet and Avon Canal, and the G.W.R., on which it has a station, 3½ miles ESE of Hungerford; was anciently called Kennetbury; had formerly a weekly market and two fan's; and has now a post, money order, and telegraph office under Hungerford. The parish includes the hamlets of Eicot, Clapton, and Orpen-ham, and the ecclesiastical parish of Denford. Acreage, 7719 of land and 59 of water; population of the civil parish, 1655; of the ecclesiastical, 1533; of Denford, 122. The manor of Kintbury Amesbury was given by Queen Elfrida to the nuns of Amesbury, went in 1542 to John Cheyne, passed to the Darrells and others, and in 1832 gave the title of Baron Amesbury of Kintbury Amesbury to Mr C. Dundas; it now belongs to the Sutton family. The manor of Kintbury Holt belonged to Robert Bossu, Earl of Leicester, was given by him to the nuns of Eaton, and belongs now to the Earl of Craven. The manors of Denford belonged formerly to the Longespees, Earls of Salisbury, and belong now to the Cherry family. Barton Court, Denford House, Eicot Park, Ingle-wood House, and Wormstall are chief residences. Saxon coins were found in 1762. The making of bricks and whiting is carried on. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £320 with residence. The church of St Mary the-Virgin is an ancient building of flint, stone, and brick in the Transition-Norman and Decorated styles with a Transition½ Norman tower, and contains some interesting brasses and monuments. Christ Church, a chapel of ease to St Mary, is a modern edifice of red brick with stone dressings, and has a good tower and spire. Holy Trinity Church, at Denford, erected in 1832, is a building of stone in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles. The living is a perpetual curacy; net value, £6 5. There are Primitive Methodist and Wesleyan chapels.
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 | Kintbury St. Mary | |
Hundred | Kintbury-Eagle | |
Poor Law union | Hungerford |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1559.
Churches
Church of England
Christ Church
Christ Church, a chapel of ease to St. Mary's, and situated at the southern end of the parish, on land given by the late Earl of Craven, was consecrated in June, 1867, and is an edifice of red brick with dressings of Bath stone in the Decorated style, from designs by Mr. Talbot Bury, architect, and consists of chancel, nave, vestry, and a western tower with spire containing one bell; the chancel is fitted with carved benches, and the east and west windows with six others are stained; the reredos exhibits an excellent carving of the Last Supper, and there is a marble font, presented by Mrs. Dunnell in memory of her two children; the pulpit is of Caen stone, with carved panels separated by marble shafts, and was given by H. J. Dunnell esq. of Barton Court; the church was erected at a cost of £3,650, chiefly contributed by the Rev. J. W. D. Dundas M.A. who also gave the stained windows, with the exception of two presented by the architect: the church affords 250 sittings.
St. Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church of St. Mary the Virgin is an ancient structure of flint, stone and brick, in the Late Norman, Early English and Decorated styles, consisting of chancel, nave, transepts, south porch and a western tower of Late Norman and Perpendicular date, with a plain parapet, and containing a clock and 6 bells: the chancel is divided from the nave by a massive Norman arch, and has a piscina formed in the sill of a window; the reredos is of wood and alabaster carved and illuminated, and has in the centre a sculptured representation of the "Crucifixion;" in the church are several ancient monuments to the families of the present and, former lords of the manor, including Sir John Darrell bart. of West Woodhay, ob. 1625; Sir Jemmett Raymond and Sir Jonathan Raymond, both by Scheemaker, and to the Shaws; on the south side of the chancel is a curious brass with effigies to John Gunter, buried 2 Jan. 1624, and to Alice, his wife, buried at Cirencester, 18 March, 1626, erected by his son-in-law, Joseph Plat; and in the north transept is a memorial window to the late F. H. Appach esq. of Elcot Park, and members of his family: in the chancel is another to Philip Jemmett, alderman of London, 1678; and in the nave a tablet to the Hon. Charles Dundas, of Barton Court (created 10th May, 1832), baron Amesbury of Kintbury, a member of the House of Commons for more than half a century and representative of this county during ten successive Parliaments; the barony, on his death, 30 June, 1832, became extinct; his daughter Janet married the late Admiral Sir James Whitley-Deans Dundas G.C.B., M.P. of Barton Court, who died 30 October, 1862, and to whom there is a memorial window in the church; there is also a brass and window to the Rev. James Whitley-Deans Dundas, and other stained windows to John Lidderdale M.D. to whom there is also a brass tablet, and to Capt. Thomas Dunn, of Inglewood; in the south transept is an inscribed tablet to William Shaw, of Inglewood, d. 16th November, 1874, and a mural monument, with figure, to Margaret, widow of Major-General Dunn R.A. of Inglewood, d. 1890; the massive brass lectern was presented by his widow, mother and children, in memory of C. A. W. Dundas; the stalls were put in as a memorial to the late vicar, the Rev. William Fraser Campbell; a new organ was provided in 1889; the church was restored in 1859 at a cost of about £800, and again in 1884-5, at a cost of £1,400, when the interior was reseated and a new vestry built; it was again enlarged in 1905: there are 280 sittings. In the churchyard is a monument of stone, surmounted by a cross, to the Rev. F. C. Alderman, d. July, 1875, one of Aberdeen granite to the Rev. William Fraser Campbell, vicar 1873-86.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist Chapel
There is a Primitive Methodist chapel.
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
There is a Wesleyan Methodist chapel.
Civil Registration
Kintbury was in Hungerford Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Kintbury from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Kintbury (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 Kintbury 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.