Midgham, Berkshire
Historical Description
Midgham, formerly a chapelry attached ecclesiastically to the parish of Thatcham, separated in 1857, and made into an independent parish, Berks, on the river Kennet, the Kennet and Avon Canal, and the G.W.R., with a station of the same name, 1½ mile N and 6 miles E of Newbury. Post town, Reading; money order and telegraph office, Woolhampton. Population, 287. The manor with Midgham House belong to the Greene family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £125 with residence. The church, erected in 1869, is a building of flint in the Decorated style.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Berkshire | |
| Ancient County | Hampshire | |
| Civil parish | Thatcham | |
| Civil parish | Fordingbridge | |
| Hundred | Fordingbridge | |
| Hundred | Faircross | |
| Poor Law union | Fordingbridge | |
| Poor Law union | Newbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1622.
Churches
Church of England
St. Matthew (parish church)
The old church of St. Matthew, which stood close to Midgham House, was taken down in April, 1868; the present church of St. Matthew was erected in 1869 on higher ground and more in the centre of the parish, at the expense of the late Benjamin Buck Greene esq. J.P. (d. 1902), and is an edifice of flint in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles and lofty spire, containing 6 bells: there are two stained windows: the church affords about 200 sittings.
Civil Registration
Midgham was in Hungerford Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Midgham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Midgham)
- 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 Midgham 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.