Ruscombe, Berkshire
Historical Description
Ruscombe, a village and a parish in Berks, on the G.W.R., 1 mile ENE of Twyford station, and 5 miles S from Henley. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Twyford (R.S.O.) Acreage, 1294; population, 349. There is a parish council consisting of five members. Much of the property belongs to the Garth family. A portion of the mansion and grounds of Stanlake Park is in this parish, the remainder being in the parish of Hurst. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £170 with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Oxford. The church, which was restored in 1879-80, is a building of flint and brick, consisting of chancel, nave, S porch, and an embattled western tower.
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 | Ruscomb St. James | |
| Hundred | Sonning | |
| Poor Law union | Wokingham |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1590.
Churches
Church of England
St. James (parish church)
The church of St. James, repaired and restored in 1859 and 1860 and again thoroughly restored in 1879 and 1880, at a cost of £1,322, is an edifice of flint and brick, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower containing 2 bells: the chancel appears to be of the early 12th century: the nave and tower were rebuilt in 1639: the interior is plain and contains monuments to several members of the Braybrooke family: there are 150 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Ruscombe was in Wokingham Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Ruscombe from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Ruscomb (St. James))
- 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 Ruscombe 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.