Shellingford, Berkshire
Historical Description
Shellingford, a parish, with a village, in Berks, 2½ miles SE of Faringdon station on the G.W.R. It has a post office under Faringdon; money order and telegraph office, Stanford-in-the Vale. Acreage, 1761; population, 241. Kitemore is a fine mansion very pleasantly situated. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £383 with residence. The church is an ancient Norman building consisting of chancel, nave, S porch, and embattled western tower and spire. There is a Congregational chapel.
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 | Shillingford St. Faith | |
| Hundred | Ganfield | |
| Poor Law union | Farringdon |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1558.
Churches
Church of England
St. Faith (parish church)
The church of St. Faith, rebuilt in 1652 and incorporating portions of an ancient structure of Norman date, consists of chancel, nave, south porch, vestry and an embattled western tower with spire and containing 4 bells: the reredos is of oak, handsomely carved: the vestry was added in 1913: in the south wall of the chancel is a piscina and a table inscribed to John Packer, ob. 1682: on the north side is a fine monument to Robert Packer, d. 4th April, 1731, and Maria, his wife: in the nave is a brass to Mary Knapp, ob. 23rd Sept. 1621, and a splendid, monument of marble with bust, to Sir Edward Hannes kt. physician to Queen Anne: another, with arms, is inscribed to William Flower, 2nd Viscount Ashbrook, who died at the Manor House 30th August, 1780; and to William 3rd Viscount, who died 6th January, 1802: there are six stained windows, including one presented in 1890 by Thomas L. Goodlake esq. in memory of his mother, who died in 1889: in the churchyard are memorials to Dorothy Clayton, ob. 3rd October, 1658; Alice, wife of Richard Clayton, ob. 5th September, 1643; and a marble cross to Susan Du Pré, d. April 23rd, 1874: a new organ was provided in 1912: there are 150 sittings.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
There is a small Congregational chapel in the village, erected in 1834.
Civil Registration
Shellingford was in Faringdon Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Wantage Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Shellingford from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Shillingford (St. Faith))
- Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1915
Land and Property
Kitemore is a handsome mansion in the French Gothic style, situated between Faringdon and Shellingford, and commanding a fine view of White Horse Hill and scenery in the vicinity.
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Berkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Shellingford 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.