Sulhampstead Abbots, Berkshire
Historical Description
Sulhampstead Abbots, a village and a parish in Berks, 2 miles S by E of Theale station on the G.W.R., and 6½ SW of Reading. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Theale. Acreage, 1417; population of the civil parish, 290; of the ecclesiastical, with Sulhampstead Banister, 532. Sulhampstead House, a chief residence standing in a park of about 72 acres, is the property of the Thoyts family, who are lords of the manor. The living is a rectory, united with Sulhampstead Banister, in the diocese of Oxford; joint net value, £435 with residence. Patron, Queen's College, Oxford. The church is an ancient building in the Norman style, consisting of chancel, nave, W porch, and a western tower of wood. 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 | Sulhampstead-Abbotts St. Bartholomew | |
| Hundred | Reading | |
| Poor Law union | Bradfield |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1602.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary is an edifice of flint with stone dressings, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and a western tower of wood containing 3 bells; there is a fine Norman font and memorial windows to the Rev. William Whitelock, to the Rev. Robert S. Falcon-Steward M.A. rector 1868-87, to Mr. John T. Strange and to Alfred Lewis E. Shepherd, son of a former rector, and a brass to Ralph Eyer, rector 1521: the church was restored in 1878-9 at a cost of £1,100, and affords 135 sittings.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
There is a Congregational chapel, built in 1881.
Civil Registration
Sulhamstead Abbots was in Bradfield Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Wokingham Registration District from 1934 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Sulhampstead Abbots from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Sulhampstead-Abbotts (St. Bartholomew))
- 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 Sulhampstead Abbots 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.