Yattendon, Berkshire
Historical Description
Yattendon (anciently Etingdene), a parish, with a village, in Berks, 7 miles NE from Newbury, and 1½ mile SE from Hampstead Norris station on the Didcot and Newbury branch of the G.W.R. It once had a weekly market, and now has a post office under Newbury; money order office, Bradfield; telegraph office, Hermitage (R.S.) Acreage, 14u0; population, 326. There is a parish council consisting of five members. The manor, with Yattendon Court, a fine mansion of red brick with a tower, belongs to the Waterhouse family. In digging the foundations of this house some very ancient bronze weapons were found. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; gross value, £350 with residence. The church is an ancient building of flint in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, S porch, and a western tower. The historian Carte resided here.
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 | Yattendon St. Peter and St. Paul | |
| Hundred | Faircross | |
| Poor Law union | Bradfield |
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
SS. Peter and Paul (parish church)
The church of SS. Peter and Paul is a building of stone, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and a western tower oontaining a clock with chimes, and 6 bells rehung in 1881, at a cost of £187: it was rebuilt about 1450 by John Norreys esq. as recorded in an inscription formerly in a window in the church and preserved by Ashmore: the nave windows are Perpendicular: the pulpit is Jacobean, and there is a curious stair, formerly leading to the rood loft; in the church is a monument to Sir John Norreys kt. second son of Henry, first Lord Norreys of Rycot, ambassador to France and a distinguished military commander in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who died at Yattendon, July 3, 1597; here also is buried, in a vault on the north side of the chancel, the Rev. Thomas Carte M.A. the distinguished historian, who wrote the greater part of his "History of England" here and died at Caldecot, near Abingdon, April 2, 1754: in 1858 the tower and fabric generally were renovated chiefly at the expense of the Howard family, formerly owners of Yattendon, and who had previously presented an organ and a stained east window: in 1881 a vestry was added, and further restorations effected, the amount spent being about £798: a new organ was presented at a cost of £340: in 1896 the church was new-roofed, the tower strengthened and a spire erected: the entire restoration of 1881 and the subsequent additions and repairs up to 1905 were carried out under the direction and at the cost of the late Alfred Waterhouse esq. B.A., LL.D. to whom there is a monumental tablet on the north wall, and in whose memory the choir stalls were re-constructed: there are memorial windows to the Rev. John Flory Howard, to the Rev. Francis Llewelyn Lloyd and to the Hon. Lady Gull: there are 150 sittings.
Civil Registration
Yattendon was in Bradfield Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Wokingham Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Yattendon from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Yattendon (St. Peter and St. Paul))
- 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 Yattendon 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.