Whitchurch, Oxfordshire

Historical Description

Whitchurch, a parish, with a village, partly in Berkshire, but chiefly in Oxfordshire, on the river Thames which divides the two portions of the parish near Pangbourne station on the G.W.R., and 6 miles WNW of Reading. It has a post and money order office under Reading; telegraph office, Pangbourne. Area in Berkshire, 293 acres; population, 32. Area in Oxfordshire, 2049 acres; population, 902; of the ecclesiastical parish, 934. For parish council purposes the Berkshire portion has been cut off from the parish and merged in Purley. Combe Park, a large modern mansion in a modern Italian style, is the seat of the Foster family, who are lords of the manor. Other chief residences are Bozedown, Hardwick, Swanston House, and Thames Bank House. A bridge, rebuilt in 1853, gives communication across the Thames with Pangbourne. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £520 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Oxford. The church is a building of flint and stone originally Norman, but rebuilt in 1858, consisting of chancel, nave, N aisle, and tower with spire. It contains some ancient brasses and memorials. A chapel of ease was erected in 1883.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Oxfordshire Family History Society and Oxfordshire History Centre, have images of the Parish Registers for Oxfordshire online.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Whitchurch from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Whitchurch (St. Mary))

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Oxfordshire is available online

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Oxfordshire newspapers online:

• Oxford Journal
• Banbury Advertiser
• Banbury Guardian
• Oxford University and City Herald
• Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette
• Faringdon Advertiser and Vale of the White Horse Gazette
• Oxford Times
• Banbury Beacon
• Ossett Observer

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Oxfordshire, 1566, 1574 &1634 are available on the Heraldry page.