Brimpton
Encyclopedia
Brimpton is a rural village and civil parish in Berkshire
, South East England
, with a population of 613. The village is located between the River Kennet
and the River Enborne
, and is near the Hampshire
county boundary.
inhabitation of Brimpton is in five round barrows located at the southern boundary of the parish adjoining Baughurst
. Known as "Borson Barrows", the tumuli were referred to in an Anglo-Saxon charter in AD 944. There have also been Iron Age
and Roman
settlements identified within the parish. The hypocaust
of a villa
was once uncovered in the village, though records of its exact location no longer exist. One possible location is opposite Brimpton House near the parish church.
In the 10th century, 10 hides
of land in Brimpton were given to Ordulf (or Ordwulf), a thegn
of Edmund I. The Domesday Book
of 1086 lists the village as "Brintone", and identifies Robert FitzGerald and Ralph de Mortimer as the lords of the manors of Shalford and Brimpton respectively. It also mentions two churches, three mills, and a dairy.
Brimpton was visited by William Cobbett
on 30 October 1822 on his way to London
; he noted its name as "Brimton", but did not write further about the village. John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
(1870–1872) described Brimpton as "a parish in Newbury district, Berks; on the rivers Emborne and Kennet". Wilson noted that the area of the village measured 1692 acres (684.7 ha) and had property to the value of £3,720. The population was 452, divided amongst 101 residential buildings. He described the vicarage, at that time under the patronage of Rev. G B Caffin, as worth £351. He wrote that the church was "good", with charities of £84. Wilson wrote that a preceptory of the Knights Templar
(Shalford Preceptory
) was established in Brimpton in the 13th century.
, Brimpton Manor was owned by Godwin, Earl of Wessex
(Edward's father-in-law
). It was later owned by Ralph de Mortimer
(at the time of the Domesday Survey) and, subsequently, his son Hugh
. Hugh's son, Roger Mortimer of Wigmore
, succeeded him as lord of the manor, and the ownership passed through the Mortimer of Wigmore family. The manor passed through marriage to the Earldom of March. Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March died childless in the 1420s and the manor was inherited by Richard, Duke of York
. After his death in 1460, the manor was owned by his wife Cecily Neville, until its ownership was reverted to the crown on her death.
– inherited the manor. William's son predeceased him, so the manor passed to his grandson – also named William. During this ownership, Simon de Ovile – a tenant of William – granted use of the 3.5 hide estate to the Knights Hospitaller. Letters Patent
dated 29 November 1302 show that the Knights hosted Edward I
at Shalford.
The Knights held the manor until their dissolution in 1540. After this, the manor was owned by the crown.
In 1544, Henry VIII
exchanged the manor with William Wollascott for the manor of Dalehall in Lawford
, Essex
. Wollascott's son, also named William, purchased the manor of Brimpton in 1595. When he became lord of the manor upon his father's death in 1618, he became owner of both manors.
Brimpton has also been recorded as Brinniggetun and Bryningtune (in the 10th century) and Brintone (in the 11th century). More recent alternative names include Brinton, Brimton, Brumton and Brumpton.
The mean age of residents was 38.74, and the median was 40.
building has a tower (with an octagonal shingle
d spire
) and a wooden porch. The roof is tiled. The interior has a chancel
, organ chamber, vestry
, a nave
with three bays and two aisles, and is faced with ashlar
. The structural columns are granite
. The belfry
holds four (non-ringable) bells, dating from 1624 to 1842. The oldest bell, the fourth, was recast by Mears and Stainbank in 1876.
The other operational church is Brimpton Baptist Church, which was established in 1843.
The chapel of St Leonard, a 14th-century stone building, is located on Manor Farm. It was used as the place of worship of the Shalford Preceptory
, a group of Knights Templar
(and later Knights Hospitaller
) who had formed in the 13th century. By 1614, the chapel had been converted into a barn at Brimpton Court.
district, east of Newbury
and to the south of the A4 road. Other villages nearby include Aldermaston
, Woolhampton
and an extension of Brimpton, Brimpton Common
. The entire village is surrounded by the Wasing Estate
. The River Enborne
passes close by to the Southeast.
, Brimpton Church
and Brimpton School. There is also a village hall that is used by organisations such as the Brimpton Women's Institute.
At the centre of the village is the war memorial
remembering the twenty two residents of Brimpton who died in the First World War and the two who died in the Second World War.
Brimpton Airfield
is located 1 mile east of the village, a quiet 500 metre grass runway where a few light aircraft are based.
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, South East England
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
, with a population of 613. The village is located between the River Kennet
River Kennet
The Kennet is a river in the south of England, and a tributary of the River Thames. The lower reaches of the river are navigable to river craft and are known as the Kennet Navigation, which, together with the Avon Navigation, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Thames, links the cities of Bristol...
and the River Enborne
River Enborne
thumb|left|250px|River Enbournethumb|left|250px|River Enbourne at Headley Ford, near Crookham Commonthumb|left|250px|River Enborne at Shalford bridge, near [[Brimpton]]thumb|left|250px|Oxford Bridge over a small tributary of the River Enborne, near Inwood Copse...
, and is near the Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
county boundary.
History
Evidence of Bronze AgeBronze Age Britain
Bronze Age Britain refers to the period of British history that spanned from c. 2,500 until c. 800 BC. Lasting for approximately 1700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the era of Iron Age Britain...
inhabitation of Brimpton is in five round barrows located at the southern boundary of the parish adjoining Baughurst
Baughurst
Baughurst is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It is located west of the town of Tadley, north of Basingstoke. In the 2001 census it had a population of 2,473....
. Known as "Borson Barrows", the tumuli were referred to in an Anglo-Saxon charter in AD 944. There have also been Iron Age
British Iron Age
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron-Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, and which had an independent Iron Age culture of...
and Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
settlements identified within the parish. The hypocaust
Hypocaust
A hypocaust was an ancient Roman system of underfloor heating, used to heat houses with hot air. The word derives from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "under" and caust-, meaning "burnt"...
of a villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...
was once uncovered in the village, though records of its exact location no longer exist. One possible location is opposite Brimpton House near the parish church.
In the 10th century, 10 hides
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
of land in Brimpton were given to Ordulf (or Ordwulf), a thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
of Edmund I. The Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 lists the village as "Brintone", and identifies Robert FitzGerald and Ralph de Mortimer as the lords of the manors of Shalford and Brimpton respectively. It also mentions two churches, three mills, and a dairy.
Brimpton was visited by William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
on 30 October 1822 on his way to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
; he noted its name as "Brimton", but did not write further about the village. John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales...
(1870–1872) described Brimpton as "a parish in Newbury district, Berks; on the rivers Emborne and Kennet". Wilson noted that the area of the village measured 1692 acres (684.7 ha) and had property to the value of £3,720. The population was 452, divided amongst 101 residential buildings. He described the vicarage, at that time under the patronage of Rev. G B Caffin, as worth £351. He wrote that the church was "good", with charities of £84. Wilson wrote that a preceptory of the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
(Shalford Preceptory
Shalford Preceptory
Shalford Preceptory was a preceptory of Knights Hospitaller at Shalford in the civil parish of Brimpton in the English county of Berkshire.In was established in the late 12th century. By 1338, it had merged with the preceptory at Greenham....
) was established in Brimpton in the 13th century.
Brimpton Manor
At the time of Edward the ConfessorEdward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
, Brimpton Manor was owned by Godwin, Earl of Wessex
Godwin, Earl of Wessex
Godwin of Wessex , was one of the most powerful lords in England under the Danish king Cnut the Great and his successors. Cnut made him the first Earl of Wessex...
(Edward's father-in-law
Father-in-law
A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship...
). It was later owned by Ralph de Mortimer
Ranulph de Mortimer
Ranulph I de Mortimer of Mortemer-sur-Eaulne, was a Marcher Lord from the Montgomery lands in the Welsh Marches. In England, he was Lord of Wigmore in Herefordshire. In Normandy, he was the Seigneur of St. Victor-en-Caux. Ranulph was the founder of the English House of Mortimer of Wigmore...
(at the time of the Domesday Survey) and, subsequently, his son Hugh
Hugh de Mortimer
Hugh de Mortimer was a Norman English medieval baron.- Lineage :The son of Hugh de Mortimer , the son of Ralf de Mortimer, he was Lord of Wigmore Castle, Cleobury Mortimer and at times, Bridgnorth, Bishop's Castle and Maelienydd.- Anarchy :During the Anarchy of King Stephen's reign, Mortimer was...
. Hugh's son, Roger Mortimer of Wigmore
Roger Mortimer of Wigmore
Roger de Mortimer was a medieval marcher lord, residing at Wigmore Castle in the English county of Herefordshire.He was the son of Hugh de Mortimer and Matilda Le Meschin. He was born before 1153.-Early life:...
, succeeded him as lord of the manor, and the ownership passed through the Mortimer of Wigmore family. The manor passed through marriage to the Earldom of March. Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March died childless in the 1420s and the manor was inherited by Richard, Duke of York
Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York
Richard Plantagenêt, 3rd Duke of York, 6th Earl of March, 4th Earl of Cambridge, and 7th Earl of Ulster, conventionally called Richard of York was a leading English magnate, great-grandson of King Edward III...
. After his death in 1460, the manor was owned by his wife Cecily Neville, until its ownership was reverted to the crown on her death.
Shalford Manor
In the Domesday Survey, Shalford Manor was owned by Robert FitzGerald. It had previously been under the ownership of Brictric, a Saxon freeman and thegn to Edward the Confessor. After FitzGerald's death, his estates passed to his brother Gerald, and subsequently to Gerald's son, Roger. On Roger's death, his son – William de Roumare, Earl of LincolnWilliam de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln
William de Romare , 1st Earl of Lincoln, 2nd Baron of Kendall, Lord of Bolingbroke....
– inherited the manor. William's son predeceased him, so the manor passed to his grandson – also named William. During this ownership, Simon de Ovile – a tenant of William – granted use of the 3.5 hide estate to the Knights Hospitaller. Letters Patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
dated 29 November 1302 show that the Knights hosted Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
at Shalford.
The Knights held the manor until their dissolution in 1540. After this, the manor was owned by the crown.
In 1544, Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
exchanged the manor with William Wollascott for the manor of Dalehall in Lawford
Lawford
Lawford is a large village in the Tendring district of northeast Essex. It is around 10 miles northeast of Colchester and west of, and contiguous with Manningtree. Mistley merges with the East side of Manningtree....
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. Wollascott's son, also named William, purchased the manor of Brimpton in 1595. When he became lord of the manor upon his father's death in 1618, he became owner of both manors.
Toponymy
One suggested origin of the name of Brimpton comes from "Brynni's Town"; Brynni was an Anglo-Saxon owner of the land. A more likely explanation is that Brimpton stands on a hill, and the name comes from a Saxo-Celtic version of "Hill Town"; the Celtic word for hill being "bryn". This name was probably coined in reference to the Iron Age settlement.Brimpton has also been recorded as Brinniggetun and Bryningtune (in the 10th century) and Brintone (in the 11th century). More recent alternative names include Brinton, Brimton, Brumton and Brumpton.
Demography
The 2001 UK census revealed that 613 people resided 226 houses within the parish. Of these, 294 were male and 319 were female.The mean age of residents was 38.74, and the median was 40.
Religion
There have been at least three churches in Brimpton, two of which are still in use. The main Anglican church is dedicated to St Peter, and is a Grade II listed building. It was built in 1869 in designed in the 14th-century style. The flintFlint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
building has a tower (with an octagonal shingle
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
d spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
) and a wooden porch. The roof is tiled. The interior has a chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
, organ chamber, vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
, a nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with three bays and two aisles, and is faced with ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
. The structural columns are granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. The belfry
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
holds four (non-ringable) bells, dating from 1624 to 1842. The oldest bell, the fourth, was recast by Mears and Stainbank in 1876.
The other operational church is Brimpton Baptist Church, which was established in 1843.
The chapel of St Leonard, a 14th-century stone building, is located on Manor Farm. It was used as the place of worship of the Shalford Preceptory
Shalford Preceptory
Shalford Preceptory was a preceptory of Knights Hospitaller at Shalford in the civil parish of Brimpton in the English county of Berkshire.In was established in the late 12th century. By 1338, it had merged with the preceptory at Greenham....
, a group of Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
(and later Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
) who had formed in the 13th century. By 1614, the chapel had been converted into a barn at Brimpton Court.
Location
It is located in the West BerkshireWest Berkshire
West Berkshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England, governed by a unitary authority . Its administrative capital is Newbury, located almost equidistantly between Bristol and London.-Geography:...
district, east of Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
and to the south of the A4 road. Other villages nearby include Aldermaston
Aldermaston
Aldermaston is a rural village, civil parish and electoral ward in Berkshire, South-East England. In the 2001 United Kingdom Census, the parish had a population of 927. The village is on the southern edge of the River Kennet flood plain, near the Hampshire county boundary...
, Woolhampton
Woolhampton
Woolhampton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The village is situated on the London to Bath road between the towns of Reading and Newbury...
and an extension of Brimpton, Brimpton Common
Brimpton Common
Brimpton Common is a village in Berkshire, England. It is part of Brimpton Parish, and part of the Benefice of Aldermaston and Woolhampton in the Diocese of Oxford. It is in the Aldermaston Ward of West Berkshire Council....
. The entire village is surrounded by the Wasing Estate
Wasing
Wasing is a small village and civil parish in Berkshire, England.It is situated in the West Berkshire district, near to the Berkshire-Hampshire border approximately south east of Newbury, its post town. Other places located close by include Aldermaston and Brimpton...
. The River Enborne
River Enborne
thumb|left|250px|River Enbournethumb|left|250px|River Enbourne at Headley Ford, near Crookham Commonthumb|left|250px|River Enborne at Shalford bridge, near [[Brimpton]]thumb|left|250px|Oxford Bridge over a small tributary of the River Enborne, near Inwood Copse...
passes close by to the Southeast.
Amenities
Services in the village include a village shop called 'Forge Stores, JJ's Hairdressers, the Three Horsehoes public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, Brimpton Church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
and Brimpton School. There is also a village hall that is used by organisations such as the Brimpton Women's Institute.
At the centre of the village is the war memorial
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
remembering the twenty two residents of Brimpton who died in the First World War and the two who died in the Second World War.
Brimpton Airfield
Brimpton Airfield
Brimpton Airfield is an unlicensed single-runway civilian airfield in Berkshire, United Kingdom.-History:Located close to RAF Greenham Common, the airfield was founded in the 1950s by Sir William Mount, 2nd Baronet, a director at Miles Aircraft in nearby Woodley...
is located 1 mile east of the village, a quiet 500 metre grass runway where a few light aircraft are based.