Fawley, Berkshire
Encyclopedia
Fawley is a village
and civil parish in the English
county of Berkshire
. It is more properly called North or Great Fawley to distinguish it from South or Little Fawley
, lower down the parish.
It is located in the west of the district of West Berkshire
, close to the Berkshire
-Oxfordshire
border near the Ridgeway
, and just off the A338
between Great Shefford
and Wantage
.
Fawley is the original 'Marygreen' of Hardy's
Jude the Obscure
. Jude's surname was Fawley, and this gloomy work was set there because it was the home of Hardy's grandmother, who had a very depressing childhood. The house in which she lived is now called Jude Cottage.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Berkshire
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...
. It is more properly called North or Great Fawley to distinguish it from South or Little Fawley
South Fawley
South Fawley is a small village in the civil parish of Fawley in the English county of Berkshire.It is situated off the A338 between Great Shefford and Wantage, just south of its counterpart Fawley, or North Fawley, in the West Berkshire district. It has a fine early 17th century manor house built...
, lower down the parish.
It is located in the west of the district of West Berkshire
West 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:...
, close to the Berkshire
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...
-Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
border near the Ridgeway
The Ridgeway
thumb|right|thumb|The ancient tree-lined path winds over the downs countrysideThe Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road...
, and just off the A338
A338 road
The A338 is a major trunk road in southern England, that runs from the junction with the A35 at Bournemouth in Dorset to the junction with the A420 at Besselsleigh in Oxfordshire, roughly long.-Route:...
between Great Shefford
Great Shefford
Great Shefford is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire.-Topography and history:The parish is in the district of West Berkshire, on the River Lambourn. The modern civil parish includes the historical parish of Little or East Shefford, a small hamlet and lost settlement...
and Wantage
Wantage
Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....
.
Fawley is the original 'Marygreen' of Hardy's
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure, the last of Thomas Hardy's novels, began as a magazine serial and was first published in book form in 1895. The book was burned publicly by William Walsham How, Bishop of Wakefield, in that same year. Its hero, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man who dreams of becoming a...
. Jude's surname was Fawley, and this gloomy work was set there because it was the home of Hardy's grandmother, who had a very depressing childhood. The house in which she lived is now called Jude Cottage.