Harpsden is a village and civil parish just south of Henley-on-Thames

Henley-on-Thames

Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...

 in South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England. Its council is based in Crowmarsh Gifford, just outside Wallingford....

.

History

Remains of a Roman villa

Roman villa

A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...

 have been found about 0.5 miles (804.7 m) southwest of the village.

In the 11th century during the reign of King Edward the Confessor

Edward 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....

 the manor

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 of Harpsden belonged to Wigod

Wigod

Wigod was the eleventh century Saxon thegn or lord of the English town of Wallingford, and a kinsman of Edward the Confessor....

, the 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 Wallingford. After the Norman conquest of England

Norman conquest of England

The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...

 Harpsden became part of the Honour of Wallingford

Honour of Wallingford

The Honour of Wallingford was a medieval English honour located circa 1066 to 1540 in present-day Oxfordshire.The Honour of Wallingford was established after the Norman conquest of England, which began in 1066. The Honour initially encompassed Wallingford and Harpsden and thereafter gained...

.

The Church of England parish 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:...

 of Saint Margaret

Saint Margaret

Saint Margaret may refer to:-People:* Saint Margaret the Virgin of Antioch * Saint Margaret of Scotland * Saint Margaret of England * Saint Margaret of Hungary * Saint Margaret of Cortona...

 was originally late Norman

Norman architecture

About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...

, as evidenced by the piscina

Piscina

A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. Roman Catholics usually refer to the drain, and by extension, the basin, as the sacrarium...

, font

Baptismal font

A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...

 and a blocked doorway that survive from this period. The current windows in the 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...

 and 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...

 were inserted in the 14th century, and a stone effigy of a knight dates from the same period. In 1848–54 the Gothic Revival architect

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

 Benjamin Ferrey

Benjamin Ferrey

Benjamin Ferrey, F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A. was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival.-Family:Benjamin Ferrey was the youngest son of Benjamin Ferrey Snr, a draper who became Mayor of Christchurch. He was educated at Wimborne Grammar School....

 lengthened the nave and added the north aisle and tower. In 1879 the architect Henry Woodyer restored the chancel.

Other notable buildings in the village include Harpsden Court which existed by 1540, and a weatherboarded

Weatherboarding

Weatherboarding is the cladding or ‘siding’ of a house consisting of long thin timber boards that overlap one another, either vertically or horizontally on the outside of the wall. They are usually of rectangular section with parallel sides...

 barn near the church bearing the date 1689.

Bellehatch Park, about 0.75 miles (1.2 km) southwest of the village, was built early in the 19th century. It is a Georgian

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

 neoclassical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 country house

English country house

The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...

 of five bays

Bay (architecture)

A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...

 with a Doric

Doric order

The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...

 porch and summerhouse

Summerhouse

Summerhouse can refer to:*Summer house*Summerhouse, County Durham*"The Summerhouse", a song by The Divine Comedy...

. It was the seat of the Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician Cecil Norton

Cecil Norton, 1st Baron Rathcreedan

Cecil William Norton, 1st Baron Rathcreedan , was a British Liberal Party politician.Norton was the son of William Norton, Rector of Baltinglass, Ireland. He was elected to the House of Commons for Newington West in 1892, a seat he held until 1916, and served under Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and...

, who was created first Baron Rathcreedan

Baron Rathcreedan

Baron Rathcreedan, of Bellehatch Park in the County of Oxford, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1916 for the Liberal politician Cecil Norton. He had previously represented Newington West in the House of Commons and served as a Junior Lord of the Treasury from 1905...

 in 1916.

Amenities

Harpsden Wood is an ancient woodland dating from at least 1600. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 covering 73 acres (29.5 ha).

Henley Golf Club is in Harpsden.

Harpsden is a popular filming location where productions including the Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...

TV series and parts of the James Bond

James Bond

James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 film Quantum of Solace have been filmed.

Harpsden Cricket Club was founded in 1887 and is thus celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2012.