Chieveley | West Berkshire Villages
The village is approximately 4 miles to the North of Newbury in Berkshire, England. The landscape is dominated by farming. There are currently three working farms in the parish.
The people of the village are known to be very friendly, welcoming and sociable and there is a very strong community spirit in the village. In addition to the many clubs and societies the village comes together for big events - such as the village fete which is held in the beautiful grounds of Chieveley Manor.
The village is surrounded by an extensive network of local footpaths and bridleways in lovely countryside for walking, cycling and horse riding
The Village is in the Downlands Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty which offers extensive walking and cycling. The Ridgeway recreational trail is within easy reach and boasts tremendous views of the surrounding countryside
The Kennet and Avon canal is 10 minutes away and is popular for boating, walking and cycling, as is the River Thames which is 30 mins away at Streatley or Pangbourne.
In addition to the many clubs and societies the village comes together for big events - such as the village fete which is held in the beautiful grounds of Chieveley Manor.
AMENITIES & FACILITIES
There is a village hall, gardening club, baby and toddler group and an oil club. There is also a WI.
VILLAGE STORE
Providing everything that a typical local shop would provide;
FOOD & DRINK.
There is the Olde Red Lion. A traditional village pub and restaurant, with 5 B&B ensuite rooms. The Crab and Boar is also part of Chieveley.
SPORTS
There is a cricket club, tennis club, short mat bowls and the Chieveley Chase.
SCHOOLS
Chieveley Primary is a creative school which offers a safe, secure and friendly environment for all learners.
COMMUNICATION
There is the village website.
CHURCH
The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Chieveley, stands with distinction in the Downland.
TRANSPORT
The 6 & ^A runs in a circular route from Newbury to Newbury. There is the downland handbus.
SURGERY
The Surgery is the Downland Practice.
PARISH COUNCIL
Chieveley Parish Council .
Chieveley is a village of 1481 people (2001 census) and 508 households, approximately 4 miles to the North of Newbury in Berkshire, England. A map of 1877 stated the area at the time to be 5328.189 acres. Roughly. Although famed for the opulence and fine lavatories of Chieveley Service Station (it was on the Internet, so must be true!), there is something beyond Junction 13 of the M4 for those who leave the steaming frustration of their cars.
The Downland was much fought-over in the Civil war. A knight left his standard in a pub to the west of the village, whence its name “The Blue Boar”. In recent years it has been a successful hotel and changed to “The Crab“. One can only conjecture who left what to cause the change of name.
The landscape is of gently rolling chalk hills. The land is predominantly arable with some dairy, sheep and pigs. There is a healthy quantity of woodland and abundant wildlife. There is a network of green-lanes and foot-paths that afford good walking when not chewed to pulp by 4×4’s and bikers scrambling for lost youth and purpose.
The Parish consists of the villages of Chieveley and Curridge and settlements of Downend, Oare and Snelsmore Common. A map of the parish is included within this site.
The structure has been much affected by roads. The M4 passes East-West through the middle of the parish and has done much to cut Curridge and Oare from Chieveley. This was opened in 1971. The A34 running North-South quarters the parish. Its path has moved several times, the most recent development being a change to Junction 13 that opened in Autumn 2004.
The landscape is dominated by farming. There are currently three working farms in the parish. Curridge has a large deciduous wooded area. Other industries include the School of Military Survey, a garden centre, land-fill site, hotels, a fine baker and many small businesses.
Within the community there is an active social life and as with many villages, life behind closed doors.
There is ancient civilisation near-by that indicates early settlement. Peasemore is said to have been the site of a pre-Roman city. Hermitage has an iron-age hill-fort, Grimsbury Castle, to which a tasteful Victorian added a crenellated and towered cottage. The parish boasts a fine Roman fortification in Snelsmore, Bussock Camp. This is in private grounds but is visible in May when they are opened to the public to view the fine display of bluebells.
In August 1207, King John seems to have had a good few days’ hunting. He is reported in Curridge on the 3rd and Chieveley on the 5th. It is not recorded what he was hunting, although the current government takes a dim view of hunting either foxes or stags on the M4.
Chieveley and the surrounding area had an eventful civil war. Donnington Castle was remodelled by cannon and two battles were fought. On 26th October 1644 Cromwell stayed the night in the Blue Boar just to the West of the Parish and his forces camped at North Heath. In July that year, his forces had taken on Prince Rupert and company in Ripley, during which successful (for the Parliamentarians) skirmish, they liberated a statue of a wild boar that Lord Ingleby had brought back from Italy as one of a pair. The other remains in Ripley. In the seventeenth century’s equivalent of the dash for the 7.48 from Newbury, the Blue Boar was left behind in the pub. It has now been ignominiously relegated.
Chieveley
The name “Chieveley” is first mentioned in a document of 892 AD where it is referred to as “Cifanlea”. Mr Victor Pocock, a local historian, identifies it as having been founded by the Saxons and has traced a reference in King Edred’s charter referring to the origin as being a farmer called Cifa. “Ley” is a saxon suffix meaning field. In victorian times it was supposed that the origin of the village name was “Field of Chives”. The WI’s Berkshire Book assures the reader that Chives were noted in the area as far back as 951. A nice story, sadly unsupported by documentation.
The Doomsday book has this to say of Chieveley (source: The National Archives):
“IN ROWBURY HUNDRED
The abbey itself holds Chieveley. It has always held it. TRE it was assessed at 27 hides; now at 7 ½
hides. There is land for 20 ploughs.
In demesne are 3 ploughs; and 28 villans and 10 bordars with 18 ploughs. There are 3 slaves, and 4
acres of meadow, [and] woodland for 60 pigs. Of this land William holds of the abbot 5 hides, and Godfrey
1 ½ hides, and there is 1 plough, with 3 villans and 2 bordars having 1 plough, and 3 acres of meadow.
The whole, TRE and afterwards, was worth 12l ; now the abbot’s portion [is worth] 10l ; [that] of his men
50s.”
This text is a structured shorthand tax assessment. For an excellent explanation of how to decode it, see http://www.chobham.org.uk/domesday.htm (and thanks to our venerable Parish Clerk for finding this).
The first Vicar of Chieveley was Elias, appointed in 1154. It is likely that there was a Saxon church before it was replaced by the Normans and later the Victorians. Chieveley parish registers start on April 10th 1560. There are still several families in the area who were recorded in those annals.
Chieveley once had its own Maypole, on the site now occupied by Maypole Cottage (on the corner of the High Street and Church Lane). May fairs were closely linked to ancient fertility rights and occasionally got out of hand. Details are however sketchy.
One history reports that in the Autumn of 1644 a maiden of the village, the daughter of Philip Weston, a Royalist, fell for a Parliamentarian Officer. Father and lover went into the Second Battle of Newbury, agreeing before departure that news was to be returned of their fate through trumpet blasts. One was to signal that Philip had been killed; two that the lover was no more; three that both had died. The maid waited by her window. Upon hearing three blasts, she threw herself into a well in despair. Her ghost, apparently, haunts it still.
For a modern history of the village, try Bill Martin’s book “Chieveley (Remembered)” published 2007 by Trafford Publishing at £9.50. ISBN 142510246-8 available from Bill on 200686 or from Borders bookshop in Newbury.
Curridge
King Edred’s annals of 953 (see above!) record the village of Custeridge as being given to Alfric, a deed witnessed by Alfonord, bishop of Ramsbury.
The village’s name is said to be derived from “Cusa’s Ridge”.
Curridge was a tithing of Chieveley. The School served also as a chapel until 1965, when the last service was held. The ecclesiastical links with Chieveley were severed and Curridge is now linked with Hermitage.
Oare
Oare boasts the earliest documented history within the Parish. In 638 King Edgar gave Oare chapel to the Abbot of Abingdon, a gift witnessed by St. Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury. 10 Hides of land (around 1200 acres) accompanied it.
A priory was built by the Abbot at which he could rest on the arduous walk between Abingdon and Winchester. The priory was where Oare Farm House now stands. All that remains of the original is a very fine garden wall. The pond beside the church was formerly used by the monks and prior to hold carp for their Friday meals. Now the needs of the weary traveller are met by fish and chips in the Chieveley Service station 1.8 miles from the pond. Carp and spiritual sustenance are absent from the modern version.
The priory was pulled down during the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII, leaving the little church for the people. Oare became a chapel of Chieveley at that tim
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