Speen, Berkshire
| Speen | |
|---|---|
| Villageandcivil parish | |
 St Mary the Virgin parish church | |
 Maize fields and the Lambourn, Woodspeen, Speen | |
  Speen Location withinBerkshire | |
| Area | 14.53 km2(5.61 sq mi) |
| Population | 2,635 (2011 census)[1] |
| •Density | 181/km2(470/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SU4568 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Newbury |
| Postcode district | RG14 |
| Dialling code | 01635 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
Speenis a village andcivil parishinWest Berkshire,England. Centred 2 miles (3 km) north west of the largest town in the district,Newbury,Speen hasclustered settlements,the largest of which is Speen village, which is contiguous with Newbury, and the others, buffered from the town by theA34 road,areBagnor,Stockcross,WoodspeenandMarsh Benham.Its other land is an approximately even mixture of woodland and agricultural fields including hay meadows for livestock feed and pasture.[2]The area varies greatly in elevation, having theReading to Taunton Linealongside the north bank of theRiver Kennetas its southern boundary and both banks of theRiver Lambournin its north with elevated ground in between.Benham Parkin the south-west of the area is alistedlandscape gardenand house.
History
[edit]
Wickham Heath occupies the far west of the parish and has plantations of trees, such as conifers which are felled for pulp and wood products. Speen has the frequently interrupted footpath marking theErmin Way,the mainRoman roadfromCorinium Dobunnorum(Cirencester) toCalleva Atrebatum(Silchester). TheSecond Battle of Newburyduring theEnglish Civil Warwas fought at Speen on 27 October 1644.[3]Speenhamlandin theparish,now part ofNewbury,was the home of theSpeenhamland systemof outdoor relief.[4]
Landmarks
[edit]Parish church
[edit]TheChurch of England parish churchofSaint Mary the Virginis lateSaxonand is the oldest church inBerkshire.[5]It is the burial place ofGiovanni Battista Castiglione(1515–98),Elizabeth I's Italian tutor and servant, who was given the nearbyBenham Valence houseand park in 1570.[6]
The Ladywell or lady well
[edit]The church was built near one of the holy wells ofChristendom,which, is as with many wells, an enlargedspring.[7]Tenuous local tradition says its water is able to cure eye diseases and other ills,[8]and there have been reports it is haunted. Some of the village people have seen an old woman with white hair and wearing a blue rain mac wandering around the grave yard and up the path the well is situated on. The Ladywell was fenced off in theVictorian era.[9]
Speen House
[edit]Next to the above sites are ramparts around the elevated Speen House, the latest incarnation of Speenmanor house,which is mostly late 18th century, but incorporates a minority of building materials from its 17th century predecessor. Early historians have dated a few stones among the foundations to theRomanvillage ofSpinae,but it is more likely that these oldest stones were sourced and hewn for the latemedievalmanor house, nothing else of which survives.[10]
Benham Park
[edit]Benham Parkor Benham Valence Manor, is a landscape garden byCapability Brown,centred on the house built byHenry HollandforWilliam, 6th Baron Cravenin 1775. It was later the home of his widow,Elizabeth,and her second husband, theMargrave of Anspach.Both the house and park areGrade II* listed.[11]One of its pairs of grand and ornate gate piers (pilasters) is separately Grade I listed.[12]
Transport
[edit]Speen railway station,on theLambourn Valley Railway,served the parish until it was closed in 1960.[13]The nearest railway station now isNewbury.
The A34 road cuts through the middle of the parish in a roughly straight line north–south. It has thenucleusof the village to its east close to one of the three Newbury junctions and the road proceeds to a junction with theM4 MotorwayatChieveley.There are local bus services to Newbury,LambournandHungerford.
Demography
[edit]| Output area | Homes owned outright | Owned with a loan | Socially rented | Privately rented | Other | km2roads | km2water | km2domestic gardens | Usual residents | km2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civil parish | 378 | 338 | 168 | 173 | 28 | 0.340 | 0.350 | 0.623 | 2635 | 14.53 |
References
[edit]- ^abKey Statistics: Dwellings; Quick Statistics: Population Density; Physical Environment: Land Use Survey 2005
- ^"West Berks Council information - Speen, page 14".
- ^"Second Battle of Newbury 1644".www.newburyhistory.co.uk.
- ^Page, William;Ditchfield, P.H.,eds. (1924). "Speen with Speenhamland, Bagnor and Benham".A History of the County of Berkshire.Victoria County History.Vol. 4. pp. 97–110.
- ^"St Mary's Church, Speen, Newbury".St-mary-speen.org.Retrieved21 February2013.
- ^"Benham Park".www.hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk.Retrieved18 September2023.
- ^The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England by Robert Charles Hope (1893)Page 3. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^Ladywell, Holy Wells and Springs (2016)Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^Living springs sitesArchived4 March 2016 at theWayback MachineThe University of Bath. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
- ^Historic England."Speen House (Grade II) (1220635)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved12 December2014.
- ^Historic England."Benham Park, Bath Road (Grade II*) (1220740)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved2 September2014.
- ^Historic England."Gate piers and gates at Benham Park, West Lodge (Grade I) (1220645)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved2 September2014.
- ^"Station Name: SPEEN".Disused Stations.Retrieved21 June2010.
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