Wargrave

Not to be confused withWar grave.

Wargrave
Wargrave Location withinBerkshire
Area	16.28 km2(6.29 sq mi)
Population	3,803 (2011 Census)
•Density	234/km2(610/sq mi)
OS grid reference	SU7878
Civil parish	Wargrave
Unitary authority	Wokingham
Ceremonial county	Berkshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Reading
Postcode district	RG10
Dialling code	0118
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Royal Berkshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Maidenhead
Website	Wargrave Parish Council

Wargrave(/ˈwɔːr.ɡreɪv/) is a historic village andcivil parishinBerkshire,England.The village is primarily on theRiver Thamesbut also along the confluence of theRiver Loddonand lies on the border with southernOxfordshire.The village has many oldlisted buildings,twomarinaswithchandleryservices for boats, aboatingclub and rises steeply to the northeast in the direction ofBowsey Hill,with higher parts of the village generally known as Upper Wargrave. In Upper Wargrave is a Recreation Ground with acricketclub,bowlsclub,footballpitches andtennisclub.

Wargrave is situated in the A321 road 7 miles (11 km) from bothMaidenheadandReadingand 3 miles (4.8 km) fromHenley-on-Thames.The village is larger than the county average, havingits own railway stationon theHenley Branch Line,off theGreat Western Main LinefromLondon Paddington;the village is quickly accessible to nearby parts of theM4 corridor,particularlyBerkshireandHeathrow Airportand local major centres of employment include Reading and Maidenhead, with smaller businesses and additional commercial facilities in nearby Henley-on-Thames andWokingham.

History

Original forms of name

The name Wargrave is derived from 'Weir-Grove', as it was in theAssize RollsandPatent rollsof themedievaltimes recorded as 'Weregreave',settling on a slightly different pronunciation after theGreat Vowel Shiftrendering it Wargrave.

Early history

Church Street,c.1888 byHenry Taunt

St Mary's parish church

The first documentary evidence of the settlement was recorded in 1061 which indicates that it was a village and had amanorin thefeudal system.TheDomesday Bookof 1086 records the settlement as having a population of 250.In the 13th century the current High Street was lined with plots and backstreets developed.

Wargrave Court was erected in the earlyTudor periodand then altered and extended in theGeorgianto post-Edwardianperiod.Wargrave Manor occupies itsmedievalsite on the northern outskirts, bounded by its lower meadow that overlooks Wargrave Marsh below it, which is drained farmland downstream and the local primaryfloodplain.However this building, while alsograde II listed,is larger, with a modest landscaped park. It is late Georgian and altered later in a paintedstuccowith moulded,chamferedquoins,moulding over second floor windows,hippedslate roof with several chimneys, spread over three storeys save for the wings. The east front has aconical roofover a protrusion of a similar shape with threesash windowsflanked by a singlebayswith similar windows: all windows havearchitravesurrounds, with the ground floor windows havingVictorianpanes. This section has aDoricverandawith coupled columns supportingentablatureacross the whole front. Flanking wings have two upper sash windows andvenetian windowson their ground floor. Its Victorian south front has 5 bays repeating the design and a central porch of anglepilasterssupporting entablature and blocking course. Above the double door is a radiating fanlight. The west front has a large Victorian semi-circular terrace in front.

The village continued to develop into its current form in the 18th century growing up the hill from the High Street eastwards so that by the end of the 19th century this axis, now Victoria Road, was fully settled.

Post Industrial Revolution

In the 20th century the village's population grew significantly, especially in the 1970s and 1980sas new developments on farmland inside theparishboundaries responded to demand for housing for commuters working in and on the increasingly commercial western outskirts ofLondon.Wargrave War Memorialwas commissioned in the aftermath of theFirst World War.Taking the shape of a hexagonal cross on thevillage green,it was designed bySir Edwin Lutyensand unveiled on 28 May 1922. It is a grade IIlisted building.

TheHannen Columbarium

Geography

The village encloses in its west theconfluenceof theRiver Loddonand theRiver Thames.It is on the A321 north–south road betweenTwyfordandHenley-on-Thames.On the opposite bank of the River Thames are the villages ofShiplakeand Lower Shiplake. When taken as itscivil parish,such as in all of its history and in civil parish council provision of footpath maintenance and annual village events, it includesHare HatchandCockpole Green.These largesthamletsrely on Wargrave's businesses (such aspost office,shops, hairdressing and other usual large village services) and for education.

Wargrave railway stationis on theHenley Branch LinebetweenTwyford(the next station south) andHenley-on-Thames.The railway operator provides trains at least every 30 minutes each way on Monday-Friday and allows connections toReadingandLondon Paddington.If a change of train is made at Twyford, the time to the capital is 53–70 minutes.A large proportion of the residents in employment commute to outlying areas, as the village itself supports a small range of shops and businesses, but the average commute is more than five miles to support the local economy as at the2011 census.

Governance

Wargrave has its ownparish council,and is also in theBorough of Wokingham,and theceremonial countyofBerkshire.It was in theparliamentary constituencyofMaidenhead,but constituency changes have moved it intoWokingham.

Christian buildings and memorials

TheChurch of England parish churchofSaint Marydates from the 12th century and has the wide ecclesiasticalparishof Wargrave withKnowl Hill.It is situated on Mill Green, off the High Street. In 1914 it was set on fire and gutted as a result ofdirect actionby theSuffragette Movement.The north door remains from the 12th century, thetowerfrom 1635 and the remaining structure was built following the fire. This is aGrade II* listed building.

In the gardens of the churchyard is theHannen Columbarium,acolumbariumbuilt to house the remains of the Hannen family. It was designed byEdwin Lutyensand is considered an interesting example of his early work.The ashes of SirNicholas John Hannen,judge, his son,Nicholas "Beau" Hannen,actor, and Beau's wifeAthene Seyler,also an actor, are all interred in the columbarium.Thomas Day(1748–1789), author andabolitionist,is also buried in the churchyard, after being fatally thrown from his horse. TheRoman Catholicchurch ofOur Lady of Peacewas built in 1963 and is supported by theParishof SaintThomas Moreof the neighbouring village,Twyford.

The river

River Thamesin Wargrave

There aremarinasand WargraveBoatingClub for those who use theRiver Thamesfor leisure and sport. In August, theWargrave & Shiplake Regattais held over two days on theShiplakeriverbank opposite. Theregattacombines serious and light-hearted racing incanoes,dinghies,dongolas andskiffs.It is the largest community event of the year having taken place since 1867.The event ends with a large firework display on the Saturday night.

Wargrave is mentioned inJerome K. Jerome's, 1889 bookThree Men in a Boat,a humorous account of a boating holiday on the River Thames:

We caught a breeze, after lunch, which took us gently up past Wargrave andShiplake.Mellowed in the drowsy sunlight of a summer's afternoon, Wargrave, nestling where the river bends, makes a sweet old picture as you pass it, and one that lingers long upon the retina of memory. The“George and Dragon"at Wargrave boasts a sign, painted on the one side byLeslie, R.A.,and on the other by Hodgson of that ilk. Leslie has depicted the fight; Hodgson has imagined the scene, "After the Fight" — George, the work done, enjoying his pint of beer.Day,the author ofSandford and Merton,lived and—more credit to the place still—was killed at Wargrave.

— Jerome K. Jerome,Three Men in a Boat,Chapter XIV

Amenities

At one time there were sevenpublic houseson High Street, serving thestage coachestravelling betweenHenley-on-ThamesandReading;there are now only two. The pubs remaining today are the Bull and theSt Georgeand Dragon. TheQueen Victoriapublic house in Hare Hatch recently closed and is being redeveloped into housing. Wargrave has its ownprimary school,which is split into the infant school and junior school, and asecondaryacademyschool –The Piggott Schoolformerly a comprehensive school, now an academy. Each is aChurch of Englandvoluntary controlled schooland are also feeder schools to each other. They are all named after Robert Piggott.

Demography

Wargrave is recorded since at least theNorman Conquestas covering the land right up to the crest of the hills to the east, (but only in terms of thecivil parishsince the building ofchapels of easein the outlying parts after the 19th century secular/religious split). At the level of local government above this, theWargravewardis redrawn typically every 12 years to roughly even out the population between such wards. It covers a similar area. As is common across the United Kingdom, theRG10 postcodeof the mid-county-coveringReadingpost townis for postal convenience and bears a slight relation to the largest administrative border as currently drawn. Key statistics from both administrative areas are shown in the table below together with thenucleusof Wargrave twin census Lower Level Super Output Areas which omits a few communities of Wargrave which are isolated bybufferingfields and woodlands.

2011 Census key statistics

Output area	Population	Homes	% Owned outright	% Owned with a loan	km2	km2Greenspace	km2gardens	km2road and rail
Wargrave (civil parish)	3,803	1,570	41.2%	35.8%	16.28	13.76	1.45	0.41
Wargrave (Wokingham 001B and 1C)	3,025	1,234	41.2%	37.3%	6.41	4.84	0.82	0.23
Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe (ward)	5,421	2,272	41.6%	34.1%	30.12	26.42	2.02	0.73

Notable residents

• Richard Aldworth(c.1614–1680), MP forReading,was born in Wargrave
• Dave Allen,comedian
• Angela Baddeley,actress, lived in Wargrave prior to her death in 1976
• Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore
• Raymond Baxter,television presenter
• Bert Bushnell,athlete1948 OlympicGold medalist atdouble sculls
• Paul DanielsandDebbie McGee,magician and his wife/assistant
• Peter Davison,actor, lived in Wargrave in the 1980s
• Sandra Dickinson,actress, lived in Wargrave
• Nicholas "Beau" Hannen,actor (son of Sir Nicholas Hannen)
• SirNicholas John Hannen,Chief Justice of theBritish Supreme Court for China and Japan
• Mary Hopkin,singer
• Sir Morell Mackenzie,physician and surgeon
• Robert Morley,actor
• Bobby Whitlock,Musician,Derek and the Dominoes,Delaney and Bonnie,Eric Clapton,also featured onAll Things Must Pass(George Harrison)

Sources

• Gray, R. and Griffiths, S. (eds) (1986),The Book of Wargrave,Wargrave: Wargrave Local History Society,ISBN0 9511878 05

External links

• Wargrave News Online
• Wargrave Parish Council
• Berkshire History: Wargrave
• Wargrave Cricket Club