Enborne is a village and
civil parish, in
West Berkshire,
England that bounds to the east, across a road from
Newbury. The
River Enborne shares its name, although it does not run through the village; rather, it runs through and rises near the nearby village of
Enborne Row
Enborne Row is a hamlet in Berkshire, England, located on the county's border with Hampshire. The hamlet is within the civil parish of Enborne. The settlement lies next to the A34 road, and is located approximately south-west of Newbury. The n ...
. Enborne is in the county of
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. It lost some of its eastern land to Newbury's 20th century expansion. The village name has had many variant spellings in the past, including Anebourne in 1086, as well as Enbourne, Enborn and Enbourn in the last 200 years.
Settlements
The
parish lies immediately west of
Newbury in
West Berkshire, and contains the settlements of Redhill,
Crockham Heath
Crockham Heath is a hamlet in Berkshire, England. Crockham Heath is part of the civil parish of Enborne (where according to the grid ref the majority of the 2011 Census population was included). The settlement lies near to the A34 road, and is lo ...
, Skinner's Green, Wheatlands Lane,
Enborne Row
Enborne Row is a hamlet in Berkshire, England, located on the county's border with Hampshire. The hamlet is within the civil parish of Enborne. The settlement lies next to the A34 road, and is located approximately south-west of Newbury. The n ...
and
Wash Water
Wash Water is a hamlet on the border of Berkshire, and Hampshire. It is divided between the civil parishes of Enborne (where according to Grid Refs the majority of the population at the 2011 Census was included), Newbury, Highclere and East Woo ...
. There is no main population centre; the settlements are scattered.
Boundaries
The
River Enborne marks the southern boundary of the
parish, where
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
joins
Hampshire. The northern boundary is the railway line. Newbury lies to the east, and the parish of
Hamstead Marshall
Hamstead Marshall (also spelt Hampstead Marshall) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The village is located within the North Wessex Downs. The population of this civil parish at the 2011 census was 275.
Location ...
to the west. The
Kennet & Avon Canal
The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the cent ...
passes across the northern end of the parish, together with the
River Kennet.
Agriculture
The
parish has always been, and still is, mostly agricultural in character, with substantial woodland and private parkland. However, in recent years, many of Enborne's former farmsteads have been redeveloped into housing.
Geography
Enborne has a
site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) just to the east of the village, called
Enborne Copse
Enborne Copse is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Newbury in Berkshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site.
The current woodland boundary is almost identical to that shown on Rocque's map of Berkshire in 1761, but ...
and another to the south called
Avery's Pightle
Avery's Pightle is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Enborne in Berkshire. It is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust
The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (B ...
.
Reddings Copse
Early records show, that at one time, up to at least 16 acres of Reddings copse in East Enborne, was held by the family of the barons de Pinkney and was granted by them to William de Clervaux or Nicholas Aufryke. By the middle of the thirteenth century De Clervaux had granted his lands in East Enborne to the
Prior
Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...
of
Sandleford
Sandleford is a hamlet and former parish in the English county of Berkshire. Since at least 1924, the settlement has been within the civil parish of Greenham, and is located approximately south of the town of Newbury.
Landscape
Sandleford c ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
who also acquired the lands held by Aufryke. Reddings copse belonged to one or other of these. Sandleford
Priory had it until the priory's property was taken over by the
Dean and Canons of Windsor of
St George's Chapel
St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gart ...
in the fifteenth century. Various records of the ''sale of woods'' or ''lease of Readings Coppice'' survive which indicate tenants between 1585 and 1748. In the nineteenth century a railway in a deep cutting was built through its heart and in 1996 the by then disused railway was replaced by a wider four-lane
motorway with lay-bys.
*19 February 1585. Sale by the
Dean and Canons of Windsor, to
Thomas Dannett of
Boveney
Boveney is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, near Windsor. It is situated between the villages of Eton Wick in Berkshire, and Dorney and Dorney Reach in Buckinghamshire. Since boundary changes in 1974 and 1995, Boveney is the southernmost vil ...
,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, esquire, and John Kempe of East Enborne, yeoman, for £33 6s 8d, of 16 acres in Readinges Coppice, to cut (under certain conditions) and carry away before 1 July 1586, and leave what the law requires.
*4 November 1618. Lease by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, to John Dean of
Sandleford
Sandleford is a hamlet and former parish in the English county of Berkshire. Since at least 1924, the settlement has been within the civil parish of Greenham, and is located approximately south of the town of Newbury.
Landscape
Sandleford c ...
, gentleman, of Reddings coppice and a close lately planted with underwood, for 21 years at £4. With Bond for £30 to hold the Dean and Canons of Windsor harmless against Robert Deale of Henwick, Elizabeth his wife and John Deale junior, his son. Another bond for £20. Counterpart. Witnesses: Robert Boswell, William Brofarton.
*16 March 1624. Renewal of lease of Reddings Coppice, by the Dean and Canons of
Windsor, to John Dean of
Sandleford
Sandleford is a hamlet and former parish in the English county of Berkshire. Since at least 1924, the settlement has been within the civil parish of Greenham, and is located approximately south of the town of Newbury.
Landscape
Sandleford c ...
, gentleman, of Reddings coppice and a close lately planted with underwood, for 21 years at £4. Witnesses: William Here, John Combes.
*28 July 1663. Lease by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, to John Seely of (Newbery)
Newbury, woolen draper, of Reddings coppice and a close lately planted with underwood. Witnesses: Francis Ridley, William Isaacks, Thomas Monck.
*10 May 1670. Renewal of lease of Reddings Coppice by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, to John Seely
ied 1678of
Newbury, woolen draper, of Reddings coppice and a close lately planted with underwood.
*18 December 1685. Lease of Reddings Coppice by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, to Eleanor Seely of
Greenham
Greenham is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. Greenham commences immediately south-east of Newbury and is in West Berkshire. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as ''Greneham''.
Governance
Greenham was originally a tithing i ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
, widow, of Reddings coppice and a close lately planted with underwood. Endorsed with her surrender 23 June 1690 for a new lease to John Edmunds of
Newbury, gentleman. Counterpart. Witnesses to lease: Ellenor
leanorSealy, William Baron, Joseph Guy, William Shower. Witnesses to the endorsement: Seth Lyferd, No. Starling, John Foster, Thomas Jemmell.
*12 July 1705 Lease of Reddings Coppice by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, to Benjamin Edmunds of the
City of London, merchant. Counterpart. Witnesses: Benjamin Avery, Richard Avery, Richard Holmes junior.
*25 May 1720. Lease of Reddings Coppice by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, to Jane Edmonds of
Clapham, widow, sole executrix of Benjamin Edmunds, for £4, no beasts or cattle to be put in but calves and colts only. Counterpart. Witnesses: John Godwin, John Perry.
*6 March 1748. Renewal of lease of Reddings Coppice by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, to Jane Edmonds, widow. Counterpart. Witnesses: George North, at
Merchant Taylors' Hall,
London, William Bateson, his clerk.
*Report from Mr Chamber as to
Sandleford
Sandleford is a hamlet and former parish in the English county of Berkshire. Since at least 1924, the settlement has been within the civil parish of Greenham, and is located approximately south of the town of Newbury.
Landscape
Sandleford c ...
, let to
Mr Montague, Overtons and Redding Coppice to Mrs Edmonds, and Court lands in Enborne, and copyhold land in
Pamber called Hop gillons.
Transport
Enborne is served by service 13 from
Hungerford to
Newbury. Enborne has never had a railway station but the now-closed
Woodhay was closer than 's, away today. From the 1880s to the 1960s Enborne Junction marked the forking off of the
Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway from the
Berkshire and Hampshire Line of the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
. The now-disused DN&SR line became much of the
Newbury bypass (
A34) which being a dual carriageway is wider. The large environmental protection Newbury By-pass protest against its building in the late 1990s was technically in the
parish.
Notable buildings
Enborne's
parish church is of 12th-century origin, dedicated to
St Michael and All Angels. There is a
Church of England primary school, founded in the 1820s. There is also a
pub, the Craven Arms, which certainly dates back to the early 18th century and probably much earlier.
History
Robin Hood
*
Robin Hood, William Robehod, and or aka Robert le Fevre, from Enborne in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. Hood was indicted for various things, 1261–62, took flight, outlawed, and his chattels taken without warrant by the prior of
Sandleford
Sandleford is a hamlet and former parish in the English county of Berkshire. Since at least 1924, the settlement has been within the civil parish of Greenham, and is located approximately south of the town of Newbury.
Landscape
Sandleford c ...
.
Easter 1262 the
prior
Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...
was excused a fine by the king for having confiscated Hood's chattels. One of the
Henry III rolls of Easter 1262, reads:
:''Rex mandavit baronibus de scaccario per breve quod perdonavit priori de Sandelford' j marcam as quam amerciatus fuit coram
Gilbert de Preston' et sociis suis justicariis ultimo itinerantibus in Comitatu Berk' pro eo quod idem prior seisivit sine waranto catalla Willelmi Robehod' fugitivi, et ideo quod ipsum inde quietus esse faciant''.
This is an early example of the name Robin Hood being used for outlaws, presumably in imitation of the famous man of legend.
Traditional legal practices
Enborne historically adhered to an unusual legal practice. The rights to
copyhold
Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the man ...
land inheritance from a husband were forfeited if his widow remarried or was unchaste. However, the steward of the
manor house was obliged to reinstate the rights if she rode into the manor court, backwards on a black ram, whilst at the same time reciting a particular set of bizarre lines ending in a request for their restoration.
Demography
References
External links
* http://www.berksfhs.org.uk/cms/Berkshire-Places/enborne.html
{{authority control
Villages in Berkshire
West Berkshire District
Civil parishes in Berkshire