Greenham is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, England. Greenham commences immediately south-east of Newbury and is in

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. It is administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbur ...

. It was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Greneham''. The parish includes the hamlet of

Sandleford Sandleford is a hamlet (place), hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Greenham, in the West Berkshire district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. It is located approximately south of the town of Newbury, Berkshire, ...

Governance

Greenham was originally a

tithing A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or ...

in the parish of

Thatcham Thatcham is a market town and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. It is situated in the valley of the River Kennet east of Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury, west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading and west of London. The town has a long history d ...

. In 1878, the northern part was given to Newbury and the southern part became its own parish. West Berkshire administers local government; certain minor local services such as footpaths and sports facilities received grants from the precept of the parish council, formed of residents. The population of the civil parish was 937 at the 2011 Census. The area of the village, in its broad, traditional definition, including the racecourse,

common land Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

and airfield, is .

Amenities

Greenham's parish church of St Mary was built between 1875 and 1895 by

Henry Woodyer Henry Woodyer (1816–1896) was an English architect, a pupil of William Butterfield and a disciple of A. W. N. Pugin and the Ecclesiologists. Life Woodyer was born in Guildford, Surrey, England, in 1816, the son of a successful, highly resp ...

in the Early English style. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. There is a public open space by the church, called

Audrey's Meadow Audrey's Meadow is a nature reserve in Newbury in Berkshire. It is owned by West Berkshire Council and managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. Geography and site Audrey's Meadow contains a mixture of improved ...

after local councillor, Audrey Appleby, administered by the

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is a Wildlife Trust covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part ...

. Schools in the parish include Mary Hare primary school in the village itself, Highwood Copse primary school, St Gabriel's School at Sandleford Priory and Newbury College.

Transport

Newbury Racecourse railway station is within the parish, served by

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

local services from to and . Services are augmented on race days. The A339 from

Basingstoke Basingstoke ( ) is a town in Hampshire, situated in south-central England across a valley at the source of the River Loddon on the western edge of the North Downs. It is the largest settlement in Hampshire without city status in the United King ...

runs along the southern edge of the parish before heading north along the former alignment of the A34 into the centre of Newbury. The

Kennet and Avon Canal The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of Navigability, navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than sol ...

runs along the north-western edge of the parish. The racecourse incorporates an airfield for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

use on race days.

Housing

An area separating southern Newbury from Greenham, sometimes referred to by locals as the 'Greenham Gap', has historically been free of housing, but a development of 36 houses was completed in this area in 2020 and outline plans for further housing were approved in 2017 and 2018, amidst concerns about traffic management and local rights of way.

Industry

Newbury Racecourse Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse and events venue in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps. It hosts one of Great Britain's List of ...

is within the northern border of the parish. The Greenham Industrial Estate is in the south-eastern corner, beyond the former

RAF Greenham Common Royal Air Force Greenham Common or more simply RAF Greenham Common is a former Royal Air Force List of former Royal Air Force stations, station in the civil parishes of Greenham and Thatcham in the England, English county of Berkshire. The airfi ...

, which occupied much of the common between 1942 and 1992.

Demography

References

External links

Royal Berkshire History: Greenham

A History of RAF Greenham Common
Villages in Berkshire West Berkshire District Civil parishes in Berkshire Thatcham {{Berkshire-geo-stub