Shiplake consists of three settlements: Shiplake, Shiplake Cross and Lower Shiplake. Together these villages form a

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 ...

situated beside the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

south of

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England. The river forms the parish boundary to the east and south, and also the county boundary between Oxfordshire and

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 ...

. The villages have two discrete centres separated by agricultural land. The 2011 Census records the parish (on its adjusted scale) population as 1,954 and containing 679 homes. The A4155 main road linking Henley with

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

passes through the parish. The largest settlement is Lower Shiplake, formerly Lashbrook, centred around Shiplake railway station on the Henley Branch Line. It is the economic centre of the parish and contains a store &

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

, butcher shop and The Baskerville pub, as well as most of the homes in the parish. southwest of Lower Shiplake are the older, contiguous settlements of Shiplake and Shiplake Cross.The settlement of Shiplake village is the historic and religious centre of the parish and contains Shiplake Farm, the

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

& Saint Paul on Church Lane, Shiplake House, The Plough pub and Shiplake College an independent

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

. The College occupies the building and site of the historic Shiplake Court. Shiplake village contains numerous

Grade II listed 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, H ...

buildings and monuments.Shiplake Cross is the sporting and community centre of the parish. It consists of just five roads: Memorial Avenue, Orchard Close, Plough Lane, Plowden Way and Schoolfields. It contains the Shiplake Memorial Hall, Shiplake Village

Bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

Club (founded 1920) and Shiplake

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

& Social Club as well as Shiplake CE Primary School and Nursery. Historically, the parish also included Binfield Heath, west of the historic Shiplake village. Since 2003 it has been a separate

Toponym

The earliest known surviving records of the

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

"Shiplake" are from the 13th century. The ''

Book of Fees The ''Book of Fees'' is the colloquial title of a modern edition, transcript, rearrangement and enhancement of the medieval (Latin: 'Book of Fiefs') which is a listing of feudal landholdings or fief (Middle English ), compiled in about 1302, bu ...

'' records ''Sciplak'' in 1236 and the '' Taxatio Ecclesiastica'' records ''Schipelak'' in 1292. It is derived from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

and means "stream where sheep were washed". The other supposed origin is a mix of Saxon (Scip=ship) and Danish (Lack= to want or not to possess) 'lack of ships' and may relate to a Viking practice of sinking boats as a cache. Vikings raided the Thames and attacked Reading in 871. The Viking option was preferred by Emily J Climenson in her 1894 tome, 'The History of Shiplake'.

Parish church

The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of Saint Peter and Paul dates from at least the 13th century and is the centre of the Church of England parish of Shiplake. In 1869 the church was restored and enlarged to designs by the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

architect GE Street. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

, north

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

and parts of the south aisle were rebuilt and the

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...

of all its windows were replaced. The church is a

Grade II* listed 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, H ...

building. In the churchyard is a Gothic Revival shaft cross. It was erected in 1908 as a monument to a member of the Phillimore family. It is Grade II listed. The church tower has a ring of eight bells, all recast by the

Whitechapel Bell Foundry The Whitechapel Bell Foundry was a business in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. At the time of the closure of its Whitechapel premises, it was the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The bell foundry primarily made church bells ...

in 2009. Shiplake Church also has a Sanctus bell cast by

Gillett & Johnston Gillett & Johnston was a clockmaker and bell foundry based in Croydon, England from 1844 until 1957. Between 1844 and 1950, over 14,000 tower clocks were made at the works. The company's most successful and prominent period of activity as a be ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

in 1929. The earliest reference to Shiplake’s bells is in an inventory dating from the reign of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

(1547–53): "Item – Three belles in ye steeple". The church bells were rung for

Alfred Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

's wedding on 13 June 1850. The ceremony was performed by the Reverend Robert Rawnsley who was Vicar from 1849-62. Tennyson gave the vicar a poem in lieu of payment for the ceremony: ''Vicar of that pleasant spot, Where it was my chance to marry, Happy, happy be your lot, In the vicarage by the quarry: You were he that knit the knot.''

Economic and social history

In 1773 the Thames Navigation Commission built Shiplake Lock on the River Thames about downriver from the main village. About 1830 Shiplake House was built. It is a three-storey early 19th-century

Regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

house just east of what is now Shiplake College. Part of the rear and side has a decorative wrought iron verandah. In 1857 the

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, ...

opened the Henley branch line between and , crossing the Thames on Shiplake Railway Bridge, about downstream from Shiplake Lock. The GWR built Shiplake railway station at Lasbrook (later Lower Shiplake), northeast of the historic Shiplake village. Lower Shiplake has since grown into the largest settlement within the parish. The original railway bridge was of timber. In 1897 the GWR replaced it with the present iron bridge. In 1889 the author Jerome K. Jerome featured Shiplake in his novel ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous novel by English writer Jerome K. Jerome describing ...

''. Most homes in Shiplake were built or rebuilt after the railway arrived. These include Shiplake Court, an historic estate and

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

beside the parish church that overlooks the Thames. Shiplake Court was re-built between 1890 and about 1905. In 1959 it became Shiplake College, an independent boarding school. Some of the college buildings are

, including its "extraordinary" water tower. In 2003 the village of Binfield Heath and the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Crowsley were separated from Shiplake civil parish to form the new civil parish of Binfield Heath. Binfield Heath and Crowsley remain part of the Church of England parish of Shiplake, as does Eye and Dunsden to the south.

Amenities

Shiplake has two pubs: The Plough (formerly The Plowden Arms) and The Baskerville. The Plough is located on the A4155 at the junction with Plough Lane, and The Baskerville is located in Lower Shiplake, near the railway station. Shiplake has a village hall, Women's Institute, amateur dramatic society,

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which players try to roll their ball (called a bowl) closest to a smaller ball (known as a "jack" or sometimes a "kitty"). The bowls are shaped (biased), so that they follow a curve ...

and

lawn tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

club and many other clubs, such as the art and history societies, as well as various fitness groups. Shiplake has a small number of industrial, storage, retail, distribution and office units. Primary schooling takes place at Shiplake CE Primary School on Memorial Avenue, a Voluntary Aided Church of England school with a school role of 178. Older children attend nearby Gillotts School in Henley. Shiplake College is an independent day and

for boys aged 11–18 and girls aged 16–18, located just off the main A4155 Henley on Thames to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

road by Saints Peter and Paul parish church.

Public transport

Shiplake railway station is on the Henley Branch Line. All trains terminate at , where they connect with

Great Western Main Line The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs between London Paddington and . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. The GWML is presently a part of t ...

trains to London Paddington and . Two bus routes serve Shiplake. * Arriva the Shires route 800 links Shiplake with

in one direction and Henley on Thames and

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

in the other. Buses run twice an hour on weekdays, and once an hour on Saturdays and Sundays. * Thames Travel route X38 links Shiplake with

in one direction and Henley on Thames, Wallingford and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in the other. Buses run once an hour from Mondays to Saturdays. There is no Sunday service.

Wargrave & Shiplake Regatta

The Wargrave & Shiplake Regatta was founded in 1867 and is held over an August weekend for non-

racing shell In watercraft, a racing shell (also referred to as a ''fine boat'' (UK) or simply a ''shell'') is an extremely narrow, and often comparatively long, rowing boat specifically designed for Rowing (sport), racing or exercise. It is equipped with lon ...

s (also known as Olympic or fine boats). It receives the most entries for skiffing and dongolas racing on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

. The

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wa ...

attracts a comparable number of entries to the largest shell-racing regattas on the Thames such as Kingston Regatta and Molesey Regatta.

Notable residents

* Barriemore Barlow, former drummer of Jethro Tull, lives in Shiplake. *

Robert Hardy Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (29 October 1925 – 3 August 2017) was an English actor who had a long career in theatre, film and television. He began his career as a classical actor and later earned widespread recognition for roles such as Siegf ...

(actor) lived in Harpsden Woods from the 1980s onwards. * Vince Hill, singer, lived at Lower Shiplake. * Mary Hopkin (Welsh singer and

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

contemporary) moved to Shiplake in 1980. * Henry Constantine Jennings, the

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

, was born at Shiplake and on 15 August 1731 was baptised in the parish church. *

Simon Kernick Simon Kernick (born February 1967 in Slough, Buckinghamshire) is a British thriller/crime writer now living in Oxfordshire with his two daughters. Kernick attended Gillotts School, a comprehensive in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Whilst he was ...

, crime fiction author, lives in Shiplake. *

Barry Lane Barry Douglas Lane (21 June 1960 – 31 December 2022) was an English professional golfer. He won five official European Tour events between 1988 and 2004. He played in the 1993 Ryder Cup and won the inaugural Andersen Consulting World Cham ...

(

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

golfer) moved to Station Road in 2003. *

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

, rock musician, lived in Shiplake. *

Kenneth More Kenneth Gilbert More (20 September 1914 – 12 July 1982) was an English actor. Initially achieving fame in the comedy ''Genevieve (film), Genevieve'' (1953), he appeared in many roles as a carefree, happy-go-lucky gent. Films from this period ...

(actor) owned Lock End in Shiplake in the 1950s. * Shane O'Brien, Gold Medalist at the 1984 games in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, rowing for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, lived in Shiplake and was Deputy Headmaster at Shiplake College. *

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

, author of ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

'' and ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

'', lived in Shiplake. * Ian Paice, drummer of rock band

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

, lives in Shiplake. * Brian Paterson, creator of Foxwood Tales and Zigby, lives in Shiplake. * Urs Schwarzenbach, the financier, has one of his houses at Lower Shiplake. * Alfred Tennyson and Emily Sellwood were married in Saints Peter and Paul parish church. * Richard Todd (actor) owned Haileywood House (and farm) 1955–67. * Antony Worrall Thompson, English restaurateur, celebrity chef, television and radio broadcaster lived in Shiplake, and has family connections to the village going back to 1888.

Nearest places

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Shiplake Villages

St Michael's Roman Catholic Church, Shiplake Bottom

The United Benefice of Shiplake, Dunsden and Harpsden
{{authority control Civil parishes in Oxfordshire Populated places on the River Thames Villages in Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire District