Wash Common is a small suburban

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

to the south of Newbury. It is built on the former Newbury Wash, which was flat open heathland overlooking Newbury, and until the 19th century there was just a small group of houses separated from Newbury by open country. Both places have grown into each other, and the suburb of Wash Common is now contiguous with Newbury. Most housing development has taken place to the west of the

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

road, and some of the area to the east of the road still remains open farmland.

Geography

Wash Common is situated at the far western end of a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

of sand and

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

which forms part of the

Bagshot Formation In geology, the Bagshot Beds are a series of sands and clays of shallow-water origin, some being fresh-water, some marine. They belong to the upper Eocene formation of the London and Hampshire basins, in England and derive their name from Bagsh ...

. The plateau runs on an east–west axis, and its top originally consisted of boggy

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

known as the Newbury Wash. The slope is steepest on the Western side, and to the north it overlooks the

Kennet Valley The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which � ...

, factors in the

First Battle of Newbury The First Battle of Newbury was a battle of the First English Civil War that was fought on 20 September 1643 between a Royalist army, under the personal command of King Charles, and a Parliamentarian force led by the Earl of Essex. Following ...

. Towards the north west the main road climbs up a gentle incline from Newbury, and continues in a South Easterly direction down a rather steeper slope (once called Trundle Hill, a name no longer used) towards

. The level plateau on which it is situated continues for several miles to the east of Wash Common, and a mile to the east can be found the site of 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 ...

History

Wash Common is the location of five

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

tumuli A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

. The

manorial Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, ...

rights over the common-field lands known as "The Wash" were acquired by the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

and Corporation of Newbury in 1627. A turnpike road from

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 ...

was built across Wash Common and included a gate near the Gun

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, which was in use up to 1880. A milestone still exists where the road slopes down to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Until the latter part of the 19th century, Wash Common was open heathland. In 1858 an

enclosure Enclosure or inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land", enclosing it, and by doing so depriving commoners of their traditional rights of access and usage. Agreements to enc ...

resolution was passed; W Money, author of "A Popular History of Newbury" published in 1905, describes this act in terms of a land grab, (see chapter XVI): "it is scarcely necessary to add that the householders of Newbury received no compensation when thus deprived of the valuable rights and privileges which had been enjoyed by the commonality of the town for so many centuries, but their inheritance was bestowed on their more favoured neighbours, whose only claim was that they were already possessed, by purchase or otherwise, of land within the boundaries of the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

". The enclosure resolution opened the way for the progressive residential development of Wash Common, which continues to this day.

First Battle of Newbury

Wash Common covers part of the site of the

. The slope which the Parliamentarians captured, east of Skinners Green and including Round Hill, lies just outside the boundary of Wash Common itself. It is still farmland and can be visited by foot. The

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

artillery was sited near the present day Gun

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

, which is now built over. The area where

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

's cavalry clashed with the Parliamentarians includes the present Wash Common recreation ground but is largely built over bid

Population and administration

Wash Common lies within

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 forms part of the Wash common

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

which incorporates the old Falkland Ward, which is represented in Newbury Town Council and

West Berkshire Council West Berkshire Council is the local authority of West Berkshire in Berkshire, England. The council was created in 1974 as Newbury District Council, and was a lower-tier district council until 1998. The district was renamed West Berkshire on 1 Ap ...

. It is part of the Newbury

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

. Current ward

councilor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or regio ...

s include Adrian Abbs & Tony Vickers, from May 2019 until May 2023. The population of Falkland Ward was recorded in the 2001 Census as just over 6,000, of whom about half live in Wash Common.

Today

Wash Common is the home of the 19th-century Falkland

Memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

and Falkland

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

(named after

Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland PC (c. 1610 – 20 September 1643) was an English writer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1642. He fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War and was killed in action at t ...

, who fell at the

), Park House

Secondary School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

and Sports

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

St George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...

's Church (

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

), St

Francis de Sales Francis de Sales, Congregation of the Oratory, C.O., Order of Minims, O.M. (; ; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Savoyard state, Savoyard Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Geneva and is a saint of the Catholic Church. He became n ...

' Church (

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

), Glendale Church (Independent), two

pubs A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

(The Gun and The Bowlers Arms), Falkland

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Club and Newbury

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

Club. It is also famous as the birthplace of

Richard Adams Richard George Adams (10 May 1920 – 24 December 2016) was an English novelist. He is best known for his debut novel ''Watership Down'' which achieved international acclaim. His other works included ''Maia'', '' Shardik'' and '' The Plague Do ...

, the author of ''

Watership Down ''Watership Down'' is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Hampshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natur ...

'', which begins in eastern Wash Common, specifically on the edge with the more rural and open region 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, ...

References

External links

Short history of Wash Common
{{coord , 51.376, -1.345, type:city_region:GB, display=title West Berkshire District Newbury, Berkshire