Aldermaston is a village in the English county of Berkshire, two miles north of Tadley.
During the 1950s and 1960s the name Aldermaston became synonymous with the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston (AWRE) but in fact that establishment is much closer to Tadley and the village of Aldermaston was almost untouched by the development of the research site and remained a small country village.
History
The name 'Aeldremanestone' came from Old English for "Ealdormans Homestead". The Ealdorman - or Alderman - was a person of extreme importance. His equivalent today would be the Lord-Lieutenant of the County. Although his country estate was here, he would have spent much time at his town-house in the county town of Wallingford.
According to the Anglo Saxon Chronicles, in 871 an Ealdorman Aethelwulf fought the Danes with the King at nearby Englefield . If this is the Ealdorman from Aeldremanestone it is not recorded.
Prior to the Norman Conquest in 1066, the land and properties had formed part of the estates of England's foremost magnate, Harold Godwinson, the Earl of Wessex - who would later become King Harold II of England.
In the Domesday Survey of 1086, the Aldermaston estate consisted of a mill, worth twenty shillings, and two fisheries, worth five shillings, and was held by William the Conqueror. William and his army are believed to have camped on the estate on their way north from their victory at Hastings to cross the Thames at Wallingford before advancing on London. During the remainder of the reign of William and later his son William Rufus, Aldermaston was owned by the crown. There is no evidence of there being a large house at that time.
In 1100 Henry I granted the estate to Sir Robert Achard, a distinguished Norman soldier whose son built the transept of the chapel in the church. According to the Pipe Rolls (Census) of 1167 the name changed to Aldermannestun. The medieval Achard family, who entertained Henry III at the manor in 1227, gave the parish church away to Sherborne (ie. Pamber) Priory (Hants) and consequently are all buried at Sparsholt. The estate remained in the family for over 250 years until Peter Achard died in 1361 without a male heir, when the estate passed to Thomas de la Mare.
In 1490 Sir Thomas died. John, his son, had died before his father, so his daughter Elizabeth inherited the estate; she married Sir George Forster, son of Sir Humphrey Forster. The Hinds Head Inn gets its name from Forester family crest. This symbol can also be seen in the parish church. The pub has its own gaol-house round the back. Last used in the 1860s, its unfortunate inhabitant apparently burnt to death.
Aldermaston Church contains a beautiful alabaster effigial monument to one of their successors, Sir George Forster and his wife (1530). Elizabeth I visited Aldermaston twice (1566 and 1592). The fifth Forster, also called Sir Humphrey, and his wife Anne built the mansion in 1636. Aldermaston saw a lot of activity during the Civil War. In 1644 Parliamentary troops camped in the park. After the war all the estates were sequestered because of suspected Royalist sympathies and were not returned until 1660.
In 1752 the Forster male line died out and the estate passed to the Congreve family. Many changes to the estate occurred during the family's ownership. The lake by the house was created by damming the stream. The Eagle Gates were won at a game of cards and moved to their present location from Midgham. The Kennet and Avon Canal was built along the northern edge of the estate.
In 1830 the supporters of the Swing Riots of Western Berkshire marched through Aldermaston and wrecked some twenty-three agricultural machines. Farmers were so frightened, they placed their machinery out in the open to prevent any damage elsewhere.
On 13 January 1843 a serious fire destroyed more than a third of the house. William Congreve never recovered from the fire and died within three months.
The property passed into Chancery, eventually being purchased in 1849 by Daniel Higford Davall Burr. Architect Philip Hardwick was commissioned to build a new manor house, Aldermaston Court, using as much of the old material as possible that had been saved from the fire. Daniel Higford Davall Burr died in 1885 and the estate passed to his son who only lived there for a few years before putting it up for sale.
It was bought for £16,000 in 1893 by Charles Edward Keyser, a stockbroker. Keyser was obsessed with the idea of keeping the village unchanged, which in his definition meant unspoilt. He forbade advertisements, opposed all modernisation, and refused to allow any expansion by the building of houses. On his death in 1929 estate duties were high and the estate was put on a 'care and maintenance' basis.
After the death of Mrs Charles Keyser in 1938 the whole estate was sold by her son, Norman, to a syndicate Messers Cribble, Booth and Shepherd who auctioned it off in separate lots at Reading Town Hall on 20 and 21 September 1939. Many of the lots were bought by their occupants. The house and its immediate grounds were bought by Associated Electrical Industries Ltd but subsequently requisitioned by the government.
The extensive parkland was also sold, but very soon afterwards was chosen by the government as a site for a military airfield. After the war the airfield had several occupants before being taken over by AWRE, which has since been renamed the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE).
Location
Aldermaston village is situated is situated at the southern edge of the flood-plain of the River Kennet, just where the ground starts to rise into the higher ground below. It lies on the A340 road which runs from the A4 road, at Aldermaston Wharf , south to Tadley and Basingstoke. Aldermaston railway station is on the local railway service from Reading to Newbury, although actually the station is over a mile away in Aldermaston Wharf .
Nearby towns and cities: Newbury, Reading, Tadley, Thatcham, Theale
Nearby villages: Aldermaston Wharf , Padworth , Silchester, Ufton Nervet, Woolhampton
Nearby places of interest: Silchester Roman Town
Local government
Aldermaston is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the the area of the unitary authority of West Berkshire. Both the parish council and the unitary authority are responsible for different aspects of local government.
See also
External links
Last updated: 09-02-2005 16:52:30
