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B E R K S H IR E .

D IR E C T O R Y .]
Annetts F rederick, shoe
shopkeeper, l ’ osk office

m aker

1 R ichards Andrew Tom ,
I to A. C. Cole esq

C O M P T O N (or Com pton Parva) is a p retty village
and parish, w ith a station on the Didcot, N ew bury and
W inchester branch of th e G reat W estern railw ay, 62
m iles from London and 9 n orth-east from N ewbury,
in the Southern division of the county, hundred of
Com pton, p etty sessional division of Ilsley, union and
cou n ty cou rt d istrict of W antage, ru ral deanery of
W allingford, archdeaconry of B erk s and diocese of
O xford. T h e church, assigned by various m odern
authorities to St. M ary, St. Sw ithin and S t. N icholas,
is situated about a q u arter of a m ile from the village,
and is a sm all b uilding of flint in m ixed styles, con­
sisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, v estry, south porch
and a w estern em battled tower of stone containing 6
bells : the chancel has E arly E n glish lancet windows and
sim ilar windows lig h t the nave on th e north side,
several of which are now filled w ith stained g la s s : the
lower part of the tower is Tran sition Norm an, b ut has
a P erpendicular west w in do w ; th e north aisle was added
in 1904 at a cost of about £2,000: th ere is a plain
Norm an fo n t: a brass is recorded here to Richard
P ygo tt and A lice his w ife, c. 1520: th e chancel has
been b eau tifu lly decorated at the expense of the late W.
G ra y esq. form erly la y rector, the w ork being carried
out by Mr. N. W estlake, of L o n d o n : on th e north side
is an altar tom b, b u t w itho ut in scrip tio n : th ere are
200 sittin gs. The register dates from the year 1553.
The livin g is a vicarage, net yea rly value ¿300, w ith
5 acres of glebe and residence, in th e g ift of L ad y
W antage, and held since 1910 by the Rev. Charles
M olyneux M oody Jotcham M .A. of S t. John’s College,
Oxford. There is a P rim itive M ethodist chapel here,
which has a sm all b urial ground attached. The
present hundred of Com pton is called in Domesday
•• Nachededorne,” as is believed, from a single thorn
tree, which, according to A sser, stood on the battlefield
of “ .¿Ecesdune,”
somewhere between Cholsey and
P R IV A T E

R E S ID E N T S .

Baker G eorge Lew is, W hite W all ho
Brown Mrs Roden house
Burder Mrs. Com pton house
Cannon Thom as Leonard G ilbert,
H am ilton house
H ughes W a lter A lfred, Thorndown
Jotcham
R ev
Charles
M olyneux
Moody M .A. (vicar)
Phelips Rev. H enry Bonnet M .A
T u rv e y W alter, C larence villa
C O M M E R C IA L .

COMPTO.Y B E A U C H A M P .

Cw ichelm ’s

“ hlaew e,” or h ill, now called “ C uckh a rn sle y ,” but locally known to the cou n try folk as
“ Scutcham ore knob.”
South of th e village is an en­
cam pm ent at the top of th e Down, known as “ Perb o ro u g h C astle ” (per, a ram p art, and beorgh, a
fo rtifie d place), from w hich, eastw ards, a good view
is obtained of “ L o w b u ry,” another ancient m ilitary
s ta tio n , and th e h ig h est hill in the county, being
830 feet above th e sea le v e l; near Perborough,
rem ains of burnt dw ellings, p it dw ellings and a cursus
have been m et w ith , as well as Rom an pottery and
c o in s ; in the “ C ross-barrow ” here short knives and
the iron boss of a shield w ere found. Th e vale on the
north, towards B lew bury, is called “ the S la d .” Here
pottery, tiles, bones and oyster shells have been found
in la rg e quan tities, besides coins of several Rom an
E m perors, from Probus (A .D . 276) to G ratian
(A.D.
367). Racehorses are trained here on the Downs. Lady
W antage is lady of the m anor of E a s t Com pton, and
A lfred B arclay esq. is lord of the m anor of W est
Com pton. Th e principal landowners are the owners
of th e m anors and M essrs. B aker and Jam es Bradfield
esq. The soil is chalk and flin t; subsoil, chiefly chalk.
The chief crops are w heat, oats, barley and roots. The
area is 3,863 acres, of w h ich about 300 are downs ; ra te ­
able value, £ 2 ,9 6 1; th e population in 1911 was 665.
Parish C lerk, G eorge M onger.
Post, M. 0 . & T. Office.— Miss M atilda Dearlove, subpostm istress. L etters from N ew bu ry, via Ilsley,
arrive at 7.10 a.m . & 12.45 P m - 5 dispatched from
Com pton, 10.40 a.m . & 3.20, 5.45 & 7.20 p .m . ; S u n ­
days, arrive at 7.10 a.m . ; dispatched, 4.30 p .m
E lem en tary School (m ixed), b uilt in 1855, for xoo
children, & enlarged in 1892 & again in 1901, for 180
children & altered in 1909 to accom modate 152;
Richard Johns, m a s te r; M rs. Sarah Johns, m istress
Railw ay Station , A rth u r M ay, station m aster

Bradfield Jam es, farm er, Woodrows
(postal address, Aldw orth, Reading)
Brown G eorge, blacksm ith
Cannon Thom as Leonard G ilbert,
train er of racehorses
C handler H enry, farm er, Wood view
Com pton P ilg rim
Benefit Society
(F . W . Woodley, sec)
Cosburn F rank H. Swan hotel
Fullcer Thom as Jam es, Rc-d Lion P.H
G ilb ert Thos. E. train er of racehorses
G olbv H ubert Charles, grocer

B aker Thom as & Sons, iron founders,
W hite W all iron works
C O M P T O N B E A U C H A M P is a p arish and village
near the base of a hill and com m anding a fine view
of the adjoining vale, 4 m iles east from Shrivenham
station on the G reat W estern railw ay, 6£ south-w est
from Faringdon and 8^ w est from W an tage, in the
Northern division of the county, hundred of Sh riven ­
ham , p etty sessional division, nnion and county court
d istrict of Faringdon, rural deanery of the Y ale of
W hite Horse, archdeaconry of Berks and diocese of
Oxford. The church of S t. S w ith in is a cruciform
building of stone, in the E a rly E n g lish and Decorated
styles, consisting of chancel, nave, transepts, north
porch and a western tower w ith broach pyram idal roof
containing one b e ll: the chancel retains an E arly
E nglish sedile and piscina : the east window is partially
filled w ith ancient glass, as is also the top of the east
window in the north tra n s e p t: in the south transept
is a m em orial tab let to the late Judge Bacon, who
was tenant of the Manor House, and who reb uilt the
south transept in 1911 ; and there are also four small
m em orial w in d o w s: there is also a low side window
in the chancel and a h igh side window in the n a v e :
in the chancel are m ural epitaphs to M arg aret W h ite,
cb. 20th July, 1627; and C h ristian W h ite, ob. May
21st, 1618 ; and a brass to “ M agister ” F ram pton, 1450,
an early rector of this church : in th e nave is a curious
m onum ent to M rs. R ichards and h er daugh ter. There
are 100 sittin gs. In the ch urch yard, near th e chancel
are several la rge tom bs to the L an gley and H awkswell
fam ilies. The register dates from th e year 1551. The
livin g is a rectory, net yea rly value £150, in clu d in g 20
(M arked

thus * letters through
F an n gd en .)
A stley Reginald B. Compton house

EvrC Rev. G eorge
(rector), Rectory

67

gam ekeeper 1Spencer H ugh Thom as, farm b ailiff
| to A. C . Cole esq

K in g Thom as M argerts, grocer, a s­
sistant overseer & assessor of
taxes for Com pton
Slade E dw ard W illiam K ittow , fa r­
m er, New farm
Stevens A lfred (exors. of), farm ers,
C hurch & Roden farm s
Stone G eorge E rn est, farm bailiff to
the exors. of. A lfred Stevens esq.
Th e Y ew s
W arner Percival, land agen t to A lfred
B arclay esq. Manor farm
Weedon Bros, coal & coke m erchants
W oodley Francis W illiam , grocer

acres of glebe, w ith residence, in the g ift of the E arl
of Craven, and held since 1910 b y th e Rev. G eorge
Frederick E yre M .A. of T rin ity C ollege, Oxford.
L an gley’s ch arity of £ 3 10s. yearly, is for bread, and
for m ain tain in g the tombs of th e L a n g ley fam ily.
Com pton House, occupied b y Reginald B. A stley esq.
is an ancient brick residence in th e Italian style, w ith a
cen tral block, relieved by pilasters and a balustradin g
and wings ; th ere is an inner quadrangle, and the m an ­
sion is surrounded by a m o a t ; th e grounds and t e r ­
raced gardens and the cloister w alk are v ery tastefu lly
laid out. Th e E arl of Craven is lord of the m anor and
sole landowner, w ith th e exception of the glebe land.
The soil is chalk and good p asture la n d ; subsoil, brash.
Th e chief crops are wheat, beans, oats and turnips.
T h e area is 1,812 a c re s; rateab le value £ 2 ,9 53 ; the
population in 1911 was 125 in th e civil parish and 119
in the ecclesiastical parish.
K nighton is a ham let adjoining, on th e north-east.
B y Local G overnm ent Board O rder, 21.438, dated
M arch 24, 1888, H ardw ell F arm was transferred from
Uffington to Com pton Beaucham p.
Sexton, L o t Horsell.
Letters to Com pton, th rou gh Shrivenham , arrive
at 7.30 a.m . & 5 p .m . & to K n igh ton through F a rin g ­
don arrive at 9.20 a.m . Th e nearest m oney order &
telegraph office is at A shbury, about 2 m iles distant.
W all L e tter Box, cleared at 4.55 p .m . week days &
10.40
a.m . Sundays
The children attend the school at A sh b u ry
Frederick

M.A

C O M M E R C IA L .

*H ill Edw ard, farm er, K n ighton frm

Lowe D avid, jo b b in g gardener
*Pepler J n .E d w in ,frm r.H ardw ell frm
Reading John B aseley, farm er,C om p ­
ton M arsh farm
BERKS.

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