Lower Basildon
| Lower Basildon | |
| Berkshire | |
|---|---|
 Houses in Lower Basildon | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU609787 |
| Location: | 51°30’14"N, 1°7’26"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Reading |
| Postcode: | RG8 |
| Dialling code: | 01491 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Berkshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Newbury |
Lower Basildon is a small village in Berkshire, forming with Upper Basildon a joint parish of Basildon. It stands on the meadows by the River Thames, a little upstream of Pangbourne.
The parish church is St Bartholomew's. The National Trust property, Basildon Park, is just above it.
Basildon Grotto, or The Grotto House, is located less than a mile to the west on the road to Streatley. It is currently the headquarters of ISPAL (The Institute for Sport, Parks and Leisure).
The remains of a modest Roman villa were discovered here in 1839 during the construction of the Great Western Railway. The major finds were two superb mosaic floors which unfortunately were destroyed almost immediately, although one was drawn in some detail beforehand by the antiquarian Charles Roach Smith. Nothing of the villa remains today.
The agriculturist Jethro Tull was born in the parish of Basildon and is buried in the churchyard of St Bartholomew's Church in Lower Basildon. He developed his ideas at the Prosperous farm, just south of Hungerford.
To the south-east of the village is wildlife gardens Beale Park.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Lower Basildon) |
