Great Shefford
| Great Shefford | |
| Berkshire | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's Parish Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU3875 |
| Location: | 51°28’30"N, 1°26’53"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 896 (2001) |
| Post town: | Newbury |
| Postcode: | RG17 |
| Dialling code: | 01488 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | West Berkshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Newbury |
Great Shefford (or West Shefford) is a village in Berkshire, by the River Lambourn. The village has a public house, school, shop and petrol station, and 896 inhabitants (880 are listed on the Millennium Stone opposite the petrol station).
The name "Shefford" is derived from the Old English for "sheep ford".
Parish church
The parish church of St Mary is one of two existing round-tower churches in Berkshire; the other one is at St Gregory's parish church at nearby Welford.
Unlike the three round-towered churches in Sussex, where the towers are plain flint cylinders with few openings, the tower at Great Shefford is built up of sections with ample fenestration, more like the East Anglian type. The base of the tower at least seems to date from the 13th century, and it joins the west wall of the nave in such a way that suggests it was constructed at the same time as the nave, which shows early gothic features.
Little Shefford
A hamlet nearby is Little Shefford or East Shefford. This is now just a small hamlet but was once a parish in its own right, and may be accounted a lost village. It lies downstream form Great Shefford.[1] The tiny Church of St Thomas there contains important monuments to the widespread Fettiplace family.
Shefford Woodlands
Shefford Woodlands, also withn the parish, is a tiny village which lies about a mile to the south of Great Shefford and close to M4 junction 14.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Great Shefford) |
- Welcome to Great Shefford
- Royal Berkshire History: West Shefford
- Great Shefford Observatory
- Shefford Young Farmers Club
- Website with photos of Great Shefford St. Mary, a Round-tower church
- Village shop
References
- ↑ Ford, David Nash. "Royal Berkshire History". East Shefford St. Thomas' Church. http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/eastshefford.html. Retrieved 24 March 2010.