Waltham St Lawrence

Waltham St Lawrence
Berkshire
The tower of St Lawrence church
Location
Grid reference:	SU8276
Location:	51°28’60"N, 0°48’18"W
Data
Population:	1,232  (2001)
Post town:	Reading
Postcode:	RG10
Dialling code:	0118
Local Government
Council:	Windsor and Maidenhead
Parliamentary constituency:	Maidenhead

Waltham St Lawrence is a small village in the Wargrave Hundred of Berkshire. It is to be found in the east of the county between Maidenhead and Reading, between the paths of the A4 and the M4 motorway.

The parish is bordered by those of Twyford and Hurst to the west and White Waltham and Maidenhead to the east.

It is today largely a commuter village for Reading and Bracknell, and London. The village does have its own village shop (with part-time post office) and two public houses, while Shurlock Row, in the parish, has just one public house. West End, between the two villages, is a residential area, where the local village school is located.

Parish church

As the name of the village suggests, the parish church is dedicated to St Lawrence.

The original building probably ante-dates Bishop Godfrey's acquisition of the manor; crude Norman arches are found at the west end of the nave. The church was rebuilt in the 13th century in the Decorated style. Later the chancel, with its side aisles was begun from the east end and the north and south walls of the nave were extended to join up with the new work in the 13th century. At the end of the 14th century, the south aisle of the chancel was enlarged and a square-headed window with trefoliated lights was inserted. Between this side-chapel and the south aisle of the nave is an Early English pointed arch. The window in the north chapel has a 14th-century window and on the south wall may be seen the remains of the ancient piscina. The porch on the south side of the church hides the old south door which is Norman work, set in a section of 11th-century walling.

The church was restored in 1847 during the incumbency of the Revd E. J. Parker, B.D., who gave the stained glass for the east window, which shows in its central panel the Crucifixion, with the Resurrection and Ascension of Our Lord on either side. The praying angels on either side of this window are adapted from the famous fresco in the Riccardi Palace in Florence. The reredos is 19th-century work and shows – in three compartments—the Descent from the Cross (centre); on the right, the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; and on the left, St Paul preaching in Athens.

History

The name 'Waltham' is believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words Wealt and Ham, meaning 'dilapidated homes'. The church is called St Lawrence and thus gives the village its name. There is evidence of the existence of a Roman temple in Weycock Field in the parish.

The high-road to London formerly left the London to Reading main-road at the 29th milestone and ran across Weycock Field (often referred to as Weycock Highrood). The Priory of Hurley maintained a grange in the village on the site of what is now Church Farm (to the north-west of the present Church) and this is why the great tithes of the parish were formerly appropriated to the Prior of Hurley.

Until quite recent times a large lake separated Waltham St Lawrence from Ruscombe (the name 'Stanlake' would seem to be a survival of this) and so the southern end of the parish was known as South Lake; one theory for the name "Shurlock Row" is from 'Sud-Lac Rue' (Norman French for "South Lake Street").

The manor is mentioned as early as 940 but its continuous appearance in historical records may be said to begin with its sale by Ethelred the Unready in 1006. His widow, Queen Emma, bestowed it upon Ælfwine, the Bishop of Winchester. The Domesday Book records: "The King holds Waltham in demesne" and it remained a royal manor until 1189 when Godfrey de Luci, Bishop of Winchester, purchased it from the Crown. It was retained by the bishops of Winchester until the Reformation.

Bishop Ponet of Winchester surrendered the manor of Waltham to King Edward VI in 1551, and the King donated it to Sir Henry Neville, one of the gentlemen of his Privy Chamber, but Queen Mary I returned it to the Bishop of Winchester. King Edward's grant was confirmed (and Queen Mary's annulled) by an Act of Parliament in the first year of Queen Elizabeth I. Billingbear House was built by Sir Henry Neville in 1567, and this Elizabethan mansion existed as the home of the Nevilles until it was pulled down after a fire in the early 20th century. His son was the early-17th-century diplomat, Sir Henry Neville, junior. The parish register records that:

"September 17th, 1667, King Charles 2nd, with his brother James Duke of Yorke, Prince Rupert Duke of Cumberland, James Duke of Monmouth and many more of the nobles dined at Bellingbeare in the great Parlour".

At that time, Richard Neville was Lord of the Manor.

Henry Neville, the last heir of this branch of the family, who had assumed the name of Grey, as heir of his maternal grandfather, Baron Grey of Werke, died in 1740. On the death of his widow, who afterwards had married as her second husband the Earl of Portsmouth, the manor of Waltham St Lawrence was inherited by Richard Aldworth of Stanlake, whose father had married the daughter and heir of Colonel Richard Neville. Mr. Aldworth, on his accession to this property, took the name of Neville.

The village school, now a County Primary School, was originally a National School with an endowment of £35 by Lord Braybrooke, a Neville descendant. The first Dame School held in the parish was held at 'Honeys'.

Waltham St Lawrence Band

The Waltham St Lawrence Band was founded in 1886 by village tradesmen backed by two wealthy benefactors, William Landsdowne Beale and the Revd. Grey Neville. Little is recorded of the band's early days, but it was certainly a well established part of the local scene by 1910. After the Great War the band was revived; activities included regular appearances at "hospital parades" to raise funds for Royal Berks Hospital, and there were significant contest successes in the inter-war years, including a first prize at Fairford Contest in 1938.

The band was re-established in 1946, after the Second World War, as the Waltham St Lawrence Silver Prize Band, under the direction of Mr Pearce, who had been the conductor before the War, and who continued as conductor until his death in 1953. In 1950 the name changed again to East Berks Silver Band, reflecting the wider area from which members were being drawn. Jack Clark, who formerly played cornet for Morris Motors band among others, became bandmaster in 1954. There were a number of contest successes both locally and at national level through the 1950s.

In 1957 the East Berks Silver Band decided to base itself in Reading, so a new Waltham St Lawrence Band was formed, based in the village.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Waltham St Lawrence)

• Waltham St Lawrence Parish
• The Waltham St Lawrence Band