White Waltham
| White Waltham | |
| Berkshire | |
|---|---|
 Waltham Place | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU855775 |
| Location: | 51°29’24"N, -0°46’8"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 2,850 (2011) |
| Post town: | Maidenhead |
| Postcode: | SL6 |
| Dialling code: | 01628 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Windsor and Maidenhead |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Maidenhead |
White Waltham is a village in Berkshire two miles west of Maidenhead. The parish is crossed briefly by the M4 motorway, which along with the Great Western Main Line. White Waltham Airfield is in the parish.
In the south, the parish includes Paley Street and Littlefield Green. White Waltham village is clustered and sits in the mid-west of the parish. To the north east is Woodlands Park, on the edge of Maidenhead, and the Maidenhead Business Park. In the north east corner of the parish is Woolley Green and in the northwest, most of Littlewick Green.
History
The area was made up of a few manors, many of which evolved into country houses, such as Waltham Place with its organic farm and gardens which are open to the public. The Church of England parish church of St Mary dates from Norman times, but has many 13th century and Victorian features. Frequent disputes as to the boundary between White Waltham and Bray occurred at intervals since 1286 and Thomas Hearne, historian, gives an account of the beating of the boundaries in his own life-time, mentioning all the place-names and commenting on 'the insolence of the parishioners of Bray in transgressing their bounds.'
Sir Constantine Henry Phipps, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was buried at St. Mary in 1723. Thomas Hearne was born at Littlefield Green in 1678. Acquiring the patronage of the local lord of the manor, Francis Cherry, he rose to become assistant-keeper of the Bodleian Library in the University of Oxford and the author of many important works. White Waltham school was established in 1828 and has been developed and expanded since, providing primary education for pupils between the ages of 5 and 11 and has legal academy status.
The area had approximately half of the population in the late Victorian period but was overall significantly poorer in terms of real property.
Post town, Maidenhead. Acres, 2,576. Real property, £1,580. Pop., 917. Houses, 179. The manor belongs to [Mr] Vansittart...W. Grove, W. Place, Heywood Lodge, and Woolley Lodge, are chief residences. Roman coins, tiles, and other relics have been found. The living is a vicarage, annexed to Shottesbrook. The church was restored in 1869. There are an Independent chapel and a national school.—John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer, 1870-2[1]
Today White Waltham has more than five times as many homes: 1,214 at the 2011 census.
The area's agriculture was noted as of high fertility justifying its protection after Second World War from the new town development eventually allocated to Bracknell.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about White Waltham) |
References
- ↑ John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer, 1870-2 Vision of Britain. The University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 2014-11-24
Books
- Ditchfield, P.H.; Page, W.H., eds (1923). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 3. Victoria County History. pp. 171–177. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43199.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 265.