Sandleford
| Sandleford | |
|---|---|
 Sandleford
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| Sandleford shown within Berkshire | |
| OS grid reference | SU474643 |
| Metropolitan borough |
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| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | NEWBURY |
| Postcode district | RG20 |
| Dialling code | 01635 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Sandleford is a hamlet and former parish in the English county of Berkshire. The settlement is now within the civil parish of Greenham, and is located approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of the town of Newbury. It measures about 520 acres, most of which is taken up with the fields and copses to the west of the Priory. A census taken in 1801 showed Sandleford to have three houses, three families and 18 people. At the same time Newbury comprised 931 houses, 34 empty houses, 971 families and 4275 people. John Marius Wilson in his Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870–72, gave Sandleford as having Real property £775; of which £10 are in fisheries, and a population of 49 in nine houses, but in 1881 the population of Sandleford had shrunk to 34. In 1615 it was separated from the manor and parish of Newbury, and the adjacent Wash Common and became extra-parochial, as described by Sir Francis More, Kt, of Fawley, it was to be: no part of the Parish of Newbury, nor to be so reputed. At some point after 1924 it was subsumed into the parish of Greenham.
On 23 August 1759 the Rector of Newbury, Rev. Thomas Penrose (died 1769), father of the poet Thomas Penrose, in answer to some set questions about Newbury, and to question number five in particular which concerned 'seats of gentry' in the town, wrote this: [Newbury has] No seat of gentry; if you except Sandleford, which is an estate held of the church of Windsor, and which is often considered as extra-parochial, but which pays a composition in lieu of tithes to the rector of Newbury. It is situated to the south of Newbury. The present lessee is Edward Montagu, Esq.; Member of Parliament for the town of Huntingdon.
The remains of Sandleford Priory (1200–1478) are incorporated into St Gabriel's School.
Sandleford was a priory of Austin canons, founded between 1193 and 1202 by Geoffrey, 4th count of Perch, and Richenza-Matilda his wife. A confirmation charter from Archbishop Stephen indicates the priory was dedicated to St John the Baptist and endowed with all the lands of Sandleford. The appropriation of the priory to the Dean and Canons of Windsor was mainly owing to Bishop Beauchamp of Salisbury, who was dean of Windsor from 1478 to 1481. By this time it appears the religious had forsaken the priory.
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Wikipedia