Checkendon

Checkendon is a village and civil parish about 6 miles (10 km) west of Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire and about 9 miles (14 km) north west of Reading in Berkshire on a mid-height swathe of the Chilterns.

Checkendon

Parish church of Saints Peter and Paul
Checkendon
Location within Oxfordshire
Area9.85 km2 (3.80 sq mi)
Population493 (2011 census)[1]
• Density50/km2 (130/sq mi)
OS grid referenceSU6683
Civil parish
  • Checkendon
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townReading
Postcode districtRG8
Dialling code01491
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteCheckendon Village

History

The parish has a record of continuous settlement since the 7th century. It is listed in the Domesday Book as Cecadene (Old English for "Ceaca's hill or hill-pasture"). The parish covers about 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) and lies between 150 metres (490 ft) and 170 metres (560 ft) above sea level.[2]

After World War II Checkendon hosted a National Assistance Board camp for Polish war refugees displaced from Middle East and Africa. The camp, located at Checkendon outskirts was opened in 1948 and offered accommodation in Nissen huts and was closed in early 60's.[3][4]

Parish church
Main article: St Peter and St Paul, Checkendon

The Church of England parish church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is a 12th-century Norman building. All but one of the windows were replaced later in the Middle Ages with Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular Gothic ones, and the Perpendicular Gothic west tower is also a later addition.[5] The building is Grade I listed.[6]

The church has an early 13th-century wall painting of Christ in Majesty above a procession of Apostles. The murals were faithfully repainted when they were rediscovered, but more recently this has been considered over-restoration.[7]

The bell tower has a ring of eight bells. Four were cast by Lester and Pack in 1765, two were cast in 1879 by Mears and Stainbank and two more cast by Mears and Stainbank were added in 1967.[8] The turret clock is by Tucker of London, dated 1853.[9]

Saints Peter & Paul parish is now a member of The Langtree Team Ministry: a Church of England benefice that includes also the parishes of Ipsden, North Stoke, Stoke Row, Whitchurch-on-Thames and Woodcote.[10]

War artist Eric Kennington (1888–1960), who was churchwarden, is buried here.

Amenities
Perplexing signpost at Hookend

Checkendon has a Church of England primary school.[11] Checkendon also has a village green with a playground.

The village has two pubs: the 15th-century Four Horseshoes (sadly currently closed) [12] within the village and the 17th-century Highwayman[13] to the south in the nearby hamlet of Exlade Street. There is also The Black Horse at Scots Common.[14]

Checkendon has an equestrian centre located on Lovegroves Lane.[15] Checkendon Cricket Club[16] plays in the Berkshire Cricket League First Division.[17]

North of the village, in the 19th-century Wheelers Barn, is Philip Koomen Furniture, producing modern bespoke wooden furniture.[18]

The Hookend Recording Studios, where bands such as Marillion, the Cure and the Manic Street Preachers have made albums, are in the manor house at nearby Hook End.

Nuba Survival by John Buckley (2001)

Near the edge of the village, on public display, is the statue Nuba Survival by John Buckley, created in 2001.[19]

Public transport

No bus routes serve Checkendon: The nearest bus services are found in Woodcote.

References
  1. "Area: Checkendon CP (Parish): Parish Headcounts". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  2. "Checkendon Village: A Brief History" at checkendon.org Archived 25 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Zosia Biegus (2013). Polish resettlement camps in England and Wales 1946-1969. ISBN 978-0-9569934-9-6.
  4. The camp was situated at 51.555556°N 1.046944°W / 51.555556; -1.046944
  5. Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, pp. 533–534.
  6. "Church of St Peter and St Paul, Checkendon" at britishlistedbuildings.co.uk Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Long 1972, p. 90.
  8. Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers, Reading Branch Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "St. Peter and St. Paul, Checkendon", guide available at the church, published July 1978
  10. The Langtree Team Ministry Archived 21 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Checkendon Church of England Primary School
  12. Geograph.org.uk Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  13. The Highwayman Archived 12 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  14. The Black Horse at beerintheevening.com Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Checkendon Equestrian Centre Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Checkendon Cricket Club at checkendon.org Archived 25 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  17. Berkshire Cricket League Archived 4 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  18. Philip Koomen Furniture Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  19. "Checkendon Sculpture – The Nuba Embrace". anxioussilence.co.uk. 16 February 2008. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2018.

Sources
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