Rotherfield Peppard

Rotherfield Peppard (often referred to simply as Peppard by locals) is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire. It is centred 3 miles (5 km) west of Henley-on-Thames, 4 1⁄2 miles (7 km) north of Reading, Berkshire and 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Rotherfield Greys. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 1,649.[1]

Rotherfield Peppard
  • Peppard

All Saints' parish church
Rotherfield Peppard
Location within Oxfordshire
Area7.73 km2 (2.98 sq mi)
Population1,649 (2011 Census)
• Density213/km2 (550/sq mi)
OS grid referenceSU710815
Civil parish
  • Rotherfield Peppard
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townHenley-on-Thames
Postcode districtRG9
Dialling code01491
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteRotherfield Peppard Parish Council

The area includes Peppard Hill, which is 1⁄2 mile (800 m) west of the centre of the village and adjoins Sonning Common. Peppard Common is public woodland and meadow in between in a ravine. The far east of the parish is a golf course and the far west is Kingwood Common which is also wooded common land.

In 1951, Elizabeth Goudge[2] (1900-1984), novelist and winner of the Newberry Award for Best Children's Book (The White Horse), moved to Rotherfield Peppard, where she lived until her death. A blue plaque, unveiled in 2008, identifies her home.[3]

Toponym

Rotherfield derives from the Old English redrefeld meaning "cattle lands". In the middle of the area is the open-to-the-public land, Peppard Common, once used for grazing and which can be used by parishioners for small timber.

Church and chapel

The Church of England parish church of All Saints was Norman, but was almost completely rebuilt in 1874.[4] All Saints' is a Grade II* listed building.[5] The ecclesiastical parish has become part of the united benefice of Rotherfield Peppard, Kidmore End and Sonning Common.[6]

Providence Chapel was founded in 1795. It later became Peppard Congregational Church. It is now Springwater Congregational Church.[7]

Social and economic history

Blount's Court is an early 19th-century house with neoclassical features, including a 15th-century doorway and 16th-century panelling.[4] It was the childhood home of Francis Knollys, 1st Viscount Knollys and is now the Johnson Matthey Technology Centre.

Wyfold Court was designed by Somers Clarke and built in 1872–78 for the Lancashire cotton magnate and Conservative politician Edward Hermon (1822–81).[8] It is a Grade II* listed building.[9]

Early in the 20th century a local man, Bert Butler, operated a bus business called the Peppard and District Motor Service. This seems to have ceased operating in the First World War. In April 1918 the Reading Branch of British Automobile Traction (BAT) started a bus service between Peppard Common and Reading on a trial basis using petrol-engined buses. This was short-lived due to wartime petrol rationing and was discontinued in May 1918.[10] BAT later reinstated the service, and from October 1919 extended it to Stoke Row.[11] Reading Buses Pink 25 route now serves Peppard Common.

Peppard Cottage was used as filming location for "Howards End"

The village has thrice been used for settings in the television drama series Midsomer Murders[12] and also for many of the scenes (including the eponymous house) in the Merchant Ivory Productions film Howards End.[13][14]

There was formerly a Peppard Football Club that played in the Combined Counties Football League in the 1990s and Hellenic Football League in the early 2000s until it disbanded.

Amenities

The civil parish council keeps updated a map of all of the amenities of the area.[15] The village has a Church of England-sponsored primary school,[16] Pubs in the parish are the Greyhound in Gallowstree Road,[17] the Red Lion in at Peppard Common[18] and the Unicorn at Kingwood.[19] Peppard has a village shop, a horticultural training and garden centre[20] and a pet shop. Also in the parish are a sports field and pavilion,[21] a lawn tennis club[22] and an RDA equestrian centre for people with disabilities.[23]

Nearest places

References
  1. "Area: Rotherfield Peppard (Parish): Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  2. https://www.elizabethgoudge.org/
  3. http://oxonblueplaques.org.uk/plaques/goudge.html
  4. Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 737.
  5. Historic England. "Church of All Saints  (Grade II*) (1369298)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  6. Archbishops' Council. "Benefice of Rotherfield Peppard and Kidmore End and Sonning Common". A Church Near You. Church of England. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  7. "Springwater Congregational Church". Find a Church. Congregational Federation. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  8. Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 738.
  9. Historic England. "Borocourt Hospital  (Grade II*) (1180805)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  10. Lacey 1990, p. 18.
  11. Lacey 1990, p. 26.
  12. "Midsomer Murders Locations". Archived from the original on 29 September 2004. Retrieved 6 March 2007.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. "Howard's End". The Castles and Manor Houses of Cinema's Greatest Period Films. Architectural Digest. January 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  14. "Filming locations for Howards End (1992)". IMDb. Retrieved 6 March 2007.
  15. "Map of Amenities". Rotherfield Peppard Parish Council. Archived from the original on 18 October 2014.
  16. Peppard Primary School
  17. The Greyhound
  18. The Red Lion Peppard Common
  19. The Unicorn
  20. "Greenshoots – Garden Centre". Ways and Means Trust. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  21. "Hiring the Pavilion and Field". Rotherfield Peppard Parish Council. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  22. Peppard Lawn Tennis Club
  23. Wyfold Riding for the Disabled

Sources and further reading
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