THE HUNDRED OF FAIRCROSS
Containing The Parishes (fn. 1) of
Beedon; Boxford With Westbrook; Brightwalton; Brimpton; Chieveley With Leck-Hampstead And Winter-Bourne; Frilsham;
Hampstead Norris; Peasemore; Sandleford; Shaw-Cum-Donnington; Speen With Speenham Land, Bagnor And Benham;
Stanford Dingley; Wasing; Welford; Yattendon; Borough Of Newbury;
The hundred of Faircross comprises the Domesday hundred of Roeberg
and parts of the hundreds of 'Borgeldebury,' 'Nachededorne' and 'Taceham.'
The first mention of the
hundred of Faircross that
has been found is in 1256. (fn. 2)
Nevertheless the other hundreds were in existence as
late as 1316, and it is not
until 1428 that we find
positive evidence that the
hundred included the vills
of which it now consists. (fn. 3)
Index Map to the Hundred of Faircross
In 1086 the hundred
of 'Roeberg' consisted of
Beedon and Peasemore and
parts of Boxford, Chieveley,
Hampstead Norris and
Welford. In 'Taceham'
Hundred were Brimpton,
Newbury, Shaw and Wasing,
the greater part of Speen
and the two tithings of
Greenham and Midgham in
Thatcham. In the hundred
of 'Nachededorne' were Brightwalton, Stanford Dingley and Yattendon,
while in the hundred of 'Borgeldebury' were Frilsham and the remainder
of Hampstead Norris. (fn. 4)
When the hundred of Reading passed to Reading Abbey the monks
attached to that hundred all the manors that they held in the hundred of
'Taceham,' and the remainder seem to have been included in the reign of
Henry III in the hundred of 'Roeberg.' This hundred then consisted of the
whole of the present hundred of Faircross except Brightwalton, which had
been transferred to the hundred of Compton; it included also the manors of
Marlston, Hartridge and Colthrop. (fn. 5)
In 1275–6 the hundreds had reverted to much the same condition as
had obtained at the time of the Domesday Survey. The hundred of 'Roeberg'
was of the same extent, the remains of the hundred of 'Taceham' had become
the hundred of 'Gossetefeld,' the hundred of 'Burghildebury' had acquired
the manors of Stanford Dingley and Yattendon, while Brightwalton remained
in the hundred of Compton. (fn. 6)
Very little change had occurred in 1316; the hundred of 'Roeberg' had
acquired the town of Newbury, the hundred of 'Gossetefeld' was known as
the hundred of Cottsettlesford, the hundred of 'Burghildebury' was unchanged
and the parish of Brightwalton had become a liberty of the Abbot of Battle. (fn. 7)
In 1428 all the manors owned by laymen, at any rate, had passed into
the hundred of Faircross, though the position of the parish of Brightwalton
is uncertain. (fn. 8)
All the hundreds in question belonged to the king, (fn. 9) and do not seem to
have been granted to anyone. In 1657–8 a contract was entered into with
Thomas Williams of Oxford and William Seawell of London for excise from
the brew-houses in this hundred. (fn. 10) The justices of the peace for this and
adjoining hundreds had orders, 28 December 1630, to regulate the supply
and prices of corn here, owing to the miserable condition of the workers in
the clothing industry, which was then passing through a period of trade
depression. (fn. 11)
The hundred of 'Roeberg' took its name from Rowbury Hill, at the
north end of Boxford parish, which lies at a point near the centre of all the
vills belonging to it. The farm of Court Oak probably perpetuates the name
of the tree at which the hundred court was held.
The hundred of 'Taceham' took its name from the village of Thatcham,
once of considerable importance as commanding one of the few fords over the
Kennet. Here, as between Newbury and Speen, the alluvium is narrow,
and a trade route seems to have crossed the valley in early days. The name
of the ford seems to be preserved in the 14th-century name of the hundred
of Cottsettlesford.
The hundred of Faircross seems to have taken its name from a spot near
Hermitage, where two ancient trade routes crossed. One, a branch of the
Berkshire Ridgeway, left the main track above Wantage and passing through
Beedon to Oare, where it is known as 'Old Street,' crossed the Pang Brook
at Everington and continued past Yattendon, where a hoard of bronze
implements was found, to the ford over the Thames between Pangbourne and
Whitchurch. The other road seems to have come from Wallingford, or
some ford over the Thames in that neighbourhood, crossed the downs at the
Compton Gap and continued either by Long Lane to the ford over the
Kennet by Newbury or across Cold Ash Common to the ford at Thatcham.
These roads must have crossed one another near Hermitage, and close by are
a pond and a plantation known by the name of Faircross. Whether the
hundred court met here is uncertain, but in 1428 the inquisition was held at
Newbury. (fn. 12)