Lambourn
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Geography
Lambourn is located at Grid reference . The village is situated in the valley of the River Lambourn, a Summer bourn in the chalk upland area of the Berkshire Downs. It lies on the B4000 from Newbury (10 miles away) to Highworth and the parallel valley road direct to Lambourn. Below Lambourn, the B4000 follows the course of the old Roman road from Silchester to Cirencester, known as the Ermine way. This has largely been replaced as a major routeway by the M4 motorway, junction 14 of which is just outside the south-east corner of the parish.The rolling downs mostly cover the northern part of the parish and in this area are actually known as the 'Lambourn Downs': Coppington Down, Near Down, Row Down, Kingsdown, Park Farm Down, Wellbottom Down, Post Down, Pit Down, Crow Down, Stancombe Down, Warren Down and Eastbury Down.
As well as Lambourn itself, the parish includes the hamlets of Mile End, Sheepdrove, Upper Lambourn, Bockhampton, Eastbury, Lambourn Woodlands and Woodlands St. Mary. Beyond its western border is Wiltshire (Swindon is only 12 miles away) and over its northern border is the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire. To the west are East Garston and Fawley and to the south are Hungerford (8 miles away) and Kintbury.
Horse Racing & Economy
Lambourn and the surrounding downland is best known today as a major centre of, mainly National Hunt, horse racing, with many major stables and varied turf and all-weather gallops situated in and around the village. 1,500 racehorses are based in the valley, which is thus often referred to as the "Valley of the Racehorse". They even have the luxury of two fully-licensed equine swimming pools.
Many villagers' livelihoods are connected with horse racing but the area's recent business growth has created an influx of commuters to many points along the M4, including an uncommon number of Heathrow airline pilots.
Local government
Lambourn Parish has a population of about 4,200. The parish council represents three wards with two councillors each: Upper Lambourn, Eastbury and Woodlands St Mary/Lambourn Woodlands; and Lambourn itself which has nine. The parish is part of the unitary authority of West Berkshire.History
Lambourn is famous for its 'Seven Barrows', just above Upper Lambourn. There are actually over thirty Bronze Age burial mounds forming a large prehistoric cemetery. In Roman times, the area was extensively farmed, as shown by an archaeological research project based on Maddle Farm.
The medieval parish church (CofE), sited in the village centre, has a surrounding wall built of sarsen stones and is dedicated to St Michael. The road pattern shows an original circular enclosure, suggesting pagan Celtic origins. Inside are monuments to the great and the good of the many manors in the parish, including an excellent brass to John Estbury (1508), who founded the almshouses outside and fine effigies to Sir Thomas Essex and his wife (1558).
The derivation of the Anglo-Saxon village name is quite clear. The lambs in question were once actually dipped in the local river. The spelling has varied considerably over the centuries, such as Lamborne and Lambourne. It was previously called Chipping Lambourn because of its popular market. Its name was fixed as 'Lambourn' in the early 20th century.
The racing connection began in the 18th century, having spread from nearby Ashdown Park, where the Earl of Craven held regular race meetings.
Literature
Lambourn is mentioned in the poetry of Hilaire Belloc and G. K. Chesterton, as well as Sir John Betjeman who wrote 'Upper Lambourn'. Some people have suggested that Lambourn is the real life location of 'Marygreen' in Thomas Hardy's 'Jude the Obscure'.Famous residents
- Charlie Brooks, the jockey, race horse trainer, commentator & author
- Sir John Coxe Hippisley, the political writer
- Sir George Clement Martin (1844-1916), the organist: He trained with John Stainer in Oxford - cycling over twenty miles to the city - and became organist of St. Paul's cathedral, London. He is best known for his hymn tune "St. Helen".
- Jamie Osborne, the jockey & race horse trainer
- Cozy Powell, the drummer: He was living in Lambourn when he died driving on the M4 motorway near Bristol in 1998.
- Jenny Pitman, the race horse trainer & author
- Joshua Sylvester, the poet
Institutions
- St. Michael’s Church (CofE)
- The Sacred Heart RC Church
- Lambourn Methodist Chapel
- Estbury's Almshouses (1501)
- Hardrett's Almshouses (1625)
- Lambourn Valley Housing Trust is a registered charity, which raises money to provide homes for both retired and working stable staff.
Sport & Leisure
- Lambourn Sports Club (Est 1946): A first class members sports and social facility, with a large function hall.
- Lambourn Centre with air-conditioned Gym equipped with the latest fitness machines, Sports Hall and Sauna
- Sports Field with Skatepark
- Bowls club with bowling green
- Library
- Five Pubs
- Lambourn Allotment Society
- Lambourn Chimers
- Lambourn Theatre Group
- Lambourn Vintage Machinery Society
- Lambourn WI
- Lambourn Air Rifle Club
- Lambourn Carnival with lots of events and a great procession of floats through the village and Horse Show
- [Shefford Young Farmers Club - Covering the Lambourn Valley]
External links
- [Lambourn at the Heart of the Valley of the Racehorse]
- [Lambourn: Valley of the Racehorse]
- [Royal Berkshire History: Lambourn]
- [Lambourn Trainers’ Association]
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