Whitchurch, Oxfordshire

Description
Whitchurch, a parish, with a village, partly in Berkshire, but chiefly in Oxfordshire, on the river Thames which divides the two portions of the parish near Pangbourne station on the G.W.R., and 6 miles WNW of Reading. It has a post and money order office under Reading; telegraph office, Pangbourne. Area in Berkshire, 293 acres; population, 32. Area in Oxfordshire, 2049 acres; population, 902; of the ecclesiastical parish, 934. For parish council purposes the Berkshire portion has been cut off from the parish and merged in Purley. Combe Park, a large modern mansion in a modern Italian style, is the seat of the Foster family, who are lords of the manor. Other chief residences are Bozedown, Hardwick, Swanston House, and Thames Bank House. A bridge, rebuilt in 1853, gives communication across the Thames with Pangbourne. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £520 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Oxford. The church is a building of flint and stone originally Norman, but rebuilt in 1858, consisting of chancel, nave, N aisle, and tower with spire. It contains some ancient brasses and memorials. A chapel of ease was erected in 1883.