Ashmore Green Explained

Country:England
Type:Hamlet
Static Image Name:Road between Ashmore Green and Newbury - geograph.org.uk - 35836.jpg
Static Image Caption:The Sun in the Wood (closed since 2018)[1]
Coordinates:51.4211°N -1.2751°W
Official Name:Ashmore Green
Shire County:Berkshire
Region:South East England
Postcode District:RG18
Postcode Area:RG
Os Grid Reference:SU5069

Ashmore Green is a small hamlet in Berkshire, England.[2] [3] It is situated just to the west of the village of Cold Ash and to the north of Thatcham in the West Berkshire district.

Etymology

The name Ashmore Green is probably of Old English origin, meaning "ash tree covered moor". The ash tree held significance for the Saxons due to the mythical Yggdrasil and the ash tree being sacred to the god Wōden.[4] Ash trees are common in Berkshire, as is reflected in other settlement names such as nearby Cold Ash and Ashampstead, as well as Ashford Hill and Ashmansworth in bordering Hampshire and Ashbury in Oxfordshire.

History

Ashmore Green is first mentioned in a deed in 1549 from Jack O'Newbury to his son Henry.[5] It is believed the Parliamentary Army stayed in fields near Ashmore Green during the Second Battle of Newbury in 1644.[6] Ashmore Green was first noted on a map in 1761 spelled "Ashmoor Green". The area was largely moorland and heath until it began to be populated in the 1800s.[7] In 1886, a baptist chapel was built in the centre of Ashmore Green, on Stoney Lane. It closed in the 1960s. In 1894, Ashmore Green became part of the Cold Ash civil parish.[8] The population of the Ashmore Green and Cold Ash area nearly doubled between 1900 and 1939, with a major expansion after World War II. The local pub, The Sun in the Wood, built around 1900, closed in 2018.

Nearby Settlements

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cold Ash councillors don't object to plans for The Sun in the Wood. 28 April 2020. Newbury Today. www.newburytoday.co.uk/. 12 July 2020.
  2. Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 174 Newbury & Wantage (Hungerford & Didcot). 9780319228739 . Ordnance Survey. 2014.
  3. Web site: Ordnance Survey: 1:50,000 Scale Gazetteer. csv (download). 1 January 2016. Ordnance Survey. ordnancesurvey.co.uk. 30 January 2016. 3 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225425/https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/opendatadownload/products.html. live.
  4. Web site: Yggdrasil . norse-mythology.org/cosmology/yggdrasil-and-the-well-of-urd/ . 13 July 2020 . 25 May 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200525093256/https://norse-mythology.org/cosmology/yggdrasil-and-the-well-of-urd/ . live .
  5. Web site: Cold Ash and Ashmore Green village design statement. 1 May 2002. West Berkshire council. www.westberks.gov.uk. 13 July 2020. 13 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200713005432/https://info.westberks.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=35716&p=0. live.
  6. Web site: Cold Ash and Ashmore Green pathusers. Cold Ash Parish Council. 13 July 2020. 15 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200715031245/http://www.coldash.org.uk/crbst_24.html. live.
  7. Web site: Ashmore Green. VisitorUk. visitoruk.com. 13 July 2020. 12 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200712234355/http://www.visitoruk.com/Newbury/ashmore-green-C592-V27962.html. live.
  8. Web site: Thatcham Parishes. 1923. British History Online. www.british-history.ac.uk/. 13 July 2020. 13 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200713080437/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol3/pp311-329. live.