HeritageGateway - Home
Site Map
Text size: A A A
You are here: Home > > > > West Berkshire HER Result
West Berkshire HERPrintable version | About West Berkshire HER | Visit West Berkshire HER online...

West Berkshire HER logo

The West Berkshire Historic Environment Record (HER) is the primary index of the physical remains of past human activity in the unitary authority of West Berkshire Council. Limited elements of the West Berkshire HER are available online via the Heritage Gateway, therefore it is not suitable for use in desk-based studies associated with development, planning and land-use changes, and does not meet the requirements of paragraph 194 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2021: 56). Please read the important guidance on the use of the West Berkshire HER data. For these purposes and all other commercial enquiries, please contact the Archaeology team and complete our online HER enquiry form.



HER Number MWB3465
Record Type Monument
Name Possible chapel, Speenhamland

Grid Reference SU 470 676
Map Sheet SU46NE
Parish Newbury, West Berkshire
Map:Show location on Streetmap

Summary

Traditional record of a wayside chapel at the north end of Northbrook Street on the road between London and the west

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

  • Conservation Area: Newbury Town Centre

Other Statuses and Cross-References

  • Berkshire SMR No. (pre 2000): 01390.01.000

Monument Type(s):

  • CHAPEL? (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1539 AD?)

Full Description

Gray's History <1> states that some former dwelling-houses in the open space in Speenhamland had been called 'The Chapel', implying that a building connected with a religious house (perhaps a chantry chapel) had once been there. According to Hadcock and Millson, the chapel was disused in the 16th century and converted into houses which were demolished in 1791 <4>; they suggest that the chapel was sited in the middle of the Broadway. No medieval documentation survives however. Willis' map <5> does appear to show a structure in the Broadway <6>, although it is not named, and there is a square building shown on Stukeley's earlier plan of 'Spinham Lands' <7>.

This location was later used for several 19th and 20th century monuments: a gas lamp, the Jubilee clock and the Clock Tower.

Sources and further reading

<01>Gray, E W (ed)?. pre 1839. The History and Antiquities of Newbury and its Environs. p167. [Monograph / SWB11182]
https://archive.org/details/historyandantiq00unkngoog (Accessed 16/07/2019)
<02>Money, W. 1887. The History of Newbury. P?. [Monograph / SWB11828]
http://archive.org/stream/cu31924028185811 (Accessed 02/09/2013)
<03>Astill, G G. 1978. Historic Towns in Berkshire: an archaeological appraisal. P51. [Monograph / SWB10869]
<04>Hadcock, R N & Millson, C. 1990. The Story of Newbury (1990 edition). p97. [Monograph / SWB13960]
<05>Willis, John. 1768. Willis' Map of the Country ten miles round Newbury, with a plan of the Town of Newbury and of Speenhamland, 1768. 2 inch to mile?. Town Map marked but not named. [Map / SWB8040]
https://www.flickr.com/photos/britishlibrary/50263734041 (Accessed 16/09/2021)
<06>The Borough Museum, Newbury. 1973. Newbury Buildings Past and Present. p71. [Monograph / SWB12937]
<07>Stukeley, W. 28/06/1723. Plan of Newberry and Spinae. Marked but not named. [Map / SWB147333]

Related Monuments

MWB3464SPEENHAMLAND, Newbury (Place)
MWB21996Site of cattle trough, The Broadway, Speenhamland (Monument)
MWB21458Site of Golden Jubilee Clock, Speenhamland, Newbury (Monument)
MWB16450The Clock House (or Clock Tower), Speenhamland, Newbury (Building)
MWB15926The Speenhamland 'Obelisk' (Speen Lane lamp) (Monument)

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

  • None recorded