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Summary

A place first documented in 1366, although a link has been suggested with the lost Domesday place of Cerletone or Charlton

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

• Conservation Area: Hungerford

Other Statuses and Cross-References

• Berkshire SMR No. (pre 2000): 01355.02.000
  

Monument Type(s):

• VILLAGE (Medieval to Late 19th century - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Full Description

Gelling <1> noted the first clear documentary reference to Charnham Street was as 'Cherlhampstrete' in 1366, allthough the place name appears to mean street of the people of Charlton. Charlton is a lost place name, deriving from 'Cerletone' in the Domesday Book; although there is a Charlton in the Berkshire Domesday Book <2>, Gelling reports that this part of Hungerford was in Wiltshire until 1895, and Charlton also appears in the Wiltshire section of the Domesday Book.

Charnham Street was formerly part of the Chilton Foliat estate <3>, and was a separate manor from Hungerford and therefore not part of the planned town <4>. Astill suggests the settlement benefitted however from both the proximity to Hungerford and its position on the London to Bath Road; inns are first recorded here in 1493 <4>. It may have been considered as a suburb of Hungerford, and during the improvement of the Bath Road in the 1740s, the new road of Bridge Street was constructed to improve the link between Charnham Street and the larger town. The GIS point for this record is placed at the junction of Charnham Street with Bridge Street.

Charnham Street, along with North and South Standen, was transferred from Wiltshire to the administrative county of Berkshire in 1895 <3>.

Many of the buildings fronting Charnham Street are listed buildings, and most are described as being of 18th century or later date, although there is little record of investigations into fabric behind the façades. Timber-framing is mentioned in the listed description of Nos 29 and 30 <5>. Below ground archaeological investigations have not yet provided any evidence of medieval or earlier occupation <6><7><8>.

A motoring history of the Kennet Valley includes photographs of Charnham Street (including an early colour photograph with the Stradling & Plenty Motor Works visible on the north side of 1 Charnham Street), and later views of Stradling's workshop, showroom and petrol station <12>.

Sources and further reading

Related Monuments

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

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