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East Hendred is a lovely old village lying at the foot of the Berkshire Downs,
surrounded by farms and orchards. It is four miles from Wantage and to the
south of the A417 trunk road. Its name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon
‘Hennerithe’ or ‘rill of the waterhens’.
Like many another English village its roots go deep into the past, to Saxon
times and beyond. After the Norman Conquest, Norman knights and abbots were
given land in Hendred. The village was divided into five manors and names like
King’s Manor, Abbey Manor and Framptons are reminders of those feudal days.
King’s Manor still retains a Crown Stewardship last exercised in 1901.
The manor of Arches or Hendred House has been occupied by the Eystons since 1453
and this gracious house is a focal point in the village. Incorporated into the
house is the little Saxon chapel of St Amand. In 1688, when William of Orange
was marching to Oxford, some of his soldiers desecrated the chapel. The Eyston
family were related by marriage to Sir Thomas More, Chancellor to Henry VIII.
They have two precious relics; the drinking cup of Sir Thomas More and the staff
used by the aged John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, as he climbed to the scaffold
at Tyburn to be executed with More.
The chapel of Jesus of Bethlehem stands on what would have been the centre of
the medieval village. With its priest’s cottage attached, it was built in an
unusual design by the Carthusian monks of Sheen in the 15th century. It now
houses a small museum, open on Sunday afternoons, showing different aspects of
village life. The Parish Council also meets there.
There are Anglican and Roman Catholic churches in East Hendred with a good
record of ecumenism over the past years. The ancient parish church of St
Augustine stands on a slight rise. Its architecture is Early English and it has
a fine peal of bells. The faceless clock, with its wooden workings still intact,
plays ‘The Angels’ Hymn’ every three hours. Inside the church there is the 13th
century nave and a Crusader lectern thought to be unique. The Victorian-Gothic
Roman Catholic church was built by the Eyston family in 1858.
It is not difficult to imagine the bustle around the core of the village during
its hey-day in the 14th and 15th centuries as an important centre of the wool
trade which filled the coffers of king, monastery and merchant. Many of the old
cruck cottages belong to this period and the house which is now shop and post
office and probably belonged to a wool merchant, is considered to be one of the
finest examples of early Tudor architecture.
‘Pit pat, pan’s hot,
Here we come a’shroving
With a batcher up my back
A halfpenny is better than nothing.’
This is the jingle sung by the children as they converge on Hendred House at
midday on Shrove Tuesday accompanied by parents and teachers for the traditional
bun and a halfpenny ceremony. The centuries-old custom is enjoyed by the
children, each of whom, after chanting the song, is given a bun and (today) a
penny by the Squire, Mr Eyston.
Another custom which still prevails is the distribution of flour to 24 old
people on St Thomas’ Eve. In the old days this was given as corn which was then
taken to the mill in Mill Lane to be ground.
For many years East Hendred has been associated with racing stables and a common
sight is that of a string of fine racehorses going to and from the gallops on
the downs. A Grand National winner came from the Turnell stable.
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