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Just over the border from Berkshire, Sonning Common today is a far cry from the
few cottages, farms and beer houses scattered on and around 200 acres of rough
pasture, with cultivated areas and woods, that existed in the 1860s. Originally
part of the manor of Sonning-on-Thames, the land was used for grazing cattle and
sheep. When the rich water meadows by the river flooded, animals were driven up
to the higher ground, often for months in the winter. Hog Lane (now Woodlands
Road) in Sonning Common was so called because pigs were driven along it to the
woods, to feed on the beech mast.
Widmore Pond, on the edge of the village, at one time supplied most of the water
used locally. Dr Plots Natural History of Oxfordshire, written in 1677, stated
that when the pond was cleaned out, oak trees were found standing upright. In
the mud at the bottom Roman coins and stag antlers were found, and the theory
was put forward that it had originally been a Roman silver mine. Before 1940,
local boys spent many hours sitting on the wall fishing but the fish died out,
and the whole area became neglected and overgrown. In the early 1970's members of
the Parish Council organised working parties, and the pond was cleared of
rubbish, landscaped, and a seat provided. Ducks and swans were installed, and
the whole area has become a feature of the village, with some of the best-fed
birds in Oxfordshire!
With the break up of the manor in the 1880's, much of the land was sold off
piecemeal, and the slow building of an actual village began. Formerly part of
the civil parish of Eye and Dunsden, it was afforded its own Parish Council
status in 1951. With the building of three large housing estates in the 1960's
the population increased from about 1,000 at the beginning of the decade to
4,000 by 1970.
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