The History of the Parish of Welford
in West Berkshire

Welford, anciently known as Weligford, the 'Willow-ford' is a parish on the river Lambourn. The Parish of Welford is essentially rural in character. Fields of arable crop, meadow where cattle and sheep graze and pleasant woodland where one can see rare trees and richly flowering rhododendron.

WELFORD PARK

Welford Park has a grand manor house built during the reign of Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch.

The parkland is renowned for its annual carpet of snowdrops and bluebells which provide a backcloth to the beautiful church of St. Gregory's and ancient churchyard.

On the site of the present house and church stood a monastery until the dissolution of monasteries in 1536 on the order of King Henry V111. The King kept Welford as his own deer hunting lodge until he granted it by lease to Sir Thomas Parry in 1546. Sir Thomas later became Treasurer of the household to Queen Elizabeth 1. His son, also called Sir Thomas Parry, was the next owner of Welford. He was a member of Parliament, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Master of the Court of Wards and the Ambassador to France. His heir sold Welford in 1618 to Sir Francis Jones Kt., Lord Mayor of London in 1620-21. Welford remained in the hands of the Jones family for two more generations until the sole heiress, Mary, married John Archer circa 1680. There is a memorial to Mary in the church just below the altar step. The founder of the Archer family was a certain Simon de Boys who fought in the battle of Agincourt. This man entered a shooting competition against his king, Henry V. On beating the king, Henry was so impressed that he named him Archer on the spot. John and Mary Archer had only one child, a daughter Eleanor, who married a very famous architect of his day, Thomas Archer. Although he had the same name as his wife he was no relation to her. It was he who was commissioned by his parents-in-law, John and Mary Archer, to build a house. And so Welford Park was built in its present for by Thomas Archer circa 1702.

The house is a typical example of early Georgian (Queen Anne) architecture. About 140 years later an extra wing at the back was added (Dining room) together with the single story kitchen block. The ground floor front windows were also altered from the Georgian twelve panes of glass to the Victorian style large single pane type. Other alterations include the re-arrangement and blocking up of some of the windows on the side of the house, done at the time of the window tax, imposed by the Prime Minister William Pitt in order to help pay the cost of the Napoleonic Wars against France.

The village of Wickham lies to the south of Welford. It is divided from Welford by a viaduct carrying the M4 motorway that links London to the western parts. The people of Welford have learnt to put up with the noise of traffic and the noxious fumes, it is the price we pay for the convenience of modern day travel by motor car.

Wickham is central to the Parish. It is where the school is situated. It also has a very interesting church dedicated to St. Swithun, and an attractive and popular inn with a thatched roof.

Other hamlets in the Parish are Hoe Benham, Easton, Weston and Halfway. The present day population of the Parish is around 450 people. This number has changed up and down over the years, and when we read the Parish history the reason for this becomes clear.

One may be tempted to think that in such a small and sparsely populated rural Parish such as Welford there would be little to offer of historical interest, but that is not true as the reader will find.

Let's start with the earliest of times - the Romans.

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