Sonning Common

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Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox UK place

Sonning Common is a village and civil parish in a relatively flat, former common land part of the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, centred Template:Convert west south-west of Henley-on-Thames and Template:Convert north of Reading.

History

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". During the English Civil War the village itself did not exist: being an area of open land east of the route between Reading – occupied alternately by the Parliamentarians and Royalists – and Oxford, which was the King's headquarters.[1] In 1647 after the end of the first civil war, the King was imprisoned at nearby Caversham House (now the location of BBC Monitoring in Caversham); however he was allowed out under escort to play bowls at an inn (latterly called "The King Charles Head") near Cane End, approximately one mile west of Sonning Common.[2][3] His route between these places would have brought him close to the present-day village.

The site of the village has been called "Sonning Common" since at least the 1640s, long before any fixed settlement existed. The name is literal, at the time gradually losing its earlier status of common grazing land belonging to Sonning Parish. Both places have intermittently been spelt 'Sunning' as seen on maps such as that of the A4 road from 1786, indicating contemporary pronunciation was as in the other three ancient parishes named after Sunna (Saxon chief) – the letter combination 'un' was avoided in Middle English as a result of Norman handwriting.[1]

Amenities

Serving as a meeting place to explore by footpaths the Chiltern Hills nearest to the large town of Reading, Sonning Common has a community of volunteers who guide regular Sonning Common Health Walks. Sonning Common has a Herb Farm (with a Saxon layout maze), Thames Valley Gymnastics Club and a health centre.[4] Two neighbouring parishes, Kidmore End and Rotherfield Peppard, have their war memorial halls on the parish boundaries. The civil parish help maintain a pond with a duck-house in the middle called "Duckingham Palace", three children's playgrounds and a Millennium Green, public land, at the southern end of the village between Kennylands Road and Peppard Road.[5] Wood Lane has a health centre, village hall, and most shops including: an Indian restaurant,[6] a Chinese take-away, fish and chip shop, sandwich shop, post office, florist,[7] supermarkets, petrol station, dental practice[8] and general/charity stores. Public houses:

  • The Bird in Hand[9]
  • The Butchers Arms[10]
  • The Hare and Hounds.
File:Duckingham Palace.jpg
"Duckingham Palace" on Widmore Pond in Sonning Common
File:Field NE of Sonning Common - geograph.org.uk - 34885.jpg
Hay meadow and woodland on borders with higher parts of the Chilterns.

Churches

Churches are Christ the King (Church of England),[11] Saint Michael's (Roman Catholic),[12] and Sonning Common Free Church.

Education

Sonning Common has a primary school,[13] and Maiden Erlegh Chiltern Edge[14] is the secondary school in the village. Sixth form students usually travel to The Henley College (Henley-on-Thames). There is also Bishopswood School which is a special school serving the wider area.

Performing arts

The village has an amateur dramatic group, The Chiltern Players.Template:Refn

Demography

2011 Census Key Statistics
Output area Population Homes % Owned outright % Owned with a loan % Socially rented % Privately rented km2 km2 GreenspaceTemplate:Refn km2 gardens km2 road and rail[15]
Sonning Common (civil parish) 3784 1547 45.4% 34.5% 12.8% 5.7% 3.66 2.46 0.74 0.17

The greenspace is mainly beech woodland with clearings and fields straddled by many paths. The Sonning Common Magazine is a not-for-profit community digital and delivered magazine to 1,850 addresses in the village every other month.[16]

Nearest places

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Notes and references

Notes

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References

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  1. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ The pub is at Collins End, between Cane End and Goring Heath. By 2008 it was closed and up for sale. geograph.org.uk. Accessed 28 August 2009.
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Brambles Floristry
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Bird In Hand Template:Webarchive
  10. ↑ The Butchers Arms Template:Webarchive
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Sonning Common Primary School
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ons
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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