Ancient remains
Beautiful and amazing neolithic cooking and water vessel finds come from a nearby dried up brook off Inkpen's Craven Road. Several Mesolithic, Iron age and Saxon finds have also been made.
Mesolithic to modern - a trail in time
Come and join us in our attempt to
uncover Inkpen's near and distant past.
Inkpen is a place of outstanding natural beauty. Quiet, dark
skied, with a sparse community that binds a love of the
countryside's slow heart beat, with the speed of the internet. But
a community, as it always has been.
The history group will hold it's next meeting in April, 7pm at
the Inkpen playing field pavilion. All comers are freely welcome.
Do come and join in.
In the mean time, if you live in Inkpen, help us with our project
to measure oak trees in Inkpen. This will only take a couple of
minutes of your time and it’s a very simple thing to do. First,
you need a flexible tape measure (preferably fabric) and someone
to hold the other end of the tape. The procedure is shown in https://inkpenhistory.uk/Estimating Age of
Oaks.pdf and there’s a video of how to do this on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZbhOQYsgxw&list=PLbKmvYI09zixa3G1vLMXHHICjoSTABVJs&index=3.
If you go onto private land to do this, please ask the landowner’s
permission first. Once you’ve measured the circumference of the
oak tree, please write it down. Now I need to know the location of
the tree either as a description involving a place/house name or
preferably in terms of a GPS, longitude and latitude.
If you have an android phone, then I suggest you use the ‘My GPS
Location’ app. For an iPhone, please use ‘My GPS Coordinates.’
They are free apps. If you are going to record the GPS
coordinates, please stand by the tree and record the longitude and
latitude. Just email the oak tree’s position and its circumference
to trees@inkpenhistory.uk. A big thank you to you for your help in
doing this. Inkpen History Group.
Walbury Hill Fort
The iron age hill fort is the highest point in the south of England offering spectacular views. It is a well known landmark for walkers, a viewing point for the night sky and a source of wonder for naturalists. On the adjacent hill lies an ancient long-barrow.
Roman Occupation
Finds from an Inkpen field suggest that there was at least one Roman dwelling in Inkpen, and it was a dwelling with a hypocaust. Various Roman finds have been made including these distinctive fragments of a flue.
Medieval Finds
To date, we have many medieval finds from ampules and a purse bar, to bricks floor and roof tiles. The Ampule was used during the crusades to bring holy water from the Holy Lands. This one is from Jerusalem and was found in Inkpen.
St Michael's Church
Is a 13th century church thought to occupy the site of a much earlier wooden church. It attracts visitors from all over the world.
Inkpen in film
Inkpen featured in the John Schlesinger film, "The Black Legend". It's a film which
portrays a double hanging during the late 17th century. A double
gibbet still marks the spot on Combe Hill. The film has been
reworked to bring it to a high definition standard, with narration
by Robert Hardy, one of Britain's most successful character
actors. A copy of the film is lodged with the British Film
Institute (BFI) and showings of the film still draws crowded
audiences as it offers a glimpse of Inkpen's sometimes troubled
past.
AND IN RHYME
An ode from 1967 giving a feel of life for some, and focussing on the bygone years of 'Windrush', a large and staffed house at the intersection of Folly Road and Post Office Road, close to the site of the Olive Branch public house. The poem is written by Richard Alexander Usborne and accessible here.
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Maps
Maps give us the best understanding of how Inkpen has changed. Tithe maps tell us who lived where and who owned what. We include a few here.
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Grave records
3 graveyards have been catalogued and headstone inscriptions are also included. These have been extensively accessed for family tree research.
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WW1 and ww2
A list of casualties for those from Inkpen and Kintbury are provided. As much additional information as can be gathered is also given.
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1975 recordings
In 1975 Inkpen produced an audio record of its memorable past. This is in the form of 13 separate audio tracks. You might need headphones.
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a victorian view
This mostly relates to St. Michael's church which underwent a substantial makeover at that time. Before and after pictures are provided.
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scrapbook
Scrapbooks from the WI, Press clips and other linked content form a time capsule of Inkpen's recent past giving us a vivid insight into our local predecessors.
Always on the look-out
If you have an interest in Inkpen's history, photos or anecdotes, please get in touch. Email us at: david@inkpenhistory.uk