Lower Basildon

For the town in Essex, see Basildon.

Lower Basildon is a small English village in the civil parish of Basildon, near Pangbourne, in the county of Berkshire.

Lower Basildon
Typical Building Style
Lower Basildon Location within Berkshire
OS grid reference	SU609787
Civil parish	Basildon
Unitary authority	West Berkshire
Ceremonial county	Berkshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	READING
Postcode district	RG8
Dialling code	01491
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Royal Berkshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Newbury
List of places UK England Berkshire 51.50396°N 1.12397°W / 51.50396; -1.12397

Amenities

Shops and restaurants

Upper Basildon has a sub-post office (located in St Stephen's Church) and a pub-restaurant, The Red Lion.^[1] Lower Basildon currently has a garage/shop and a motor repair business.

Transport

The village is covered only by a Tuesday bus service running between Goring-on-Thames and Reading. The nearest railway station is Goring and Streatley (2.6 miles; 4.2 km) which offers stopping trains between Didcot and London Paddington. The main A329 road connects the village with Goring and Reading.

Beale Wildlife Park

Main article: Beale Wildlife Park

To the south-east of the village there is a wildlife garden, Beale Park.^[2]

Historic buildings

St Bartholomew's Church

The 15th century parish church of St Bartholomew stands at the end of Church Lane, down by the River Thames.^[3]

Roman villa

The remains of a modest Roman villa were discovered near the church in 1839 during the construction of the Great Western Railway but nothing of the villa remains to be seen today. It housed two beautiful mosaic floors, which were unfortunately destroyed very soon after being found. A drawing of one was made by the antiquarian, Charles Roach Smith.^[3]

6-12 Reading Road

The village is well known locally for the presence of a row of early 20th century timber-framed 'black-and-white' houses on its western side. However, only one of these possesses a true timber frame. The remainder are built of brick, and clad with timber to resemble framing. These had been specifically commissioned as workers' cottages for Basildon Park.^[3]

Basildon Grotto

Basildon Grotto, or The Grotto House, is located 0.8 miles (1.3 km) to the west of the village on the road to Streatley. The original Grotto was built in 1720 and consisted of a rock chamber filled with shells and a rock pool. This summer house was extended at the beginning of the 19th century by Arthur Smith MP to form a large mansion.^[4] Until about 2007, it was the headquarters of the Institute for Leisure and Amenity Management (ILAM). Although sold to a new owner, it remains empty, fire-damaged and ruinous.^[5][6]

Basildon Park

Main article: Basildon Park

The National Trust property, Basildon Park, occupies the space between the villages of Lower and Upper Basildon.^[3]

Notable people

In birth order:

• Jethro Tull (1674–1741), agriculturalist, was born in Upper Basildon and buried in the churchyard of St Bartholomew's Church in Lower Basildon, under a modern gravestone dated 1740, though he died in 1741.^[3]
• Sir Francis Sykes, 1st Baronet (1732–1804), British East India Company governor, landowner and politician, lived in Basildon, but died before his mansion was completed.^[7]
• Graham Whitehead (1922–1981), Formula 1 motor racing driver, died in Basildon.^[8]