Stanford Dingley

Stanford Dingley
240px 15th-century building and The Old Boot Inn
Stanford Dingley  Stanford Dingley shown within Berkshire
Area	4.82 km2 (1.86 sq mi)
Population	179 (2011 census)
– density	37/km2 (96/sq mi)
OS grid reference	SU575715
– London	45.4 miles (73.1 km)
Civil parish	Stanford Dingley
Unitary authority	West Berkshire
Ceremonial county	Berkshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	READING
Postcode district	RG7
Dialling code	0118
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Royal Berkshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Newbury
List of places UK England Berkshire

Stanford Dingley is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, between Newbury, the nearest large town (West Berkshire's largest), and Theale, which has the nearest motorway junction.

Geography

Stanford Dingley fills part of both sides of the valley of the upper part of the River Pang, on the minor roads between the A4 Bath Road and the M4 motorway. The parish mostly consists of farmland, with some woodland in the upland regions. The southern parish boundary runs along the edge of the woodland on the northern slopes of Clay Hill. The official and actual northern boundary is the motorway which is buffered by the area's only area of woodlands, covering about a fifth of the total area. Bucklebury lies to the west and Bradfield to the east. The village spreads north-south along Cock Lane, that runs between Bradfield Southend and Yattendon. Slightly detached to the south is the hamlet of Jennetts Hill and to the north is 'The Buildings'. The pond complex around the 'Blue Pool', containing artesian aquifers, though generally thought of as part of Stanford Dingley is actually just across the parish boundary in Bradfield.

Demography

2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005

Output area	Homes owned outright	Owned with a loan	Socially rented	Privately rented	Other	km² roads	km² water	km² domestic gardens	Usual residents	km²
Civil parish	33	25	9	11	3	0.040	0.016	0.151	179	4.82

History

File:Church Next to Manor Farm, Stanford Dingley - geograph.org.uk - 2598.jpg

St. Denys parish church, next to Manor Farm

Stanford is from the Old English for "Stoney-Ford", perhaps indicating a Roman river-crossing of the Pang heading towards Dorchester-on-Thames.

Dingley was the name of the lords of the manor. One of their wives has a brass memorial in the 12th century Church of England parish church of Saint Denys. The church has remnants of the original Saxon church within its inner walls. The main door and nave wall paintings date from the 13th century and the white wooden bell tower was built in the 15th century. The churchyard is notable for a number of sweet chestnut trees.

Notable residents

Thomas Tesdale, the founding benefactor of Pembroke College, Oxford, was born in Stanford Dingley in 1547.

Amenities

Public houses (pubs)

These are

• a 15th-century example: The Bull
• 18th-century, The Old Boot Inn.

The latter has a regular Burns Night celebration at which Pippa Middleton, from Chapel Row nearby on more than one occasion carried the haggis in accompanied by bagpipes.

Anglican community

Stanford Dingley continues to be an ecclesiastical parish in the Church of England, recorded as such since in the Domesday Book following the Norman Conquest. It shares in events and clergy with the benefice of Bucklebury, Bradfield and Stanford Dingley known more commonly among younger adult members of the church as 2BSD.

See also

• List of places in Berkshire
• List of civil parishes in Berkshire

External links

• Bradfield and Stanford Dingley Parish Plan
• Neighbourhood Statistics