Seven Barrows

Lambourn is famous for its Seven Barrows, just above Upper Lambourn. There are more than thirty Bronze Age burial mounds forming a large prehistoric cemetery. On a line west of the Seven Barrows is the Long Barrow, which dates from c. 4000 BCE, making it 2,000 years older than the other barrows. It has been half-destroyed by deep ploughing, and only the mound in the woods and a few sarsen stones remain.^[5]

Lambourn Church (minster) and almshouses

St Michael and All Angels

Detail on the south side of the church at the exact spot as in a sketch made by J.R.R.Tolkien in August 1912^[6]

...the Downs themselves shelter Lambourn's massive Norman nave.^[7]

The large, mainly Norman, Church of England parish church is in the village centre facing the historic market place, with a surrounding wall built of sarsen stones, and is dedicated to St Michael and All Angels. The road pattern shows an original circular enclosure, suggesting pagan Celtic origins. Alfred the Great, born in Wantage, was also closely connected with this ancient landmark. It has been a minster since Saxon times and officially known as Lambourn Minster since as early as 1032, and Alfred mentioned it in his will. It was probably Cnut who granted Lambourn Minster to the Dean of St Paul's.

Successors to that office held it until 1836. Inside are monuments to the great and the good of the many manors in the parish, including an excellent brass to John Estbury (1508), who founded the almshouses outside, and fine effigies of Sir Thomas Essex and his wife (1558). The almshouses were established by an Act of Parliament in the reign of King Henry VII and confirmed by his son King Henry VIII after the Dissolution of the Monasteries made the original uncertain, as it included a now forbidden chantry.^[8] There is an arch with mediaeval carvings of hunting scenes. The church was much restored in the late 19th century, and has a chancel roof designed by G. E. Street. The church also boasts a fine three-manual Henry Willis organ. The clock faces were replaced, and the tower stonework repaired, in 2011. The church is a Grade I listed building.^[9]

The Anarchy

The Empress Matilda bequeathed Lambourn and Chippenham to Hugh de Plucket out of the Royal demesne in 1142 for his aid in The Anarchy of the civil wars against the usurper Stephen of Blois.^[10] However, another Breton adventurer, Josce de Dinan and his knights, retreated to Lambourn after he lost Ludlow Castle to Gilbert de Lacey. Maltida's son King Henry II gave him Chipping Lambourn in compensation in 1156.^[11] Josce died in 1162 AD and in either case, the Plunket family were in possession of the Manor by the beginning of the 14th century.^[12]

Queen Elizabeth I

The Ditchley Portrait, Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, c.1592

The Ditchley portrait of Queen Elizabeth I was painted for Sir Henry Lee of Ditchley to commemorate her visit in 1592. The Queen stands on a map of England with her feet on Oxfordshire and Lambourn is shown (but not named) on the map below her feet, in the downs of Berceria at the head of the River Lambourn which joins the River Kennet at Newbury.

Civil War

During the Civil War, Prince Rupert and his Cavaliers rested at Lambourn on the night of 18 and 19 September 1643, between fighting a skirmish with the Parliamentarian Army at Aldbourne Chase on the 18th and the First Battle of Newbury on the 20th.^[13] Queen Henrietta Maria stayed at Kingswood House on 18 April 1644 en route to Exeter, having said her final farewell to her husband King Charles I a few days before at Oxford.^{[13][n 1]} Kingswood was an Elizabethan manor house that was demolished a long time ago and replaced by the current Kingswood House Stables.

On 9 November 1644 King Charles and the Royalist Army relieved Donnington Castle in the face of the Army of the Eastern Association led by the Earl of Manchester and Oliver Cromwell. Thereafter he withdrew to Lambourn and stayed in "The King's Chamber" at Kingswood House, while the Royalist infantry were quartered in Lambourn and the cavalry at Wantage. The Parliamentarian Scoutmaster Sir Samuel Luke reported "Monday. 11 November 1644. The last night the King's headquarters were at Wantage and Lamborne ... all the foot that which lay at Lamborne marcht away this morning towards Auborne".^{[n 2][13]}

The Luddites and Captain Swing

There were Captain Swing anti-machinery riots in Lambourn in 1832–33. It was said that 'there would be no good times at Lambourn until there was a good fire', and several farm buildings were burned by Luddite agricultural labourers whose wages had been slashed by the introduction of machinery.^[14] The Marxist historian, Eric Hobsbawn, wrote 'A threshing machine was broken at Lambourn; and from there the movement spread south to Eastbury and East Garston, where money was collected and several machines were destroyed'.^[15] The labourers demanded 40 shillings for their loss of earnings and an increase in wages from 8 shillings to 12 shillings a week. They threatened to burn down farm buildings if they were not paid. Ten machines were destroyed in the Lambourn Valley from Fawley to Boxford, and the movement spread northwards to the Vale of the White Horse and the Thames Valley.

World War II plane crash

On 8 September 1944 a stricken B-24 Liberator flown by 2nd Lt Lawrence Berkoff DFC of the 856th Bombardment Squadron, 492d Bombardment Group (the Carpetbaggers), Eighth Air Force, USAAF was returning from an aborted mission. Berkoff maintained control of the plane so that his crew could parachute to safety over Baydon, but saw that if he bailed out, the plane would crash into Lambourn. He therefore remained at the controls to divert the aircraft and was killed when it crash-landed in a field on Folly Road at 10:45 pm, missing the village by a few hundred yards. Berkoff was awarded a posthumous Distinguished Flying Cross; a plaque in his honour was unveiled on 26 June 2003 by his great nephew, Todd Berkoff, at Lambourn Memorial Hall.^[16]

1953 lorry crash

On Tuesday 13 April 1953 an articulated lorry carrying 3,600 imp gal (16,000 L; 4,300 US gal) of aviation fuel suffered brake failure as it came down Hungerford Hill (now the B4000). Despite the best efforts of the driver, it hit several buildings before overturning on Oxford Street. The lorry exploded, destroying the tobacconist's, confectioner's, watchmaker's, jeweller's and antique dealer's shops, but only the driver was killed. The burning fuel set fire to three houses, two thatched cottages and several flats, and 37 people were made homeless. It also flowed down the street and into the River Lambourn and set fire to property up to 50 yards way until the Newbury, Hungerford, Wantage, Swindon and Faringdon fire brigades helped the local brigade quench the fire.^[17]

1971 lurcher show

The first dog show for lurchers was held at Lambourn in 1971, which included dog racing and coursing.^[18]

1991 motorway crash

At 14:15 hours on Wednesday 13 March 1991 there was a major crash on the M4 Motorway in the southernmost part of Lambourn between the Membury Service Station and Junction 14 on the eastbound carriageway. A van driver fell asleep at the wheel and stopped alongside the central crash barrier on the right hand (overtaking) lane. This obstruction was seen by the car behind him, which managed to change lanes and avoid contact. However, the cars behind were travelling at high speed (an average of 70 miles per hour (110 km/h)) in patchy fog and many were only one or two car lengths behind the vehicle in front. As a result, they had no time to avoid the van, crashed and spun out of control into the other lanes. Others took evasive action by driving onto the hard shoulder and up the sides of the cutting.

These were followed by articulated lorries, one of which jack-knifed sideways across all three lanes of the motorway. One driver, Alan Bateman, managed to free himself from his car and ran back down the central reservation to warn others, but was ignored and was even hooted at by some drivers as they continued towards the crash.^[19] The crash included 51 vehicles and lasted 19 seconds, car fuel was ignited along with the combustible material being carried in one of the vans and the eastbound motorway was closed for four days as the melted wreckage was cut away and the tarmac replaced.

Ten people were killed and twenty-five were injured, and there were three minor crashes caused by distracted drivers on the other side of the motorway. In Parliament Sir Michael McNair-Wilson MP asked why the Thames Valley and Wiltshire police forces had not turned on the motorway warning lights to warn drivers of the fog, but the Secretary of State for Transport, Christopher Chope, stated that these were only used for hazards not readily apparent to drivers and not adverse weather conditions.^[20] The crash led to warning lights being used to warn drivers of fog on British motorways.

Lambourn Downs

They heard of the Great Barrows, and the green mounds, and the stone-rings upon the hills and in the hollows among the hills. Sheep were bleating in flocks. Green walls and white walls rose. There were fortresses on the heights. Kings of little kingdoms fought together, and the young Sun shone like fire on the red metal of their new and greedy swords. There was victory and defeat; and towers fell, fortresses were burned, and flames went up into the sky. Gold was piled on the biers of dead kings and queens; and mounds covered them, and the stone doors were shut; and the grass grew over all. Sheep walked for a while biting the grass, but soon the hills were empty again.

— J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

The Lambourn Downs (an area of the Berkshire Downs) are part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and cover an area of 231 square miles (600 km²),^[24] from the Ridgeway in the north to the River Kennet in the south. Originally they were entirely in Berkshire, but northern third of the downs were transferred to Oxfordshire when the county border was reorganised in 1974. Due to the poor, chalky soil, the downs could not be used for growing crops until the advent of modern fertilisers. Consequently, the high ground was only used for breeding sheep – hence the name of Lambourn – and horses.

The Oxford don and author J. R. R. Tolkien lived nearby and travelled to the downs with his family and friends. He was impressed by the downs with their sarsen stones, barrows and hill forts and painted pictures of Lambourn in 1912.^[25] Within Lambourn parish are the following downs and chalk hills: Bockhampton Down, Cleeve Hill, Coppington Down, Coppington Hill, Crow Down, Eastbury Down, Ewe Hill, Farncombe Down, Fognam Down, Haycroft Hill, Hungerford Hill, Kingsdown, Lodge Down, Mandown, Near Down, Parkfarm Down, Pit Down, Post Down, Row Down, Stancombe Down, Thorn Hill, Warren Down and Wellbottom Down.

Road

Lambourn lies on the crossroads of the B4000 from Newbury to Highworth and the B4001 from Chilton Foliat to Childrey. The B4000 used to follow the River Lambourn up the Newbury Road until the construction of the M4 motorway in the early 1970s.^[26] When the motorway was built, the B4000 was diverted along Ermin Street as the old road could not be widened for HGVs in the narrow streets of Great Shefford, Eastbury and Lambourn. The B4001 was also diverted onto Ermin Street because of the M4, and the B4000 and B4001 merge until they arrive in Lambourn at the bottom of Hungerford Hill. The M4 passes through the southern part of the parish, between Junction 14, (7 miles (11 km) southeast of the village, and Junction 15, (8 miles (13 km) to the west.

Rail

In 1898 the Lambourn Valley Railway was built connecting Lambourn to Newbury. Its ownership merged with the Great Western Railway in 1905. The line continued in operation until it was closed in 1960. The nearest station is now at Hungerford on the Reading to Taunton line.

Horse racing

Jockeys riding thoroughbreds to the gallops in Lambourn

Valley of the Racehorse

Gallops, Wellbottom Down

Lambourn is a unique town as almost everyone is involved in horse racing – from top trainers such as Mick Channon, Charlie Mann and Henrietta Knight through to the saddlers and stable lads and lasses.

— Clare Balding^[29]

The racing connection began in the 18th century, when the Earl of Craven held racing meetings on Weathercock Hill near Ashdown House. There were regular race meetings on the Lambourn Downs and private race meetings can be held on Mandown between Upper Lambourn and Seven Barrows. In the 1840s some owners moved their racehorses to Lambourn as the ground at Newmarket was too firm and caused many horses to break down.^[30] The first trainers were Edwin Parr, Joseph Saxon, John Prince, Luke Snowden (one of the few trainers to be buried at St Michaels graveyard) and John Drinkald, who went insane when his horse was disqualified after winning a race in which he stood to win £28,000.^[31][32]

The first stables were at the Red Lion Inn on the crossroads opposite the church (the inn has since been converted into flats), and at Lambourn Stables, now called Kingswood House Stables. The well drained, spongy grass, open downs and long flats made Lambourn ideal for training racehorses and it became a fashionable training centre. Lord Rothschild had his stables at Russley Park, just west of Lambourn in Wiltshire, and, like those of Lord Craven, his horses practised on the gallops at Lambourn.^[32][33] Lambourn Place, a large house near the village centre, was used as racing stables from 1888. It was demolished in 1938 and was later replaced by a modern housing estate. ^[34]

It was not until the Lambourn Valley Railway was built in 1898 that Lambourn grew into its present size. Until then horses could only attend local meets, or had to walk the 10–15 miles to the railway at Newbury. Horses could now be transported to Newbury and from there to meetings all over the country, and many new stables were opened in the area. Over 1,500 horses are now stabled in and around Lambourn – second only to Newmarket. There are many major stables and varied turf and all-weather gallops in and around the village. It has two fully licensed equine swimming pools and the Ridgeway Veterinary Group Valley Equine Hospital. As a result, it has been dubbed the "Valley of the Racehorse", and this is displayed on the road signs leading into the village.^[35]

In 2006 the Jockey Club Estates Ltd bought 500 acres (2.0 km²) of land in the valley, its first investment outside Newmarket, including Mandown and many other gallops and training grounds^[36] The Oaksey House rehabilitation centre for injured jockeys was built in Lambourn in 2008, named after Lord Oaksey, the President of the Injured Jockeys Fund.^[37] In 2013, Mehmet Kurt, the owner of the Kingwood Stud in Lambourn, received permission to build a 1.5 km (0.93 mi) long horse training monorail, the first in the country.^[38]

Some Lambourn Derby winners

• Steve Donoghue on Pommern in 1914, trained by Charles Peck at Sefton Lodge
• Harry Wragg on Felstead in 1928, trained by "Ossie" Bell at Delamere Stables
• Pat Eddery on Grundy in 1975, trained by Peter Walwyn at Seven Barrows House
• Martin Dwyer on Sir Percy in 2006, trained by Marcus Tregoning at Kingwood House Stables

Some Lambourn Grand National winners

• Pat Buckley on Ayala in 1963, trained by Keith Piggott at South Bank
• Willie Robinson on Team Spirit in 1964, trained by Fulke Walwyn at Saxon House
• Tommy Smith on Jay Trump in 1965, trained by Fred Winter at Uplands Stables
• Tim Norman on Anglo in 1966, trained by Fred Winter at Uplands Stables
• Ben de Haan on Corbiere in 1983, trained by Jenny Pitman at Weathercock House
• Marcus Armytage on Mr Frisk, in 1990, trained by Kim Bailey at Old Manor Stables
• Carl Llewellyn on Party Politics in 1992, trained by Nick Gaselee at Saxon Cottage Stables
• John White on Esha Ness, in the void 1993 Grand National, trained by Jenny Pitman at Weathercock House
• Jason Titley on Royal Athlete in 1995, trained by Jenny Pitman at Weathercock House
• Leighton Aspell on Many Clouds in 2015, trained by Oliver Sherwood at Rhonehurst

Notable stables^[39]

• Kingwood House Stables
• Seven Barrows House

Poetry

Lambourn is mentioned in the poetry of Hilaire Belloc and G. K. Chesterton. Georgian poet John Freeman wrote Lambourn Town and 20th century poet Sir John Betjeman wrote Upper Lambourne.

Fiction

• Colin Dexter, The Daughters of Cain (1994), one of the suspects is Ashley Davies, a racehorse owner who has his horses at Seven Barrows in Upper Lambourn.
• Jasper Fforde, Lost in a Good Book (2002); The second of the Thursday Next novels mentions that aliens landing in Lambourn is an urban myth.
• Dick Francis, Reflex (1981); Jump jockey/photographer Philip Nore lives in Lambourn and much of the book's action takes place there. Break In (1985) and Bolt (1986); Steeplechase jockey Christmas "Kit" Fielding is based at Lambourn. To the Hilt (1996); the painter Alexander Kinloch marries Emily at St Michaels Church.^[40]
• Dick Francis and Felix Francis, Silks (2008); the lawyer and amateur jockey Geoffrey Mason investigates a murder in Lambourn.
• Ben Osborne, The Hyperion Legacy (2008) and The Rule of Lazari (2009); the jockey Danny Rawlings is based at Millhouse Stables in Lambourn.
• Patrick Robinson, To The Death (2008); the terrorist General Ravi Rashood drives to Lambourn for target practice in preparation for assassinating the President of the United States.

Television

• Inspector Morse (1996), In The Daughters of Cain Lewis is sent to interview the suspect Ashley Davies at Seven Barrows, which was filmed on Mandown.
• Race Country by Clare Balding, which documents the everyday life of 'The Valley of the Racehorse' and the day-to-day running of some of the country's top stables.