Rotherfield Peppard

"ROTHERFIELD-PEPPARD, a parish in the hundred of Binfield, county Oxford, 4.5 miles S.W. of Henley-on-Thames, its post town, and 7 from Reading. It was held in 1225 by William Pipard, from whom it takes its distinguishing name, and afterwards passed to the Botelers, Drayton, &c. The village which is considerable, is chiefly agricultural, but contains a flour-mill and a paper manufactory. The parish is bounded on the E. by the river Thames, and intersected by the road to Reading, also by a road from Nettlebed to Reading. The surface is undulating, and well wooded with about 180 acres of beech-wood. The soil is fertile, producing excellent wheat and grain, upon a subsoil of chalk and flint. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £522, and the glebe comprises 57 acres. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford, value £623, in the patronage of Jesus College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to All Saints, has a wooden tower, supposed to have been built in the reign of Edward I. The parochial charities produce about £8 per annum. There is a free school. The Independents have a place of worship. Near the church is a perennial spring of clear water." [The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]