Twyford

Twyford is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated, in the heart of the Thames Valley on the A4 between Reading and Maidenhead, close to Henley-on-Thames and Wokingham. There are two recreation grounds in Twyford, both owned and managed by the Parish Council.

Twyford was part of the Hundred Hides of Chilcomb granted to the church at Winchester in the seventh century. In 964 King Edgar granted land in Twyford to Winchester Cathedral, and the manor was held by the bishop from the king at the time of the Domesday Survey. Twyford belonged to the See of Winchester until the mid-sixteenth century, when the manor was surrendered to the crown in 1551. Edward VI granted Twyford to his uncle, Sir Henry Seymour who also held the Manor of Marwell in Owslebury Parish at this time. The Manor of Twyford, together with land at Owslebury, was sold to the Mildmay family in 1857.

The River Itchen flows through the parish and has made a considerable contribution to the economy of the manor and the village. The Domesday Book lists four mills at Twyford, and down the centuries the fees from the corn-mills were an important source of income for the bishopric of Winchester. Fishing rights were also a source of income as Twyford was famous for its trout fishing, and tolls were paid at locks and bridges as goods were conveyed by barges up and down the Itchen Navigation. Twyford Common was enclosed in 1855, and one of the chief village industries was brick-making.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744), poet, was sent to school at the age of eight at a house later called Seagers Buildings (demolished 1963).

In 1771 Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American statesman, writer and editor who helped to draw up the Declaration of Independence stayed at Twyford House while he wrote the first part of his Autobiography.

http://www.twyford-berkshire.co.uk

Twyford Contact


Twyford Village Partnership
Kathy Peck

email: tvp@live.co.uk