Basilden or Basildon, a parish in Berks, on the river Thames, and on the G.W.R., 2 1/2 miles SSE of Goring station, and 7 1/2 miles WNW of Reading. Post office at Lower Basildon under Reading. Acres, 3096 of land and 43 of water; population, 675. Basilden Park was the seat of the Viscounts Fane from 1718 till 1766, after which it passed Into the possession of Sir F. Sykes' family till 1838, when it was purchased by the late James Morrison. It contains 400 acres, and is enclosed within a stone and brick wall. The house contains a fine collection of works of art. The railway crosses the Thames a short distance above the church. The parish had two churches at Domesday, and afterwards the right of a weekly market. The existing church is a building of flint and stone, and is supposed to have been built in the reign of Edward II. It was restored in 1875. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; gross value, £163 with residence. There is a Congregational chapel at Upper Basildon. Roman tessellated pavements have been discovered in the parish.
