Burghfield, Berkshire

Description
Burghfield or Burfield, a parish in Berks, on the river Kennet, 2 1/2 miles SE of Theale station on the G.W.R., and 5 SW of Reading, under which it has a post and telegraph office; money order office, Burghfield Common. Acreage, 4309; population, 1327. Part of the land is common. A bed of sand and cockle shells, a foot thick, under soft stone was found at Hose Hill. Culverlands and Highwoods are country seats here. Burghfield Common, Burghfield Hatch, Sheffield Bottom, and Pingewood are hamlets in this parish. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net yearly value, £814 with residence, in the gift of the Earl of Shrewsbury. The church, rebuilt in 1843, is a large Romanesque cruciform structure with apse; a chancel was added in 1892. There are also Primitive Methodist and Wesleyan chapels, three almshouses, and some small charities.