Beenham

Beenham is {{cvt|2|miles}} north of Aldermaston. The Old Copse is a woodland within the village that is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.{{cite web|url=http://www.beenhamonline.org/design_txt.htm |title=Beenham online Beenham Village Design Statement |publisher=Beenhamonline.org |access-date=2017-02-13}}

The history of the Church of England parish church of Saint Mary begins in about the end of the 12th century.Page & Ditchfield, 1923, pages 277-279 An old print of the original building shows that it had some 13th century lancet windows and a 16th-century window. In 1794 the church was struck by lightning and burnt downPevsner, 1966, page 85 and was replaced with a Georgian building of brick. In 1859 the nave was demolished and replaced by one in the Gothic Revival style designed by the architect Henry Woodyer. The 1794 brick bell tower was retained and has a peal of six bells. The church is a Grade II* listed building.{{NHLE|grade=II*|desc=Church of Saint Mary|num=1303517|date=14 April 1967}}

The following is an extract from the 1870s gazetteer of the British Isles.

"Beenham, or Beenham-Vallence, a parish...adjacent to the Kennet and Avon canal and to the Berks and Hants Railway, 1 ¼. mile N of {{rws|Aldermaston}} station, and 8½ WSW of {{rws|Reading}}. It has a post office...Acres, 1,890. Real property, £2,548. Pop., 505. Houses, 105. The property is much subdivided. Beenham House and Beenham Lodge are chief residences. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford. Value, £250. Patron, Mrs. Bushnell. The church was chiefly rebuilt in 1860. There are a Primitive Methodist chapel and a National School. Stackhouse, the author of the "History of the Bible," was [its] vicar."[http://visionofbritain.org.uk/place/3629 Imperial Gazetteer of Britain] John Marius Wilson (1870-72). (University of Portsmouth visionofbritain.org.uk website). Retrieved 2014-12-03

However, the suffix, Valence, is erroneous and was mistakenly transferred from the manor surrounding Benham Park.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

{{main|The Beenham murders}}

In October 1966 children's nanny Yolande Waddington, age 17, was found dead having been stabbed and strangled in Beenham. Less than six months later, two nine-year-old girls, Jeanette Wigmore and Jacqueline Williams, were found murdered at a local gravel pit. David Burgess, of Beenham, was jailed for life in 1967 for the murder of the two girls and spent more than 25 years behind bars. Waddington's killer was not identified at the time. Burgess subsequently admitted to the crime but challenged the police to "prove it". Following advances in DNA profiling, in November 2011 the 64-year-old Burgess was re-arrested, and subsequently tried and convicted of her murder. He received his third life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years.{{cite news|title=Yolande Waddington: David Burgess guilty of nanny's murder|work=BBC News|date=20 July 2012|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-18861198|access-date=20 July 2012}}{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9420865/David-Burgess-jailed-for-27-years-for-1966-murder-of-Yolande-Waddington.html| title=David Burgess jailed for 27 years for 1966 murder of Yolande Waddington| access-date=11 January 2015}}{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-16077905| title=Soham echoes of Beenham murders| access-date=11 January 2015}}

Beenham has a primary school catering for approximately 60 pupils aged 4 to 11.{{Cite web |title=Beenham Primary School - Compare school and college performance data in England - GOV.UK |url=https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/109802/beenham-primary-school/absence-and-pupil-population |access-date=2025-04-24 |website=Compare school and college performance in England |language=en}}{{cite web| url=http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/establishment/census-data.xhtml?urn=109802| title=Establishment: Beenham Primary School| access-date=12 March 2015}} There is one pub in the village, the Six Bells. The UK Wolf Conservation Trust is based at Butlers Farm, Beenham, the wolves can be heard howling within a three-mile radius.{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/outdoors/7741761/Wolf-project-is-a-howling-success.html| archive-url=https://archive.today/20150117122235/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/outdoors/7741761/Wolf-project-is-a-howling-success.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=17 January 2015| title=Wolf project is a howling success| access-date=12 January 2015}}

Bus routes 41 and 44 connect the village with Thatcham and Calcot.

• List of civil parishes in Berkshire
• List of places in Berkshire

{{reflist|2}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |editor1-last=Page |editor1-first=William |editor2-last=Ditchfield |editor2-first=P.H. |editor2-link=Peter Ditchfield |title=Victoria County History: A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 3 |year=1923 |pages=277–279}}
• {{Cite book |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |author-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |title=The Buildings of England: Berkshire |year=1966 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |pages=85–86}}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.beenhamonline.org/ Beenham Parish web site]
• [https://www.beenhamprimary.co.uk/ Beenham Primary School]

{{Commons category-inline|Beenham}}

{{West Berkshire}}

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Category:Villages in Berkshire

Category:West Berkshire District

Category:Civil parishes in Berkshire