Checkendon

The parish records exist from the 7th century. The village is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Cecadene (Old English for "Ceaca's hill or hill-pasture"). The parish covers about {{convert|1500|ha|acre}} and lies between {{convert|150|m|ft}} and {{convert|170|m|ft}} above sea level.{{Cite web |url=http://www.checkendon.org/history.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225141523/http://www.checkendon.org/history.htm |url-status=dead |title="Checkendon Village: A Brief History" at checkendon.org |archivedate=25 February 2012}} After World War II Checkendon hosted a National Assistance Board camp for Polish war refugees displaced from Middle East and Africa. The camp, located on the outskirts of Checkendon, was opened in 1948 and offered accommodation in Nissen huts. It was closed in the early 1960s.{{cite book | url=http://www.polishresettlementcampsintheuk.co.uk/checkendon.htm | title=Polish resettlement camps in England and Wales 1946-1969 | author=Zosia Biegus | year=2013 | publisher=PB Software | isbn=978-0-9569934-9-6}}The camp was situated at {{Coord|51.555556|N|1.046944|W|display=inline}}

{{main|St Peter and St Paul, Checkendon}}

The Church of England parish church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul is a 12th-century Norman building. All but one of the windows were replaced later in the Middle Ages with Decorated Gothic and Perpendicular Gothic ones, and the Perpendicular Gothic west tower is also a later addition.{{sfn|Sherwood|Pevsner|1974|pp=533–534}} The building is Grade I listed.{{Cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101180822-church-of-st-peter-and-st-paul-checkendon|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304033827/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-247052-church-of-st-peter-and-st-paul-checkendo/photos|url-status=dead|title=Church of St Peter and St Paul, Checkendon, Oxfordshire|first=Good|last=Stuff|archivedate=4 March 2016|website=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk}} The church has an early 13th-century wall painting of Christ in Majesty above a procession of Apostles. The murals were faithfully repainted when they were rediscovered, but more recently this has been considered over-restoration.{{sfn|Long|1972|p=90}}

The bell tower has a ring of eight bells. Four were cast by Lester and Pack of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1765, two were cast in 1879 by Mears and Stainbank also of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and two more also cast by Mears and Stainbank were added in 1967.[http://www.odgreadingbranch.co.uk/towers/checkendon.html Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers, Reading Branch] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303210256/http://www.odgreadingbranch.co.uk/towers/checkendon.html |date=3 March 2016 }} The turret clock is by Tucker of London, dated 1853."Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Checkendon", guide available at the church, published July 1978 Saint Peter and Saint Paul parish is now a member of The Langtree Team Ministry: a Church of England benefice that also includes the parishes of Ipsden, North Stoke, Stoke Row, Whitchurch-on-Thames and Woodcote.{{Cite web|url=http://www.langtree.org/index.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821012138/http://www.langtree.org/index.htm|url-status=dead|title=The Langtree Team Ministry|archivedate=21 August 2016}} The war artist Eric Kennington (1888–1960), who was churchwarden, is buried here.

Checkendon has a Church of England primary school.[http://www.checkendon-school.co.uk/ Checkendon Church of England Primary School]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Checkendon also has a village green with a playground. The village had two pubs: the 15th-century Four Horseshoes{{Cite web |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/37075|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213904/http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/37075|url-status=dead|title=Geograph:: The Four Horseshoes, Checkendon © Colin Bates|archivedate=3 March 2016|website=www.geograph.org.uk}} within the village and the 17th-century Highwayman[http://thehighwaymaninn-checkendon.co.uk/findus.html The Highwayman] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312215520/http://thehighwaymaninn-checkendon.co.uk/findus.html |date=12 March 2012 }} to the south in the nearby hamlet of Exlade Street. The Four Horseshoes closed and in 2014 the landlord Brakspear was given permission to convert the pub into a post office. This never transpired, however, and in 2018 the pub company successfully applied to convert the property into residential accommodation. The property was eventually sold in January 2022.{{Cite web|url=http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/home/176623/villagers-oppose-plans-for-new-homes-in-grounds-of-former-pub.html|title=Villagers oppose plans for new homes in grounds of former pub|website=www.henleystandard.co.uk}}

There is also the Black Horse public house at Scots Common.{{Cite web|url=https://www.beerintheevening.com/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225551/http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/32/32503/Black_Horse/Reading|url-status=dead|title=Black Horse, Reading, Berkshire, RG8 0TE - pub details|archivedate=3 March 2016|website=beerintheevening.com}} Checkendon has an equestrian centre located on Lovegroves Lane.{{Cite web|url=https://www.checkendonequestrian.co.uk/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303184524/http://www.checkendon.f9.co.uk/|url-status=dead|title=Home|archivedate=3 March 2016|website=Checkendon Equestrian Centre}} Checkendon Cricket Club{{Cite web|url=http://www.checkendon.org/associations.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225141700/http://www.checkendon.org/associations.htm|url-status=dead|title=Checkendon Cricket Club at checkendon.org|archivedate=25 February 2012}} plays in the Berkshire Cricket League First Division.{{Cite web|url=http://berkshirecricketleague.com/public/docs/Fixtures.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104220658/http://www.berkshirecricketleague.com/public/docs/Fixtures.htm|url-status=dead|title=Berkshire Cricket League Fixtures Table|archivedate=4 January 2012|website=berkshirecricketleague.com}}

North of the village, in the 19th-century Wheelers Barn, is Philip Koomen Furniture, producing modern bespoke wooden furniture.[http://www.koomen.demon.co.uk/ Philip Koomen Furniture] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090252/http://www.koomen.demon.co.uk/ |date=4 March 2016 }} The Hook End Recording Studios, where bands such as Marillion, the Cure and the Manic Street Preachers have made albums, are in the manor house at nearby Hook End.{{Cite web|url=https://www.classicpopmag.com/2021/07/making-the-cure-disintegration/|title=Making The Cure: Disintegration - Classic Pop Magazine|website=www.classicpopmag.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.marillion.com/music/albums/seasons.htm|title=marillion.com | Racket Records Store|website=www.marillion.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/gold-against-the-soul-mw0000620198|title=Manic Street Preachers - Gold Against the Soul Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}} Near the edge of the village, on public display, is the statue Nuba Survival by John Buckley, created in 2001.{{cite web|url=http://www.anxioussilence.co.uk/blog/2008/02/16/checkendon-sculpture-the-nuba-embrace/#|title=Checkendon Sculpture – The Nuba Embrace|date=16 February 2008|publisher=anxioussilence.co.uk|access-date=3 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303225114/http://www.anxioussilence.co.uk/blog/2008/02/16/checkendon-sculpture-the-nuba-embrace/|archive-date=3 March 2018|url-status=dead}}

No bus routes serve Checkendon: The nearest bus services are found in Woodcote.

File:Fingerpost at Hook End, in Checkendon, Oxfordshire, England.jpg|Perplexing signpost at Hookend

File:Skeletons sculpture at Checkendon, Oxfordshire.jpg|Nuba Survival by John Buckley (2001)

{{reflist|2}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Long |first1=E.T. |year=1972 |title=Medieval Wall Paintings in Oxfordshire Churches |journal=Oxoniensia |volume=XXXVII |pages=106–107 |publisher=Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society }}
• {{cite book |last1= Sherwood |first1=Jennifer |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author2-link=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=The Buildings of England |title=Oxfordshire |year=1974 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=0-14-071045-0 |pages=533–534 }}

{{Commons category|Checkendon}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060516145305/http://www.langtree.org/checkendon.htm Langtree information] including [https://web.archive.org/web/20140610112014/http://www.langtree.org/checkendon_history.htm History of St Peter & St Paul]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120225141523/http://www.checkendon.org/history.htm Checkendon.org]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170912175240/http://stokerowchapel.org.uk/ Stoke Row Chapel]

{{South Oxfordshire}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Villages in Oxfordshire

Category:Civil parishes in Oxfordshire

Category:South Oxfordshire District