Things to do in Aldermaston
Aldermaston is a street of old cottages running down to a twelfth century church, with the Kennet and Avon Canal a mile off at the Wharf. It's the smallest of the villages here, and it has a show that's run since the war.
Out and about
Free, and nobody to book with.
St Mary the Virgin
A twelfth century church with wall paintings from three different periods and the alabaster tomb of Sir George Forster and his wife, from about 1530. It's normally locked outside services, and the history group opens it with stewards for Heritage Open Days in September.
Their page on EveryVillageThe village lock-up
A one room brick cell with a shallow domed roof and a studded door, listed Grade II, a few yards north of the Hind's Head. You can see it from the pub garden.
The Street
Walk the length of The Street for the cottages, several of them listed. Numbers 42 and 43 were one timber framed house in the late sixteenth century, and 36 and 37 are seventeenth century behind an eighteenth century front.
Nearby, Aldermaston Lock and the Wharf
A mile north in Padworth parish, where the canal crosses the Bath Road. The lock is one of only two on the Kennet and Avon with scalloped brick walls, there's a lift bridge over the road, and the towpath from the wharf is wide and level enough for a wheelchair. Five minutes from Aldermaston station.
Their websiteNearby, Padworth Common
Heath and woodland looked after by the Wildlife Trust, open at all hours, and in the trust's words one of the best places in Berkshire for nightjars on a summer evening.
Their website
Worth a visit
The places in the village with a door you can walk through.
The Hind's Head
The Fuller's inn on Wasing Lane, listed Grade II, with the old lock-up in view of its garden. The history group holds its talks in the Officers Mess here.
Their page on EveryVillageNearby, the tea rooms and visitor centre at the Wharf
The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust's cottage by the lock has a tea room with a garden and, in the old wash house, a small museum of life on the canal.
Their website
Join in
Clubs, markets and the dates the village keeps every year.
Aldermaston History Group
Four talks a year, 7.30pm at the Hind's Head
Founded in 2018, with a website of the village's history and talks four times a year in the Officers Mess at the Hind's Head. The group also stewards the church for Heritage Open Days.
Their websiteThe Aldermaston and Wasing Show
Early September, at the Old Mill
A produce show that began as a Dig for Victory show in the war and never stopped, with crafts, arena events, a dog competition and a thousand plastic ducks racing down the mill stream.
Their website
Compiled by us from what each place and organisation publishes, and checked against it. We don’t rate anything, and nobody paid to be here. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Read on Aldermaston History Group, the church, Historic England, the lock-up, Historic England, 36 and 37 The Street, Canal and River Trust, Aldermaston Wharf, The Wildlife Trusts, Padworth Common, Aldermaston History Group, events, Aldermaston History Group and Aldermaston and Wasing Show.