Holiday accomodation Hungerford

You might find this local information useful. Hungerford's most important day is Tutti-Day

some history of Hungerford Hungerford's most important day is Tutti-Day (the second Tuesday after Easter), which marks the end of the financial and administrative year. The Bellman (who is also Town Crier) summons the Commoners to the Court, while the two Tutti-men work their way around the town, visiting every house with common rights, numbering nearly 100 in total. In the past they would have collected the 'head penny' from each householder, but nowadays the most they collect is a kiss from the ladies of the house, and a little hospitality to help them on their way. In Court the officers are elected for the coming year, the accounts are read and agreed, and a number of other matters are discussed concerning the affairs of the Town and Manor. In 1908 the Town and Manor became a registered charity, and is thus responsible to the Charity Commissioners. The present trustees arid court have a considerable responsibility, managing the Town Hall, the John of Gaunt Inn, the Common, Freemen's Marsh, as well as the extensive fishing in the Rivers Kennet and Dun.

Hungerford became quite a stopover for troops. The year prior to the Second Battle of Newbury had seen the First Battle. Parliamentarian soldiers were stationed in the town not long before. Having had a clash with Prince Rupert's men at Aldbourne Chase, several of the wounded died in Hungerford and their burials are recorded in the parish register. Troops of Essex and Manchester were again in the town before the Second Battle and the Hampshire Militia was stationed there before they were called to join Cromwell after the Battle of Worcester.

The parish of Hungerford lies at the south-west corner of the county, and some portions of it-North Standen, South Standen and Charnham Street-were formerly in Wiltshire, but were transferred to the administrative county of Berkshire in 1895. (fn. 1) In 1894 the tithing of Leverton and Calcot, which, though in the Berkshire hundred of Kintbury Eagle, was in the Wiltshire parish of Chilton Foliat, was included in the civil parish of Hungerford, though it remains in Chilton for ecclesiastical purposes. (fn. 2)

The parish was formerly divided into four tithings: Hungerford or Town, Sandon Fee, Eddington with Hidden and Newtown, and Charnham Street. It contains 6,729 acres, of which 3,387 are arable, 1,403 permanent grass and 721 woods and plantations. (fn. 3) The chief crops are wheat, barley, and oats, and there are extensive water meadows. All the land south of the Kennet was formerly included in Savernake Forest.

The highest land is in the north and south, where heights of 500 ft. above the ordnance datum are reached. From these points the land falls to the Kennet Valley. The Rivers Dun and Kennet meet below the town, and the parish is drained by these streams and the Shalbourne Brook, which enters the Dun above the town (fn. 4) ; the south-east part of the parish drains into a brook, which, rising at Inkpen, disappears near Hungerford Park. The parish was inclosed under an Act of 1810-11, the award being dated 16 June 1820 From: 'Parishes: Hungerford', A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 4 (1924), pp. 183-200. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62700 Date accessed: 14 March 2011.

Hungerford is not mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 but records exists showing it was definitely established by 1173. By 1241 it had attained the status of a borough. The town was known as Hungerford Regis in the 13th century, meaning 'Royal' Hungerford, the town was passed from the King to the Dukes of Lancaster. Late in the 14th century John of Gaunt, the lord of the manor and Duke of Lancaster, granted the townspeople the lucrative fishing rights on the River Kennet.

The Bear Hotel in Charnham Street was a hospice that dated back at least to 1464. Historians have speculated that it was connected with the Hospital of St. John, established in the same area by King Henry III . When Queen Elizabeth I visited the inn it is recorded that her coachman unfortunately died while staying there, although the cause of his death is unclear.