81-519: The West Berkshire Museum , in Newbury , Berkshire , holds various artworks and collections related to Newbury and West Berkshire. Established in 1904, the museum is housed in two of Newbury's most historic buildings. The Cloth Hall was built in 1627 by Richard Emmes, a master carpenter of Speenhamland for the Newbury Corporation as a cloth factory. Originally part of a larger range of buildings with
162-511: A Liberal Democrat . From 1999 to 2020 Newbury was part of the South East England European Parliament constituency electing MEPs by proportional representation . Newbury was an ancient borough . Its date of incorporation as a borough is unknown; the name implies it was founded as a borough, and the earliest known documentary reference to it explicitly being a borough is from 1189. The earliest known municipal charter
243-432: A National Trust nature reserve. It was also found that areas of the proposed bypass route were home to a rare snail , known as Desmoulin's whorl snail . A public inquiry into the plans was held in 1988, which found in favour of the road. Opponents argued that the decision was flawed and possibly illegal as there was no Environmental Impact Assessment — a legal requirement incorporated into British law two weeks after
324-520: A private finance initiative , and Mary Hare School , a residential co-educational community special needs school for deaf pupils. Independent schools nearby include: Newbury is home to one of England 's major racecourses, Newbury Racecourse , which held its first race meeting in 1905. The most prestigious race in the calendar is the Hennessy Gold Cup , which normally takes place in late November. The Racecourse also frequently plays host to
405-616: A 220-seat theatre, is located just outside Newbury in Bagnor, and the former Greenham Common air force base is home to The Base, a dedicated arts centre which opened in 2019 in partnership with the Corn Exchange and Greenham Trust. Since 1979, the Newbury Spring Festival of classical music has brought internationally renowned soloists and ensembles to a variety of venues in and around the town. The Newbury Comedy Festival emerged as
486-481: A BBC magazine article commemorating the events of 20 years earlier showed 200,000 new trees starting to mature and the mutual respect but not affection between the former protagonists. One of the protesters, Rebecca Lush (since working for the Campaign for Better Transport ) claimed the protest had enabled the incoming Labour government to look at alternatives to building more roads. Musician and activist Julian Cope
567-457: A complicated gyratory system encompassing 6 approaching roads, a fire station, ambulance station and an exit on the inside of the roundabout, which has a north–south flyover across the roundabout. In 2007, the sculpture Couple in Conversation was unveiled on the roundabout, providing a new landmark for one of the major gateways into the town. Other significant roads radiating from Newbury include
648-563: A courtyard in the centre, the building was subsequently used as a workhouse, hospital and school before being used for storing corn from 1829 until its conversion to a museum. The museum itself has exhibition galleries, café and a local history library, along with a Conference room which can be hired. A permanent exhibition tells the story of West Berkshire. From the geology to the stories of people who have lived in West Berkshire; early ancestors, to well known characters like Jack O'Newbury :
729-421: A division of GoAhead, operates route X20, a once-weekly "shopper" service from Marlborough. National Express previously served Newbury, most recently route 402 towards Reading's Mereoak Park & Ride, Heathrow Airport and London, under contract to Newbury & District. The town's location at the intersection of the routes from London to Bristol and from Southampton to Birmingham made it, for many years,
810-613: A further review. On 5 July 1995 Mawhinney announced that the building of the road was to proceed, and then resigned half an hour later. The bypass led to immense protests in an attempt to halt the felling of trees (including mature oak, ash, and beech) and the start of building work. A number of protesters were veterans from the Twyford Down protests over the building of the M3 motorway . Others were students, unemployed people, part-time workers and people taking time off from work to protest. In 1994,
891-469: A local comprehensive school teacher, Helen Anscombe, founded "The Third Battle of Newbury", an umbrella group of organisations against the bypass. The name actually came from a meeting held by local townspeople and was the suggestion of a name by a local historian who cared deeply that the battlefields of the Civil War stayed safe to visitors. Although the majority of local residents were in favour of building
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#1732858124893972-544: A major event in 2004 and played host to comedians such as Alan Carr and Jo Brand , but ended in 2012. Newbury Showground, located to the north of the town centre in Hermitage, is also a major local events venue. Most notably, it hosts the annual Newbury Show every September, an agricultural and farming show which attracts over 50,000 visitors and which returned in 2023 after a 3-year hiatus. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian from
1053-516: A major renovation in summer 2023. It is owned and subsidised by West Berkshire Council but is managed by an external contractor, Parkwood Leisure. Newbury was home to A.F.C. Newbury , with their home ground situated at Faraday Road near the town centre, but the club collapsed after Vodafone pulled its sponsorship of the team in May 2006. A local pub team from the Old London Apprentice took over
1134-608: A match between the Southern Vipers and South East Stars in the Charlotte Edwards Cup . Newbury has two athletics clubs, Team Kennet and Newbury Athletics Club, which train at the Crookham Common Athletics Track. The town is also home to numerous golf courses. The most notable is situated at the historic Donnington Grove estate, built in 1763 and where a golf course was opened in 1993. Victoria Park
1215-703: A minimum of 72 m above mean sea level to 122 m at Wash Common . Elevations reach 150–200 m in the directly adjoining hills. The River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal flow east through the centre of the town to reach the Thames at Reading , while the River Lambourn (beside which is the country's largest horse-training paddocks in the Valley of the Lambourn Downs ) partly forms its northern boundary, ending in
1296-506: A new parish of Newbury, and also to change the district's name to West Berkshire. The new parish of Newbury and its town council were established in 1997. Newbury District Council took over county-level functions from the abolished county council and was renamed West Berkshire Council on 1 April 1998. The twinning ceremonies were held at the Corn Exchange . Newbury is twinned with the following: The Civil Parish of Newbury consists of
1377-609: A nuisance raid, followed the Great Western Railway line running west from London. One of the bombers headed towards Reading while the other followed the line all the way to Newbury. At 4:43pm the bomber dropped eight high-explosive bombs over the town. There had been no time for a warning siren. The Senior Council School, St. Bartholomew's Almshouses, St. John's Church (just the altar was left standing) and Southampton Terrace were all destroyed, and another 265 dwellings were damaged, many of which had to be demolished. St John's Church
1458-630: A return to general economic prosperity. A large Royal Air Force station was established during the Second World War at Greenham Common on the edge of the town. In the 1950s, it became home to US Air Force bombers and tankers , for which it was equipped with the longest military runway in the United Kingdom . In the 1980s, it became one of only two USAF bases in the UK equipped with ground-launched nuclear -armed cruise missiles , causing it to become
1539-511: A series of concerts on race days during the summer, which has included Olly Murs , Craig David , Tom Jones , Rick Astley and Madness in recent years. Northcroft Lido in Newbury's Northcroft Park is one of the last remaining lidos in the United Kingdom. It was originally built in the 1890s, although the current structure was erected in the 1930s. The pool is still in use today and received
1620-460: A transport bottleneck. In 1963 a dual carriageway was built east of the town centre to ease congestion and the opening of the M4 motorway in 1971 moved the intersection of these major trunk routes three miles (five kilometres) north of the town, to Chieveley . The ring road around the town still suffered serious congestion and the Newbury bypass was proposed in 1981. The plans were approved in 1990. The road
1701-619: Is home to the United Kingdoms headquarters of the mobile network operator Vodafone , which is the town's largest employer with over 6,000 workers. Before moving to their £129 million headquarters in the outskirts of the town in 2002, Vodafone used 64 buildings spread across the town centre. As well as Vodafone , Newbury is also home to the United Kingdom headquarters of National Instruments , Micro Focus , Stryker Corporation , Cognito, EValue and Newbury Building Society . The pharmaceutical company Bayer AG are also headquartered in
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#17328581248931782-431: Is inter-related to that of the eastern M4 corridor , which has most of its industrial, logistical and research businesses close to Newbury, mostly around Reading , Bracknell , Maidenhead and Slough . Together with the adjoining town of Thatcham , 3 miles (5 km) distant, Newbury forms the principal part of an urban area of approximately 70,000 people. Newbury is also home to Newbury Racecourse , as well as being
1863-582: Is the A4 road from London to Bristol, historically the main route west from London. This road has been superseded as a long-distance route by the M4 motorway which runs almost parallel and can be accessed three miles (five kilometres) to the north at the Chieveley interchange at Junction 13. At Newbury this east–west route is crossed by a dual-carriageway north–south trunk road, from the major south coast port of Southampton to
1944-630: Is the town's main park, located near the centre of the town, and includes tennis courts, a boating pond, adventure golf course, skatepark and bowling green. The park is frequently used for local events throughout the year, such as the Newbury Waterways Festival in July. Between 2004 and 2011, the Park's bandstand played host to the Keep Off The Grass (KOTG) dance music event. Until 2018, it was also
2025-662: The A339 which now includes the renumbered part of the old A34 through the town centre and then heads towards Basingstoke and the M3 motorway , the A343 to Andover , the B4000 to Lambourn, the B4494 to Wantage and the B4009 to Streatley . Most local bus services were provided by Newbury Buses, a division of Reading Buses until August 2011. Reading buses continue to operate most bus routes around Newbury under
2106-522: The First Battle of Newbury (at Wash Common ) in 1643, and the Second Battle of Newbury (at Speen ) in 1644. The nearby Donnington Castle was reduced to a ruin in the aftermath of the second battle. The disruption of trade during the civil war, compounded by a collapse of the local cloth trade in the late 16th century, left Newbury impoverished. The local economy was boosted in the 18th century by
2187-696: The Greenham Dairy Farm in 1963, and the Faraday Road site in 2002. Additional material was found in excavations along the route of the Newbury Bypass . Newbury was founded late in the 11th century following the Norman conquest as a new borough , hence its name. Although there are references to the borough that predate the Domesday Book it is not mentioned by name in the survey. However, its existence within
2268-601: The Hampshire Constabulary , and private security firms. The road was eventually finished after thirty-four months in November 1998 and now provides a high-speed section of the A34 . It cost £104 million, against an original contract price of £74 million. The Highways Agency blamed the cost blow-out on the protesters. Much of the aggregate used in the by-pass was from the decommissioned RAF Greenham Common . The runway, once one of
2349-472: The Hampshire – Berkshire county boundary. In the suburban village of Donnington lies the part-ruined Donnington Castle and the surrounding hills are home to some of the country's most famous racehorse training grounds (centred on nearby Lambourn ). To the south is a narrower range of hills including Walbury Hill and a few private landscape gardens and mansions, such as Highclere Castle . The local economy
2430-492: The Hannington TV transmitter. There are four main local radio stations broadcasting in the Newbury area; BBC Radio Berkshire ; a community radio station , Kennet Radio; and two Independent Local Radio stations – Greatest Hits Radio Berkshire & North Hampshire (formerly 'Newbury Sound', 'Kick FM', 'Kestrel FM' and 'The Breeze') which broadcasts from Newbury, and Heart South (formerly 2-Ten FM) which broadcasts into
2511-465: The River Lambourn . Protesters in many of the camps claimed squatters rights through use of a Section 6 notice. Another method used by protesters to stop the clearance work was the digging of tunnels, a tactic borrowed from the Viet Cong . A network of tunnels 10 feet (3 m) down was dug at Snelsmore Common in the belief that heavy machinery would not drive over them in case they collapsed, burying
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2592-596: The manor of Ulvritone is evident from the massive rise in value of that manor at a time when most manors were worth less than in Saxon times. In 1086 the Domesday Book assesses the borough as having land for 12 ploughs, 2 mills, woodland for 25 pigs, 11 villeins (resident farmhands, unfree peasant who owed his lord labour services), 11 bordars (unfree peasants with less land than villans/villeins), and 51 enclosures (private parks) rendering 70s 7d. Doubt has been cast over
2673-407: The stocks in Newbury, and probably the UK, was on 11 June 1872 when Mark Tuck was placed in them for 4 hours. In the 1980s, British electronics firm Racal decided to locate their newly formed telecommunications company Racal Vodafone, later Vodafone UK , in the town. In the subsequent decades Newbury became something of a regional centre for the high-tech industries, and the town has since enjoyed
2754-536: The "Newbury & District" brand Stagecoach South operates routes 7 and 7A to Woolton Hill & Andover, and route 32 (formally the 'Link') to Basingstoke. Thames Travel , part of the GoAhead group, operates routes X24 and X34 to Harwell Campus and Didcot, funded jointly between the Harwell Campus and West Berkshire Council's government-issued Bus Service Improvement Plan funding. Swindon's Bus Company, also
2835-496: The Faraday Road ground temporarily and rebranded itself as Newbury F.C. in 2007, which has played in the Hellenic Football League since 2008. The team were forced to leave their home ground at Faraday Road in 2018, with the site remaining derelict since and the team playing in a number of temporary venues, including in nearby Lambourn. However, work began in May 2023 to restore the football ground at Faraday Road following
2916-467: The UK Government abandoned construction plans for a further 77 bypasses across the country. Analysis since the construction of the bypass has shown that instead of the predicted 47% reduction in road deaths due to the new road, there was a 67% increase (from 6 to 10) in the five years after it opened. However, the total number of casualties fell by 32% (from 455 to 311). The same report concluded that
2997-501: The area from nearby Reading. The following local newspapers are distributed in Newbury ( circulation ): A number of notable people have originated from, worked, lived or died in Newbury: Nobles killed at the First Battle of Newbury Newbury Bypass The Newbury bypass , officially known as The Winchester-Preston Trunk Road (A34) (Newbury Bypass) , is a 9-mile (14 km) stretch of dual carriageway road which bypasses
3078-435: The area of the former borough then acted as charter trustees to preserve the town's mayoralty and civic traditions, in the absence of the town having its own town council. In the mid-1990s, the government decided to abolish Berkshire County Council and pass its functions to the county's six district councils, including Newbury District Council. Ahead of the change coming into force, the district council decided to establish
3159-501: The building of the bypass. On 15 February 1996 around 5,000 people from around the UK marched for 2 miles (3 kilometres) along the route from the largest camp at Snelsmore Common to Bagnor in objection to the road. Environmentalists claimed that this was the largest ever single demonstration against road-building in Britain. Two of the marchers were the television presenters Johnny Morris and Maggie Philbin , who lived nearby. The protest
3240-515: The bypass, a sizeable minority were against it. A protest group of local businesses opposed to the building of the road was formed, which named itself 'CAMBUS'. The split of opinion in and around Newbury concerning the building of the road was regularly demonstrated in the lively debate seen in the letters page of the local newspaper, the Newbury Weekly News . Clearance work began on 2 August 1995 when bulldozers demolished six empty buildings in
3321-485: The centre section of the Kennet and Avon Canal , which would extend the Kennet Navigation to Bath , thus providing a through water route between London and Bristol via Newbury. This route was finally completed in 1810. The opening of the Great Western Railway from London to Bath in 1841 effectively killed the canal and coaching trades, and as the line passed some 25 kilometres ( 15 + 1 ⁄ 2 mi) to
West Berkshire Museum - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-574: The collections and maintaining the historic buildings. The museum underwent a £2.2m renovation in 2014 to update its exhibition areas and visitor facilities. The funding came from the Heritage Lottery Fund (£1.2m), and West Berkshire Council , Greenham Common Trust and the Headley Trust (£1m total). Newbury, Berkshire Newbury is a market town in West Berkshire , England, in
3483-580: The company with a special 'downside' award at the first British Mountain Festival held at Llandudno on 17 February 1996. Andy MacNae of the British Mountaineering Council said "Climbers have an enviable environmental record, and the vast majority will be outraged at being associated with actions of this kind." Climber and writer Jim Perrin said "If we, as a community, do not disown and ostracise these mercenaries and renegades, we are undermining
3564-432: The election of a new Liberal Democrat-run local council. Newbury's rugby union club Newbury R.F.C. , founded in 1928, has been based at a purpose-built ground at Monks Lane since 1996. The town has two cricket teams, including Newbury Cricket Club, founded in 1822 and playing at Northcroft Playing Fields, and Falkland Cricket Club, which in May 2023 hosted the first ever professional cricket match in West Berkshire with
3645-423: The existence of Newbury Castle , but the town did have royal connections and was visited a number of times by King John and Henry III while hunting in the area. The first reference to a bridge on the site of the current Newbury Bridge is an account of its reconstruction in the 14th Century . In 1312, King Edward II directed that its bridge should be kept in good order. By 1623, when the bridge collapsed, it
3726-573: The finish line of the Crafty Craft, an improvised raft race along the canal . Newbury's arts scene is primarily centred around the Corn Exchange , a 400-seat auditorium situated in the Market Place which provides a venue for both professional and amateur live performances as well as hosting an independent cinema. English rock band the Who performed at the Corn Exchange in 1966. The Watermill Theatre ,
3807-569: The first factory in England , and the later tale of the Newbury Coat. The latter was the outcome of a bet as to whether a gentleman's suit could be produced by the end of the day from wool taken from a sheep 's back at the beginning. The local legend was later immortalized in a humorous novel by Elizabethan writer Thomas Deloney . Newbury was the site of two battles during the English Civil War ,
3888-465: The ground made from hazel branches covered with tarpaulin known as 'benders'. The first camp was at Snelsmore Common. Around September 1995 a further encampment grew up alongside the Kennet and Avon Canal and the River Kennet . Around October 1995 protesters set up a third encampment at Reddings Copse. By December 1995 there were three further camps at The Chase, Elmore Plantation and Rack Marsh on
3969-608: The industrial centres of the Midlands . Although this route was once served by the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway, today it is only served by the A34 road , which now bypasses Newbury to the west on an alignment partially using the old rail route (see also 'Newbury Bypass' below). Until the completion of the bypass, the A34 and A4 met in the town centre at the Robin Hood Roundabout,
4050-553: The largest in Europe was broken up and removed (except for one centre section) as part of the effort to return the common to its former state. The concrete structures on the bypass received the Concrete Society 's Overall Award for Outstanding Structures in 1999. Following the extensive protests over the construction of the road, environmental concerns became much more of an important issue to civil engineers. The Newbury bypass itself
4131-543: The levels of traffic on the old road had not fallen as much as might have been expected, possibly because of traffic being able to use it for other reasons. In 2006, the Highways Agency defended the scheme from allegations by the Campaign to Protect Rural England that traffic had returned to previous levels: the Highways Agency's rejoinder being that the road had reduced traffic problems in the town. In January 2016,
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#17328581248934212-406: The location of the headquarters of Vodafone and the software company Micro Focus International . The town centres around a large market square and retains a rare medieval Cloth Hall , an adjoining half timbered granary , and the 15th-century St Nicolas Church , along with 17th- and 18th-century listed buildings . There was a Mesolithic settlement at Newbury. Artefacts were recovered from
4293-550: The north it brought no advantage to the town. Newbury had to wait until 1847 to join the railway network, with the opening of the Berks and Hants Railway branch line from Reading to Hungerford via Newbury, and until 1906 to be on a main line, with the opening of the Reading-Taunton line . As a result, Newbury became something of a backwater market town, with an economy based largely on agriculture and horse-racing . The last use of
4374-431: The novel of the same name), Beacon Hill , the southeast's highest point Walbury Hill , and Combe Gibbet . Newbury has two very narrowly buffered settlements, Thatcham (25,267 inh. as at 2011) and Shaw cum Donnington (1,686 inh. as at 2011) forming an identifiable, informal greater Newbury urban and suburban conglomeration. In major use classes 11% of Newbury's land is occupied by roads and as of 2005, 34% of its land
4455-439: The path of the bypass – three houses, a railway signal box, a lodge at Mary Hare Grammar School for deaf children and a prefabricated church near Snelsmore Common . From July 1995 protesters began to occupy the land that was scheduled for clearance, a tactic known as tree sitting , in an effort to stop the felling of trees. Many lived in tree houses , which were also known as 'twigloos', while others occupied home-made tents on
4536-406: The people who have created the towns and villages, roads and canals, fields and farms, industries, pastimes and organisations that forms West Berkshire today. The second floor galleries feature a series of special exhibitions, along with Gallery 5 which can be hired to display original artwork, sculpture and craft. Entry is free but donations are most welcome and go towards adding to and conserving
4617-578: The protesters inside. Evictions of the protest camps, tree felling and undergrowth clearance work begin on 9 January 1996 and conflicts between security guards and protesters were widely reported in the British media. By the following month the number of protesters had increased and there were more than 20 camps along the route of the bypass, with names such as 'Skyward', 'Rickety Bridge', 'Granny Ash', 'Quercus Circus', 'Sea View', 'Babble Brook', 'Radical Fluff', 'Pixie Village' and 'Heartbreak Hotel'. Peter Faulding
4698-665: The reason for our own existence and helping accelerate the destruction of places we hold most dear". On Monday 29 January there was a public meeting at the Waterside Centre in Newbury organised jointly by Friends of the Earth and the Green Party to promote the Road Traffic Reduction Bill. At the meeting, environmentalist and broadcaster Dr David Bellamy addressed the crowd of around 400 people and voiced his opposition to
4779-538: The rise of Bath as a popular destination for the wealthy escaping London 's summer heat and associated stench. Newbury was roughly halfway between London and Bath and an obvious stopping point in the two-day journey. Soon Newbury, and the Speenhamland area in particular, was filled with coaching inns of ever increasing grandeur and size. One inn, the George & Pelican, was reputed to have stabling for 300 horses. A theatre
4860-652: The site of protests by up to 40,000 protesters and the establishment of the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp . With the end of the Cold War , the base was closed, the runway was broken up, much of it used as fill material in building the Newbury bypass , and the area was restored to heathland . This project then saw Greenham and Crookham commons reopened to the public in 2000. On 10 February 1943, two German bombers, Dornier Do 217s from ll/KG40 Bomber unit in Holland, on
4941-428: The site of the bypass route in some way and over 800 arrests were made. The cost of policing the protest (known as 'Operation Prospect' and run jointly by Thames Valley Police and Hampshire Constabulary ) had reached approximately £5 million by December 1996. An additional £30 million was spent on private security guards, security fencing, and security lighting while the works were in progress, of which only £7 million
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#17328581248935022-401: The site of the current Town Bridge has existed since at least the 14th century and the current bridge dates from 1772. As long ago as World War II this north-south traffic was considered to be of sufficient strategic importance that a second temporary bridge, the American Bridge , was built in case the Town Bridge was destroyed in an air raid . The American Bridge continued in use until it
5103-446: The start of the 1988 public enquiry. However, the inquiry decision was made in accordance with legislation at the time. The plans were passed in a closed session of Parliament , after a pro forma hearing, which opponents criticised as a "lack of democracy". The road was originally approved for construction to begin in 1994. However, the then Secretary of State for Transport, Brian Mawhinney , announced that it would be delayed pending
5184-436: The town and the suburbs of Wash Common , The City, West Fields, East Fields and Speenhamland . The modern conurbation of Newbury, however, with close bus and road links and almost contiguous development, may be taken to include the surrounding villages of Speen , Donnington , Shaw and Greenham . Speen, which is now a suburb of western Newbury, is roughly equidistant between Bristol and London . Elevations vary from
5265-481: The town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It is located to the west of the town and forms part of the A34 road . It opened in 1998. Between January 1996 and April 1996 the clearance of approximately 360 acres (150 ha) of land including 120 acres (49 ha) of woodland , and the felling of nearly 10,000 mature trees to make way for the construction of the road, led to some of the largest anti-road protests in European history. Around 7,000 people demonstrated on
5346-404: The town, although in October 2015 the company announced their intention to move to the Green Park Business Park near Reading . Today, Newbury is served by two railway stations, Newbury and Newbury Racecourse , which both are on the Reading to Taunton line. It was also served by the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway until this closed in the 1960s. Following a similar east–west route
5427-445: The town, currently: Brummel Grove, Clay Hill, Falkland, Northcroft, Pyle Hill, Victoria and St Johns. In the 2023 United Kingdom local elections , the Liberal Democrats retained control of the town council, with 21 councillors elected, alongside 2 Green Party councillors. In the House of Commons , the town is in the Newbury constituency . Since the General Election of July 2024 this constituency has been represented by Lee Dillon ,
5508-468: The town. A tributary that is smaller still, the River Enborne , forms the southern boundary (and also the county boundary with Hampshire ). Adjoining the town's south-eastern border is Greenham Common and the famous Newbury Racecourse . Newbury is surrounded on three sides (north, west and south) by the North Wessex Downs . The downland to the south rises steeply out of the river valley providing scenic views, including Watership Down (made famous by
5589-428: The valley of the River Kennet . It is 26 miles (42 km) south of Oxford , 25 miles (40 km) north of Winchester , 27 miles (43 km) southeast of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) west of Reading . It is also where West Berkshire Council is headquartered. Newbury lies on the edge of the Berkshire Downs , part of the North Wessex Downs Area of outstanding natural beauty , 3 miles (5 km) north of
5670-429: Was budgeted for in the original contract. The protest was known in some quarters as the "Third Battle of Newbury", a name which was also adopted by one of the main protest groups. The name was chosen in reference to the English Civil War battles that took place close to the town in 1643 and 1644 . Newbury has been on the route of north-south traffic across the River Kennet since the medieval period . A bridge on
5751-429: Was built and finally opened in 1998. In August 2004, the improved A34-M4 junction was re-opened which allowed north–south traffic on the A34 to completely bypass the earlier roundabout at the M4. This junction continued to be improved, with new road markings and traffic signals completed in 2008. Newbury has three main secondary schools : There is also Newbury College , a further and higher education college, funded by
5832-729: Was built to provide the travellers with entertainment featuring the major stars of the age. In 1795 local magistrates, meeting at the George and Pelican Inn in Speenhamland, introduced the Speenhamland System which tied parish poor relief (welfare payments) to the cost of bread. In 1723, the Kennet Navigation made the River Kennet navigable downstream from Newbury to the River Thames in Reading. Some 70 years later, in 1794, work started on
5913-524: Was built with extra environmental features in an attempt to reduce the impact of the road. The Desmoulin's whorl snail colony, previously located at Rack Marsh in Bagnor , was moved to another location to allow construction of the road to go ahead. However, in July 2006 it was reported that the species had become locally extinct at the new site. Due to the cost of policing the Newbury Bypass construction,
5994-431: Was called in by the authorities to plan and safely remove the environmental protesters from a network of tunnels along the proposed route of the Newbury Bypass. A firm specialising in industrial rope access, Richard Turner Ltd, was hired to provide climbers to evict protesters from the trees. Professional climbers condemned the actions of the company, questioning the safety of the procedures they were using. They presented
6075-568: Was completely rebuilt after the war. 15 people were killed and a further 41 people were injured, 25 seriously. There are two tiers of local government covering Newbury, at parish (town) and unitary authority level: Newbury Town Council and West Berkshire Council . The town council is based at the Town Hall in the Market Place. West Berkshire Council is also based in the town, having its headquarters on Market Street. Newbury Town Council currently has 23 councillors , representing seven wards of
6156-586: Was granted in 1596. The borough covered the same area as the parish of Newbury. It was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , which standardised how most boroughs operated across the country. The municipal borough and parish of Newbury were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , becoming part of the larger Newbury district . The Newbury district councillors who represented
6237-425: Was occupied by domestic gardens. Newbury and its immediate surroundings constitute the major commercial and retail centre of West Berkshire . The local economy is inter-related to that of the eastern M4 corridor which has most of its industrial, logistical and research businesses close to Newbury, Reading and Slough , with smaller industrial estates in the county at Theale , Bracknell and Maidenhead . Newbury
6318-615: Was peaceful and there were no arrests. A national poll published in the Newbury Weekly News (10 March 1996) found that 53% of respondents thought that "work should stop immediately to allow time for alternatives to be tried". Despite the protests, site clearance and road construction proceeded under heavy security provided by the Thames Valley Police led by the Assistant Chief Constable Ian Blair ,
6399-614: Was proposed to bypass the town centre. This route was very controversial because it ran through three Sites of Special Scientific Interest : Snelsmore Common plus the Rivers Lambourn and Kennet; Penn Wood which was part of the North Wessex Downs AONB ( Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty ); the English Heritage registered battlefield site of the first Battle of Newbury during the English Civil War in 1643; and The Chase,
6480-429: Was recorded as being built of wood, being 30 feet (9 metres) in length and 20 ft (6 m) in width, and having shops on it. The bridge was presumably rebuilt, as it is recorded that in 1644 a guard was placed on the bridge. Historically, the town's economic foundation was the cloth trade. This is reflected in the person of the 16th-century cloth magnate, Jack of Newbury , the proprietor of what may well have been
6561-447: Was replaced in 2001, but post-war traffic increases meant that the town centre and its bridges needed by-passing. The first Newbury bypass was built in 1963; however, by the 1980s this in turn proved insufficient to cope with the huge volume of traffic travelling through the Newbury area. In 1981 a new road to be built to the west of Newbury, mainly following the path of the disused Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway railway line ,
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