Tours > Royal County of Berkshire Towns > Faringdon
Faringdon
Faringdon
is more akin to the small Cotswold towns
of Western Oxfordshire than those of
Berkshire. It arguably sits right on the
edge of the Cotswold Hills and the
distinctive regional stone can certainly
be seen around the town.
Faringdon has a
large central market-place (market day
Tuesday) in which pride of place is taken
by the delightful Market Hall: an old
17th century building elevated above open
stone columns. Adjoining, is the well-known Crown
Hotel. Though it looks typically
Georgian, the facade hides a pretty
courtyard with a Jacobean staircase and a
range dating from the 14th century. There
are a number of ancient pubs around and a
good tourist information centre, though
the shops are few.
At the top
of the hill sits the large parish church.
This fine building shows off
architectural features from the many
centuries over which it has evolved,
though much of it is 13th century. It
used to have a soaring spire but this
was destroyed by cannon-fire during the
English Civil War. Treasures include the
splendid South Door with agitated
scroll-work and dragon-head terminations,
the Early Renaissance effigies of Sir
Thomas Unton and his wife (note the
one-tun (barrel) rebus) and several nice
brasses. The heavy monuments to the Pyes
remind us that the churchyard has a
resident ghost, one Hampden Pye who had
his head blown off at sea. The family
lived in Faringdon House, behind the
church. This imposing manor who erected
in 1780 and its gardens are very
occasionally open to the public.
Enquiries should be made locally.
Dominating the town on the
hillside to the east stands Lord Berners'
or Faringdon Folly. This 140 ft high
tower was built for no particular pupose
on a whim of Lord Berners, a later resident of Faringdon House. Built in 1935, it is the most recent folly
erected in the country. It
has an arcaded look-out room at the top
which, though it has no running water or
electricity, is available for hire. The
folly is open to the public on the first
Sunday of each month. It is surrounded by
a pleasant ring of trees on the site of
an ancient hillfort and Norman castle. This makes a popular place for dog-walks and there are steep paths up from the town.
Faringdon
has a good lesiure centre with new indoor
swimming pool and there is the Faringdon
Golf Course just outside the town at
Great Coxwell.
Next Stop:
Abingdon
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