Nearby villages: Farnborough Lambourn Brightwalton Chaddleworth --~-- Other villages in the Berkshire Downs

 

Fawley

Fawley is a small village high in the Downs 3.5 miles east of Lambourn. The centre of the village is around a road junction where there are a handful of older houses and a small new development. There is no village pub but instead there is a small social club housed in a former small thatched cottage.

The village is sometimes known as North or Great Fawley, there being a smaller settlement of South or Little Fawley a mile to the south.

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St. Mary's Church is the parish church in Fawley. The present building was built in the 19th century and replaces a medieval building. The building has a rounded apse and an oddly placed tower in the south wall. The centre arch on the south side is thought to be the original chancel arch from the medieval church, and a pair of capitals were salvaged from the old building. There are also a pair of 12th century stoups (basins for holding water) at the west end of the church.

On the north side of Fawley there is a racing stud.

South Fawley consists of a few cottages, Fawley Manor House and a large farm. The manor house dates from early 17th Century. There are 2 wings to the building, the most recent having been added early in the 20th century. The original building has an embattled tower.

A mile to the south of South Fawley there is a deserted medieval village known as Whatcombe. There is now little to see of the settlement, most of the earthworks having been ploughed over. It is estimated that the desertion occurred between 1450 and 1700. Adjacent to the settlement site is a training stable and a few cottages.

North Fawley is just off the A338, about 4.5 miles south of Wantage.