Attractions and Places To See around Cold Ash - Top 20

Rumoured to once have been a medieval hall house or manor before it became a pub. It was built in the 15th century or possibly earlier, It has two rooms, a large panelled tap room with inglenook fireplace and quarry-tiled floor, and a smaller L-shaped room. The bar itself is a servery with sliding glass partitions and hatches, and has no bar fittings at all save for ebony handpumps, which were fitted in 1902. The pub is also notable for having been owned and run by the same family continuously since the 18th century. The pub is a free house and sells beers from a number of local breweries.

This is a fantastic country pub located on the banks of the River Kennet near Woolhampton. The pub has existed since 1850, and serves up a range of delicious dishes as well as cask ales. A great place to stop on a long walk.

Keep doing what you are doing, amazing spot and very welcome

Great food and nice atmosphere

By my reckoning this, at 163m (only), is the highest pub in Berkshire. It also is a lovely country pub with a proper beer garden. And very nice beer - I tried the local "Chairman Dave" which is a very pale hoppy summer treat.

St Mary’s is of considerable historic interest as the only executed work in England by George Jonas Wigley, a significant figure in nineteenth century Catholic life and ecclesiology. While the building is architecturally unremarkable, the west front is an impressive, if quirky design. The interior is altered, but contains furnishings by Pugin and glass by Hardman and Wailes. [...] The present church was built [in 1932] also through the efforts of Canon Dambrine, parish priest from 1829 until his death in 1855. He lies buried in the chapel to the north of the chancel, where there is a memorial tablet to him. The site was given in 1846 by Arthur, Earl of Fingal, and the architect for the new church was George Jonas Wigley, a pupil of J. J. Scoles. It was opened by Bishop (later Cardinal) Wiseman on 11 May 1848. The design of the church is said to have been modelled on the Archbishop’s palace and chapel at Croydon, which Wigley considered to be the last church to be built in Catholic England. Wigley is perhaps now little-known, but he is a figure of considerable interest, and some significance in the Catholic scene of the mid-nineteenth century. Cit. https://taking-stock.org.uk/building/woolhampton-st-mary/

Douai Abbey is a Benedictine Abbey at Upper Woolhampton, near Thatcham, in the English county of Berkshire, situated within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. Monks from the monastery of St. Edmund's, in Douai, France, came to Woolhampton in 1903 when the community left France as a result of anti-clerical legislation. The abbey church is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England. [...] The abbey church was opened in 1933 but only completed in 1993 due to financial constraints. The monastery was greatly expanded in the 1960s with the building of the new monastery designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd. The abbey had in its charge Douai School until the latter's closure in 1999. In 2005, two monks returned to Douai, France to form a community there and restore the historic links to English monasticism. Cit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douai_Abbey

The present church at Yattendon was built in about 1450 by Sir John Norreys of Ockwells Manor & Yattendon Castle. He was the Master of the Wardrobe to King Henry VI and could well afford it. He is remembered by small sculptures at the doorway and the Norreys arms in one of the windows (although this was the geometric arms adopted by his 17th century descendants, not the ravens that he used). [...] The local architect, Alfred Waterhouse, added the porch and vestry in 1881 and the spire fifteen years later. He also heavily restored the rood screen. It just about retains some of the original 15th century woodwork. The staircase to the missing rood loft is a particularly fine example. Yattendon Church is famous for the use of the Yattendon Hymnal which was edited by Waterhouse's son-in-law, Robert Bridges, the poet laureate, in 1899. It is a collection of ancient hymns designed for the use of a village choir and is considered a pioneering landmark in the history of texted English hymns. The building has an interesting array of wall monuments, most of which are not listed in the Buildings of England. Cit. http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/yattendon.html