Avington, Berkshire

Avington is a village and former civil parish on the River Kennet in West Berkshire, England. It is now part of the parish of Kintbury.

Avington
Parish church of SS Mark and Luke
Avington Location within Berkshire
OS grid reference	SU3768
Civil parish	Kintbury
Unitary authority	West Berkshire
Ceremonial county	Berkshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Hungerford
Postcode district	RG17 0
Dialling code	01488
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Royal Berkshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Newbury

The village is just under 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of Kintbury village and 2 miles (3 km) east of the town of Hungerford. The Kennet and Avon Canal follows the river and passes the village.

Toponym

The toponym is derived from Old English and means "the enclosure (tūn) of Afa's people". The Domesday Book of 1086 records it as Avintone and a pipe roll from 1167 records it as Avintona.[1]

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of SS Mark and Luke is an 11th-century Norman building. It consists of only a nave, chancel and late 19th-century north transept. The font is a notable piece of Romanesque sculpture and may be Saxon.[2] The south doorway is a Norman arch. The chancel has Norman vaulting and a Norman arch, both with "beakhead" ornament.[3]

A few early Gothic additions to the church were made in the 13th century, including two doorways and a "low-side" window.[3] The church is a Grade I listed building.[2]

References

1. Ekwall 1960, Avington
2. Historic England. "Church of St Mark and St Luke  (Grade I) (1319539)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
3. Pevsner 1966, p. 75.

Bibliography

• Ditchfield, PH; Page, William, eds. (1924). "Avington". A History of the County of Berkshire. Victoria County History. IV. assisted by John Hautenville Cope. London: The St Katherine Press. pp. 21–24.
• Ekwall, Eilert (1960) [1936]. Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Avington. ISBN 0198691033.
• Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 75.

External links

• Avington in the Domesday Book