Mortimer Common

History and Name

Historian David Nash Ford believes the name Mortimer stems from the Lords of the Manor, the Mortimer family, a powerful magnate family and the Earls of March from Wigmore, Herefordshire. The family were given the manor, along with Wigmore Castle by William I shortly after the Norman Conquest and held it throughout the Middle Ages, as recorded in the Domesday Book. Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March was for three years de facto ruler of England after leading a successful rebellion against Edward II, before being overthrown and executed in 1330 by Edward III, with his lands (including Mortimer) seized by the crown. The Mortimers came close, during the reign of Richard II, to the English throne again, but the claims of the family were ignored and the throne was vested in Henry IV instead.

During the Tudor period Mortimer was one of the lands granted to each of the wives of Henry VIII.

There are several Bronze Age burial mounds in the area. Excavations at one have shown that it was later used for burials when the Anglo-Saxons moved into the area.

In 1976 Princess Anne visited Mortimer as part of a horse display at Mortimer Fairground.

Geography

Mortimer stands at the top of Mortimer Hill, at the bottom of which is Stratfield Mortimer. To the North lies Burghfield Common and Wokefield. To the West lies Mortimer West End and Padworth Common. The Lockram Brook flows through the middle of the parish and joins into Burghfield Brook further to the Northeast, this in turn feeds into Foudry Brook, a tributary of the Kennet and Avon Canal. There is much woodland in the area, including Starvale Woods, Wokefield Common and Holden Firs.

The three main roads in Mortimer are The Street, West End Road and Victoria Road.

Amenities

Mortimer has three village halls (The Community Hall, St. John's Hall and the Methodist Hall), a surgery, a chemist, a dentist, a bank (NatWest), a library, a post office and a fire station.

In terms of shops and restaurants and other amenities Mortimer offers a Budgens supermarket (formerly Sewards) which now houses the Post Office counter, McColl's newsagents (formerly Forboys), Lloyd's chemists, a hardware store (Dad's Shop), various hairdressers/barbers, a photographic studio and picture framers (DARA Portraits), a travel agency, a second hand car dealer (Spratley's of Mortimer), a gift shop and two estate agents.

Mortimer boasts three pubs: Horse and Groom in The Street opposite Mortimer Fairground, Victoria Arms in Victoria Road and The Turner's Arms in West End Road. Furthermore, there is the Cinnamon Tree Indian restaurant near Mortimer Station, the Loon Tin Chinese take away and the Bakery Café.

There are four churches in Mortimer: The Church of England parish church of St John the Evangelist, St Mary the Virgin, Mortimer Methodist and St.Saviours (in Mortimer West End). Next to St John's church is St John's Infant School, serving reception and years 1 to 2. Next to St Mary's church is St. Mary's school fed by St John's and serving years 3 to 6 inclusive.

Transport

Bus travel from Reading is provided by Reading Buses services 2 and 2a. Mortimer railway station, on the Reading to Basingstoke Line, is in the nearby village of Stratfield Mortimer. But, as of April 2016, the school bus which has provided so many children the access to get to school on time, will no longer exist due to council cuts.

Sport and leisure

Mortimer Village Partnership (MVP) is an independent not for profit organisation that was set up by volunteers in 2009. The purpose of MVP is to involve people and groups in the life of the village, to improve communications, to connect people together and facilitate activities and events in order to enhance the lives of those who live and work in Mortimer and nearby. Several events are organised annually. including a regular lunch club, theatre trips, travelling theatres, events for children and the famous annual Mortimer Fun Day in July which attracts thousands of visitors from all around. In 2014 the group was awarded The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service and it continues to recognise the hundreds of volunteers annually by presenting them with a certificate and the addition of their name into a book of honour.

Mortimer has several senior football teams including Mortimer FC as well as two youth football teams; Mortimer Stingers and Mortimer Hornets. Mortimer Football Club was founded as the Mortimer Garth Club by Miss Bertha G. P. Capron of Garth House (and later of Little Garth), Mortimer. Miss Capron also paid for the construction of a hall for the Garth Club, known as the Garth Hall, in 1915. Miss Capron (1863-1954) was the eldest daughter of the Rev. George Halliley Capron of Southwick Hall and Stoke Doyle, Northamptonshire, and settled in Mortimer with her unmarried sisters after her brother inherited the Southwick estates in 1909.

Mortimer FC is currently in the Reading Football League Senior Division, in tier 11 of the football pyramid. Mortimer has won the League four times; in 1993-4, 1994–5, 1996–7 and 2001–02.

Mortimer has amateur cricket and tennis clubs, cubs, scouts, girl guides and brownies clubs as well as the Mortimer Dramatic Society. A community centre was completed in the autumn of 2009, which is used as a cricket pavilion. The fairground is also used for travelling funfares.

On taking over from Sewards Supermarket, Budgens also took over the tradition of arranging the annual 'fun run', a 10 kilometre race around the village, which generally takes place on the last Sunday of September.

In 2013, volunteers from the village established Mortimer Music Live, an organisation to promote and host live music in the village.

Notable people