Heritage Centre
Boxford Parish Room & Heritage Centre
This little building situated to the rear of the churchyard is now well and truly open.
There is an ongoing project to display and catalogue the many Boxford artifacts - photos, maps, books, files - kindly donated by many in the village and further afield over several years; as well as Roman finds from the excavation in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
For those new to the village, this building replaces the Victorian Parish Room located on Glebe land which collapsed in 2009 in a snow storm and followed the wishes of the parish in the 2008 Parish Plan to turn the building into a Heritage Centre. The building has largely been funded by the Payne-Gallwey Trust in memory of Sir Phillip Payne Gallwey, a previous churchwarden of St. Andrew’s Church and his mother Mrs. Janet Payne Gallwey, an active member of all village organisations. There have however, been significant and generous donations from other members of the community and the support of the Greenham Common Trust, West Berkshire Council and Boxford Parish Council.
It is manned by volunteers by appointment, for those involved in local history or family research. It will also be available for schools who have also expressed an interest in using the contents for history projects. There will be no charge for admission to Boxford residents past or present. We look forward to welcoming you.
Boxford History Project team (BHP)
boxfordhistoryproject@gmail.com
The old Parish Room (left above) was an early Victorian building on glebe land adjacent to the churchyard, originally used as a schoolroom and later as a meeting room for Parish Council meetings and social evenings. The old building collapsed under snow in 2009.
A Diocesan Faculty and Planning Permission were granted for the rebuilding of the Parish Room as a local Heritage Centre. A large and generous donation from the Payne-Gallwey Charitable Trust enabled the project to get off the ground. A plaque in memory of Sir Philip Payne-Gallwey, a long serving Churchwarden of St. Andrew’s Church and for his mother Janet Payne-Gallwey, a most energetic and supportive Boxfordian, was subsequently approved. Other generous donations for the building came from the Greenham Common Trust (GCT), The David Lewin Memorial Fund, Boxford Parochial Church Council and a West Berkshire Council Parish Plan Grant and several donations were made through the GCT.findmeagrant.
The new building (above right) is now complete. It has become a storage and display room for local artefacts and parish documents. There is a vast amount of parish information currently held by individuals which will be available for information and research by all. One of the most important recent additions, are the finds from the Roman villa discovered in 2013. This museum will be the only one to hold these finds.
Furniture for the Parish Room has been funded by another generous donation through GCT. findmeagrant in memory of Graham Luff. If anyone has any contacts with knowledge of displaying or archiving, would they please contact Joy Appleton 01488 608422 or church@boxford.org.uk
The Parish Room will also be available for small meetings. Please contact the verger Joy Appleton.