- Mortimer Common
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Coordinates: 51°22′37″N 1°03′47″W / 51.377°N 1.063°W
Mortimer Common 
Church of St.John the Evangelist, Mortimer
Mortimer Common
Mortimer Common shown within BerkshirePopulation 5,089 [citation needed] OS grid reference SU6565 Parish Mortimer Common Unitary authority West Berkshire Ceremonial county Berkshire Region South East Country England Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town READING Postcode district RG7 Dialling code 0118 Police Thames Valley Fire Royal Berkshire Ambulance South Central EU Parliament South East England UK Parliament Wokingham List of places: UK • England • Berkshire Mortimer Common, generally referred to as Mortimer, is a village in the civil parish of Stratfield Mortimer in Berkshire. Mortimer is in the local government district of West Berkshire and is seven miles south-west of Reading.
Contents
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.
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.
Mortimer Common Barrows. Holden's Firs Barrows, Barrow Cemetery
Sport and Leisure
Mortimer has several senior football teams including Mortimer FC and Victoria Arms Reserves FC as well as two youth football teams; Mortimer Stingers and Mortimer Hornets.
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.
On taking over from Sewards Supermarket, Budgens also took over the tradition of arranging the annual 'fun run', a 10 kilometer race around the village, which generally takes place on the last Sunday of September. The central Common grounds are also used for travelling funfares.
Amenities
Mortimer has a village hall, a surgery, a chemist, a dentist, a bank (Natwest), a library, a post office, a fire station, and a community police station.
In terms of shops and restaurants and other amenities Mortimer offers a hair-dresser, a gift shop, a travel agency a hardware store (Dads Shop), a Budgens supermarket (formerly Sewards), a newsagents McColls (formerly Forboys), The Loon Tin Chinese take away, The Cinnamon Tree Indian restaurant, a café, and two estate agencies.
Mortimer has three public houses: The Victoria Arms, The Turners Arms and The Horse and Groom.
There are four churches including a Methodist churst, St. Saviours Church, and the Church of England parish church of St John the Evangelist. Next to the church is St John's Infant School, being one of the two schools in Mortimer
Notable people
- Herbert St Maur Carter D.S.O., M.D., R.A.M.C. officer and surgeon who was decorated by the British and Serbian governments.
- Jonathan 'Mad John' Phethean (died October 2003)
- Legless Bob (formerly one legged Bob, (formerly Bob))
External links
- Victoria Arms Reserves FC
- Mortimer Hornets FC
- Mortimer Dramatic Society
- Mortimer Village Website
- Royal Berkshire History: Stratfield Mortimer
Categories:- Villages in Berkshire
- West Berkshire
- Civil parishes in Berkshire
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