Aldbourne has a long an varied history. There are signs of activity in our area from the mesolithic onwards. Occupation in the village area dates from at least the early Romano-British period. The name Aldbourne is of Saxon origin – possibly meaning Aelda’s Stream. At the time of the Domesday Book it was a larger settlement than Newbury. Industries in the village included bell making, weaving, and chair making. But the fortunes of the village declined after two devastating fires in 1760 and 1777. During the Second World War the village hosted a series of military units, the most famous being the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division which include Easy Company of Band of Brothers fame. A horse racing stables existed in the village during much of the 20th century. In 1971 episodes of Doctor Who were filmed in the village. But here are many more aspects to Aldbourne’s history than can be listed here. You can read or watch more about this history through this website .
Aldbourne Community Heritage Group exists to explore the history of the village and spread that knowledge. We run the Aldbourne Heritage Centre, which is a small museum located next to the Crown Hotel in the centre of the village. Other activities include speaker meetings which are held most months on the 4th Monday of the month in the Methodist Church, these meetings are usually streamed livce via zoom, and recordings also posted to YouTube and Facebook. Members carry out research activities which feed into meets or speak meetings, or even books. We frequently run tours around the village for American visitors folloing the Band of Brothers, also for the school. If you are interested in a tour please do contact us.
If you would like to donate to support us, whether that be general donations, membership, or as a mark of appeciation of our videod meetings, you can use the link below:
