GORING

Many people who have heard of Goring probably associate it with the attractive gap between the Berkshire Downs and the Chilterns known as the Goring Gap. Here the villages of Goring and Streatley stand on opposite sides of the River Thames, Oxfordshire on one side and West Berkshire on the other, linked by a fine bridge which was built in 1923. The beautiful riverside setting and the attractive views of the hills on either side make Goring an extremely attractive village.

The river was first forded by the Romans who built a causeway. The first bridge over the river, a toll bridge, was built upstream of the ferry in 1837. This lasted until the present bridge was built in 1923 and from it you can look down on Goring lock and the weir. The present lock was built in 1921 and was then unusual in that it had an extra pair of lock gates, creating two chambers.This enabled boats to travel faster through the lock and use less water each time the lock was used.

There is also an old mill but this is no longer in use. It is thought that Goring Lock was build by the local miller in the C16 to provide a head of water to drive the water wheel. In Saxon times Goring had a corn mill. Later the mill was used to generate electricity, but now it is now a residence.

Much of the village between the river and the railway line is a conservation area and there are in total 26 listed buildings.

The Church of St Thomas of Canterbury is late C11. The church has one of the oldest bells in the country which was cast about 1290 but is no longer rung. At one time there was an Augustinian priory, which was built adjoining the church, sharing the church with the parishioners. Later the nuns built their own church adjoining St Thomas's.

A barn belonging to the Old Farm House in Station Road is reputed to be C15 and it is thought that parts of the Old Vicarage may be C16. There were, of course, many old buildings in the village but many were demolished in the C20 and small housing estates built where they stood.

There was also a village brewery but this declined and was sold in 1940. The oldest inn is now the Catherine Wheel in Station Road, which may date back to Elizabethan times.

Goring Station was opened in 1840 and this provides the village with easy access by rail to Reading, Oxford and London and is perhaps one of the reasons for the amount of new building that took place during the last century.

Goring Gap has a very active boat club, The Goring Gap Boat Club, which is one of the largest recreational boating clubs in the Thames valley. Goring Gap Boat Club holds the extremely popular annual Goring and Streatley Regatta, which combines fun racing, live entertainment, a fun fair, food, and craft fairs etc.

Goring is about 5.5 miles south of Wallingford.