In the west of West Berkshire, south-west of Newbury, on the Berkshire-Hampshire border, the parish covers, having lost territory in a boundary change of 1991. The village contains scattered settlements such as Ash Tree Corner, Chapel Corner, Holtwood and Irish Hill. There is a 14th-century church, a village hall, a Dogs Trust canine rescue kennels and the Organic Research Centre at Elm Farm. The White Hart, Hamstead Marshall's pub for several centuries, closed in 2014. The owner has had two planning applications turned down. Following the second refusal, the owner appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, but this appeal was refused in June 2018. The pub reopened in 2019 but closed after eight months and is reopening again, part time.
History
Hamstead Marshall has three sites of medieval motte-and-bailey castles, all on private land, with one a possible site of Newbury Castle. All are registered historic monuments. William Marshall, who became Earl of Pembroke, was a loyal knight to four kings: Henry II, Richard I, King John, and Henry III of England and this is when the Marshall suffix was added to the village. The manor continued to be owned and used by kings and queens throughout the centuries, until it was sold in 1613. The village was from 1620 until the 1980s the seat of the Earls of Craven. William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven built a mansion there, originally intended as a residence for Charles I's sister, Elizabeth of Bohemia, although she died before construction began. It burnt down in 1718. The Cravens later expanded a hunting lodgeto live in instead, and this still stands, privately occupied, in the centre of Hamstead Park. Until the mid-twentieth century the Craven family owned most of the village, but successive sales by the estate have made owner-occupancy slightly greater than the proportion of rented property.
Geography
The village landscape comprises farmland, woodland and parkland. No A or B roads dissect this but Hamstead Marshall has bus services. The river Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal pass through the northern edge of the village, and the river Enborne marks the southern boundary. About half the property pre-dates 1900, and 32 buildings or structures such as walls are listed under the national planning law and conservation legislation. The village has four areas designated sites of Special Scientific Interest, these are Hamstead Marshall Pit, Irish Hill Copse, Redhill Wood and the River Kennet.
