Most of the history of Calcot is associated with Calcot Park, the manor house of Tilehurst. In the medieval period, the manor near the church had been a monastic grange of Reading Abbey. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it was eventually sold to Sir Peter Vanlore, a Dutch banker working in London, who leant a vast fortune to King James I. He probably built the first Tudor mansion at Calcot. The house later passed to the Zinzans, a family of master-horsemen, who may have altered or rebuilt the house at the end of the 17th century. There is an interesting old story about this mansion which, by the 1690s, had come into the hands of Sir William Kendrick. His eldest daughter and chief heiress was the celebrated 'Berkshire Lady'.

The real name of the gentlewoman was Frances Kendrick. She was an extraordinary woman who could ride, hunt, shoot and fence as well as any man. She was also extremely beautiful and her suitors were many. However, she had her sights set on a poor barrister named Benjamin Child who had, unfortunately, taken little notice of her. So she sent him an anonymous letter challenging him to a duel. The confused lawyer arrived at the rendezvous expecting to find some hot-headed dandy. Instead he was faced by a masked lady with a rapier pointing his way. She then posed him the question: "Fight or marry me?" After some deliberation, Benjamin accepted her proposal. He was whisked off to Wargrave, where the two were quickly wed. It wasn't until afterwards, on arrival at Calcot, that Benjamin discovered the identity of his new bride.

The two later fell deeply in love and, when Frances died, her husband could not bear to stay at Calcot Park alone. He sold the house to Sir John Blagrave but subsequently found that he could not bear to leave either. The Blagraves had to strip the lead from the roof to literally flush him out. However, the weather did so much damage that they were forced to totally rebuild the mansion (1755) as we see it today. In 1929 when the estate was converted into a golf course. The house is now private residential flats.

Read more history of Calcot and other nearby settlements, like Horncastle & Battle, in David Nash Ford's book, 'Mid-Berkshire Town and Village Histories'. Click to Order direct from the Author.

 

NEW BOOK Whether you are from Mid-Berkshire or just visiting, this book is the place to find out all about the history of some 113 different towns, suburbs, villages and hamlets in the Boroughs of Reading and of Wokingham and the eastern portion of the District of West Berkshire. From Streatley to Padworth and Ruscombe to Finchampstead, join David Nash Ford from berkshirehistory.com in his second volume examining the structures, people and events that have shaped each place. Some of these histories were first published in part here on this website, but they have all been considerably expanded and are joined by many new histories of places often missed by historians, including those which only joined Berkshire in 1911 or later. Click for full details and purchase options.