The Object of the Society is to provide a common meeting ground for the study and discussion of, and research into, history in general, and of the local area in particular.

Please note that from September 2011, meetings are being held in
The Pavilion, Wargrave Recreation Ground.

President - The Lord Remnant
Chairman - Peter Halman
Vice Chairman - (Vacant)
Treasurer/Membership Secretary -
Secretary - Tel: 0118 940 3121
Programme Secretary - Helen Perry
Committee members:-
- David Ball
- Sandra Foster
- Lynda Mills
- Mary Owen
- Wendy Smith

We are happy to try and respond (in our own good time!) to requests for information about people and places in the history of Wargrave parish. Please email us at:

Please send any queries regarding this website to Email :

The Society supports the work of the Wargrave Heritage Trust

The Society is affiliated to the Berkshire Local History Association. and is a member of the British Association for Local History. We are also linked to the BBC's Legacies Local History Project

Search the reports of meetings for particular topics of interest

The Society's third book was published on Saturday 25th June
Price £9.95
Read about and order our books here.

The "Bird Collection" of Postcards

The Society has acquired the 'Bird Collection' of postcards of the village. This collection, assembled by lifelong Wargravians, Derek Bird, the Society's first Chairman, and his mother Ruth, shows many aspects of the village over the 20th century. As part of the Society Archive, it is now secured for posterity for the village.
The Harriette Cooke Smith Photo Albums
We have also in 2009 acquired three albums of photographs which feature (inter alia) scenes of Wargrave from the 1870s belonging to Harriette Cooke Smith - see some images here.

We are always interested in adding to our collection of pictures, documents, books, maps etc relating to Wargrave, so if you have anything that you think may be of interest, please contact us.

Reports of Recent Meetings:

December 2010 January 2011

February 2011 March 2011

April 2011 May 2011

July 2011 September 2011

October 2011 November 2011

December 2011 January 2012

Reports of previous meetings are held in an Archive

Meetings take place at 8 p.m. in
The Pavilion on the Recreation Ground
(Click for a map)

Subscriptions: Individual £9 ; Family £12 ; Concessions £8 ; Visitors are welcome - £3 per meeting

2011
April 12	Tony King	The Old Bath Road Tony returned to give us another of his presentations, this time taking us on a journey along the historic Old Bath Road from London as far as Reading.
May 10	Gerry Westall	Suttons Seeds Gerry was a long term employee of Suttons Seeds, and showed us two films about the work that went on there - one of the 3 ‘B’s’ of Reading.
June 12		Village Festival - Historic Village Walks Once again, as part of the Wargrave Village Festival, the Society will be offering a chance to walk the historic centre of the village, and hear about the people, places and events of time past.
July 5	Local History Visit	Stonor House This year we had a private guided tour of Stonor House - a fascinating collection of medieval buildings behind a Georgian facade in Oxfordshire, and home of the Camoys family for 850 years.
September 13	Peter Smith	The Royal State Coaches Peter has made detailed scale models of the Royal State Coaches, and uses these to illustrate the characteristics and uses of these magnificent carriages.
October 11	Geoff Brooks	Memories of Cockpole Green Geoff was born and brought up in Cockpole Green, and shared some of his memories of time past in this part of our parish.
November 8	Derek Brown	Consuta Derek told us about the work of the Consuta Trust, of which he is a trustee which has restored to working condition the old steam launch built to umpire rowing races at The Henley Royal Regatta.
December 13	Christmas Party	Christmas Party
2012
January 10	Rob Needham	Wargrave Bells and Bellringing Rob is involved with bell ringing locally, and told us about the history of the Wargrave church bells and the art of bellringing.
February 14	Marion Pope	Memories of my time in Wargrave Marion has long been involved in village life - from Scouting to the Bowls Club, and her long service on the Parish Council, and will recount some of her memories of village life, and how it has changed, over that time.
March 13	A G M	The Annual General Meeting