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.

President - The Lord Remnant
Chairman -
Treasurer/Membership Secretary -
Secretary - Tel: 0118 940 3121
Programme Secretary - Helen Perry
Committee members:-
- Sarah Houghton
- Barbara Sears
- 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.

For more British History background, explore the BBC's Web Pages by clicking here:

Search the reports of meetings for particular topics of interest

If you no longer wish to receive emails from the Wargrave Local History Society, with information such as this, please email secretary@wargravehistory.org.uk to be removed from the circulation list.

Your contact information etc is held securely, used only for administering Wargrave Local History Society membership, or for sending information concerning local history. It will not be given to any other person or organisation without the explicit permission of the person to whom it relates.

CORONAVIRUS -THE SOCIETY REGRETS THAT MEETINGS FROM APRIL 2020 CAN NOT TAKE PLACE, BUT THE TALKS WILL, IF POSSIBLE BE STREAMED LIVE VIA ZOOM, OR BE REARRANGED FOR PRESENTATION AT A LATER DATE.

The dedicated link to access the meeting will be sent a few days before the meeting to those who specifically request it. To indicate your interest, please email us at: info@wargravehistory.org.uk

The Society's Books

Read about and order our books here.

A copy of the Booklet describing four Historic Village Walks can also be downloaded free from Dropbox as a PDF file by clicking on the cover image below:

The Harriette Cooke Smith Photo Albums
In 2009, we 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.

Click this image for information about the wartime crash of a USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress and the Dedication of the Memorial to its crew on 13th Nov 2014

Reports of Recent Meetings:

January 2020 February 2020

March 2020 September 2020

October 2020 November 2020

December 2020 January 2021

February 2021

Reports of previous meetings are held in an Archive

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

Subscriptions: Family £14 ; Individual £10 ;Concessions £9 ; Visitors are welcome - £3 per meeting

2020	ON ZOOM:	TALKS OR EVENTS POSTPONED:
April 14	Thomas Macey	Jackson's of Reading Jackson's Corner was famous as the location of the last family-owned department store in Reading. Former employee and company archivist Thomas will recall its past, with examples from their archive.
May 12	Dr Margaret Simons	Reading in World War I; The Home Front 1914 - 18 Margaret is a renowned local historian, who has made a special study of the effect of the war on the local area, will share some of her discoveries with us.
June 9	Katie Amos	Prospect Park Mansion Reading Library's local studies specialist, Katie, will reveal the history of this grade 2 listed 18th century Regency style mansion house, on the west side of Reading
July 14	Local History Visit	Kennet and Avon Canal We will have a peaceful afternoon journey by barge on the Kennet and Avon Canal from Hungerford to Wire Lock, and return, whilst enjoying a cream tea.
September 8	Joan Dils	Berkshire during the Civil War Joan, the President of the Berkshire Local History Association, makes a return visit, and this time told us about Berkshire during the turbulent times of the Civil War period. .
October 13	Joy Pibworth	Heroes of Woodley Airfield The road names of this part of Woodley are a tribute to interesting and pioneering aviation, and Joy told us of some of the people and aircraft associated with it
November 10	John Painter	Reading Abbey Reading Abbey dates from 1121, and the site has recently undergone a major conservation project. John is the secretary of the Friends of Reading Abbey and co-author of a book about the abbey, and enlightened us about its history.
December 8	Christmas Party	Christmas Party.
2021	ON ZOOM:	TALKS OR EVENTS POSTPONED:
January 12	Simon Wenham	Hobbs Boatyard Simon Wenham who has recently published a book about Hobbs of Henley Boatyard, will give us a presentation on that topic
February 9	Kevin Little	Reading's "Smelly Alley" Kevin Little will talk on 'Smelly Alley and other things of Reading interest'
March 9	A G M	The Annual General Meeting.