Eversley - Character

Character

Eversley means 'Wild Boar Clearing' and the boar is the symbol of the village, as shown on the village sign.

The parish contains a number of hamlets : Eversley Village (sometimes called Eversley Street), Eversley Centre, Eversley Cross, Lower Common and Up Green. The historical parish also included Bramshill, a modern civil parish largely covered by plantation forest, but also including the early 17th century Bramshill House. Eversley Centre and Eversley Cross (to the north of Yateley) are contiguous and constitute the main part of the village, whilst Eversley 'village' lies around 1 mile to the north on the A327 road towards Arborfield.

There are a number of other large country houses in Eversley: Firgrove Manor (now apartments), Glaston Hill House (private residence) and Warbrook House (now a Conference Centre). Monuments to their residents can be seen in St Mary's Church, a medieval building mostly rebuilt in the 18th century. The churchyard is the burial-place of Charles Kingsley, who for 35 years was rector of the parish. As you enter the churchyard, Kinglsey's grave is to be found to the left of the path some 10 metres beyond the entrance gate. Kingsley was a significant author and commentator in the 19th century. Among other novels he wrote The Water Babies and Westward Ho!. Kingsley was also a social critic and an early founder of 'Christian Socialism'. One of his poems, "The Bad Squire", may very well be a comment on local social conditions in the mid-nineteenth century, and an attack on the attitudes of local landlords. A copy of the poem can be found in the church. The present incumbent is the Reverend Mike Saunders, who is also Vicar of St. Barnabas, Darby Green.

There are four public houses in Eversley: The Frog and Wicket (formerly called The Cross, before that Le Toad and Stumps, and originally The Lamb), The Golden Pot, The White Hart and The Chequers. The Tally Ho is just over the river in Finchampstead, Berkshire. Eversley Mill is a well-known restaurant and although it also stands north of the Blackwater, the county border deviates from the river to encompass it.