Wallingford Bridge

Wallingford Bridge by Samuel Ireland

Wallingford Castle

Wallingford Castle from Bygone Berkshire, by P.H. Ditchfield; Wallingford Castle plan from The early Norman castles of the British Isles by Ella S. Armitage

Wallingford Castle was built between 1067 and 1071 by Robert D'Oilly on orders from William the Conqueror. It was strengthened by Brien FitzCount before the wars between King Stephen and Empress Matilda. FitzCount established a prison within the castle, called Cloere Brien. Ealdred of Abingdon, Edward I, Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley, Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester, Owen Tudor, Margaret of Anjou and Judge David Jenkins were all imprisoned here. It was described as "most securely fortified by impregnable walls". King John added further to the castle, and Richard of Cornwall spent substantial sums on it: during the 13th century it gained two further walls and ditches. It fell into decline in the 16th century, but in the 17th century, it was strengthened again for supporters of Charles I during the war with Oliver Cromwell. It was the last English stronghold to surrender during the civil war, and Cromwell later ordered it to be destroyed (in 1652). The site was a meeting-place for non-conformists such as Edward Stennett later in that century. A gothic house, built on the site in Victorian times was demolished in 1972. The grounds are now open to the public.
The constables of Wallingford Castle included the following: Robert D'Oilly; Miles Crispin; Maud Crispin; Brien FitzCount; Nigel D'Oilly; Eleanor of Aquitaine; Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent; Richard Fitz Roy; Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester; Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall; Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester; Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall; Piers Gaveston; Hugh the younger Despenser; ; Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March; John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall; Sir John Stonor; Edward, the Black Prince; Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford; John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset; William le Scrope, 1st Earl of Wiltshire; ; Thomas Chaucer; William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk; Alice de la Pole; John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk; Richard Grey; Francis Lovell, Viscount Lovell; Arthur, Prince of Wales; Henry Norreys; Francis Knollys (the elder); Henry Knollys; William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury; Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire.

http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/wallingford_cast.html
Artist's impression of the castle
http://www.earlrivers.org.uk/images/Wallingford%20Castle.gif
http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_south/175/wallingfordcastle.htm
http://www.le.ac.uk/ar/njc10/wallingford_project/index_files/Page564.htm
Timelines – Wallingford Castle
http://www.btinternet.com/~timeref/hpl1348.htm
http://www.btinternet.com/~timeref/hpr68.htm
http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/2974.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/walk_through_time/pop_up_maps/castle.shtml
http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=249217
http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=1&id=249227 Wallingford Castle

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=34080&strquery=Wallingford

Castle meadows
Management plan
http://www.southoxon.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/download/asset/?asset_id=488327
http://www.northmoortrust.co.uk/home/countryside/wallingford

Wallingford Town Defences

Wallingford Saxon defences from The early Norman castles of the British Isles by Ella S. Armitage; Sections of defences by Rev. E.A. Downman from Victoria County History

Wallingford Siege Castles
These counter castles were built in the 12th century during the Anarchy or civil war between Stephen and Matilda to make it easier to attack Wallingford Castle. The sites have not been identified, though one is believed to have been on the opposite bank of the Thames to the main castle. There may have been as many as six.
http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/2975.html

Wallingford Workhouse
Established in 1782, the building on the Wantage Road accepted 282 people, but was later enlarged. In 1930, the workhouse became the Berkshire County Council Institution, and later St Mary's Hospital, which closed in 1982, and was then demolished.
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/Wallingford/Wallingford.shtml

Wallingford Railway
In 1861 the Wallingford and Watlington Railway was planned, which would have gone through Benson, Watlington and Chinnor to meet up with the Great Western Railway Aylesbury branch at Princes Risborough. The line opened as far as Wallingford in 1866, with a station on Station Road. Passenger services continued until 1959 and goods traffic to Wallingford Station until 1965, although the line was used for the maltings until 1981 (with the line terminating there). Cholsey and Wallingford Railway Preservation Society was formed then to look after the line.
http://www.cholsey-wallingford-railway.com/History.html

Whitecross Bronze Age Site
A Late Bronze Age site was uncovered during the building of the by-pass bridge near Whitecross, the private house which was formerly a hotel, and Whitecross Farm. The site at Whitecross Farm, including timber structures located on the edge of an eyot or island, that has now been absorbed into the western bank of the Thames, and a substantial midden at the southern end of this has been securely radiocarbon-dated to the late Bronze Age, according to the authors of a monograph. The late Bronze Age artefact assemblages are suggestive of a high-status site, with a range of domestic and ritual activities represented.
http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm/ID/42616//Location/Oxbow

Wittenham Clumps
The site is known as an Iron Age fort, but there is evidence of activity on the hilltop from 6000 BC to the medieval period. Researchers have found Mesolithic flints and Neolithic flint tools, a Late Bronze Age enclosure ditch, a late Roman settlement and burial on the hilltop, and pits suggestive of occupation in the 12th/13th century. It is managed by the Northmoor Trust.
http://www.channel4.com/history/timeteam/2004_wit.html
http://www.oxfordarch.co.uk/micro_sites/wittenham_clumps/index.htm
http://www.northmoortrust.co.uk/