You are in [Places] [Other Roads in Hungerford] [Beard's Lane]
This article was sent by Dr Jimmy Whittaker, August 2021.
Where is Beard's Lane and How did it get its name?
There is no mention (until now!) of this place in historical documents or even on the extensive pages of The Hungerford Virtual Museum and even local government organisations such as Berkshire County Council, West Berks Council, Hungerford Parish Council and Hungerford Town Council could shed no light upon this name or its location. I am most grateful to Robin Mann, a project manager at West Berkshire Council who supplied the following information.
“It does not appear on the tithe award map, which suggests it was not in use until after 1819. It does however appear on the OS map in 1893, but there is no indication of why it was called Beard's Lane. It has never been considered part of the public highway which would explain why West Berkshire Council don’t have any information on it.”
Well the only definite record to this place is records kept by Network Rail who owns and manages most of the fixed assets of the railway network, including tracks, stations, signals and bridges. (Network Rail is often confused with National Rail which is a brand name used to promote passenger railway services and providing some harmonisation for passengers in ticketing.)
Beard's Lane railway bridge, 31st May 2022
Beard's Lane is a private road just off Smitham Bridge Road, which runs parallel to Parsonage Lane which and leads to Smitham Bridge House via a railway bridge.
The full details of his bridge are given below:
Bridge Information:
- Bridge Reference: 61 76.5
- Area: Thames
- Route: Western
- Line Reference (ELR): BHL
- Line Distance: 61miles 1683 yards
- Type: Underline Bridge
Description: Beard's Lane - Aka Smitham Bridge House -
- Brick Arch over Private Road - 1 Span
- Primary Construction Material: RBE - Brick
- Secondary Construction Material: RBE - Brick
- Structure Form: Arch
- Operational Status: Functionary
- Owner: Network Rail (CE-Struct)
Location Data:
- European Region: South East
- UK Parliament Constituency: Newbury
- Civil Parish/community: Hungerford
- Unitary Authority Ward (UTW): Hungerford
- Unitary Authority: West Berkshire Council
Coordinates:
- Latitude: 51.4136 / 51°24'49"N
- Longitude: -1.5211 / 1°31'16"W
- OS Eastings: 433400
- OS Northings: 168400
- OS Grid: SU334684
How did Beard's Lane get its name ?
There is a Beard family tomb in St. Lawrence’s churchyard and the very existence of such a tomb indicates that the Beards were a family of some importance and wealth. Dates on the inscription of this grave stone show that Beards had been associated with Hungerford for many years. For example , the first Beard born in Hungerford was in 1858 named Eugenie Althea whose father was Henry John Beard born in 1835 Semington near Melksham arrived in Hungerford around in1851 as a young man and was serving an apprenticeship to become a a druggist and chemist.
The first trains to come to Hungerford arrived in December 1847. There had been many schemes proposed to extend the Berks and Hants Line railway westwards from Reading. One of these proposals by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1844 was to create a new line from Reading to Southcote Junction on the outskirts of Reading. From here it would be spilt into two branches, one south to Basingstoke and the other west to Hungerford via Newbury.
In 1845, an Act of Parliament was passed to allow the construction of this scheme. The capital for this company was put forward in the names of GWR directors, and the following year a new Act of Parliament saw the Berks and Hants formally absorbed into the larger company.
The first section to Hungerford opened on 21st December 1847. The line to Basingstoke left the Hungerford line at Southcote Junction on the outskirts of Reading and was opened nearly a year later on 1st November 1848.
In 1862 the first railway bridges were built to span the High Street, the Croft and Marsh Lane. The Berks and Hants Extension Railway was finally opened from Hungerford to Great Bedwyn and then on to Seend, a few miles west of Devizes, on 11th November, 1862. This was only part of a GWR scheme to provide a more direct line from London to Exeter in Devon; other elements of the route however failed to materialise and the direct way to Exeter was built by the LSWR from Basingstoke through Salisbury.
On 27th June 1874, a special road coach service was instigated between Hungerford and Devizes while the engineers converted the single track on this section to standard gauge. The remainder of the line from Hungerford to Southcote Junction at Reading was worked as a single line with trains in both directions using the regular eastbound line with a passing place kept at Newbury while the westbound line was converted. The last broad gauge train ran on 30 June and the following day the trains started to use the new standard gauge westbound line and ran through to Devizes again. Conversion of the eastbound line could then take place, and normal service resumed on 4th July.
So what has the railway got to do with the Beards then? John Beard was constable in 1850 and his nephew Henry John (HJB) was constable from 1872 to 1875 so it seems likely that Beard's Lane had something to do with one of these noteworthies who may have been involved consultations with GWR over the building of the initial railway line and then its extension. In the census of 1871 HJB is recorded as a coal merchant and farmer living at Brickiln, Hopgrass.
Another simple explanation could be that the paddock next to Smitham Bridge House was rented to HJB for his daughters Charlotte and Eugenie’s ponies!
More photographs of Beards Bridge can be seen in Other Roads Photo Gallery.
The Canal Wharf, 2011