WARGRAVE NOW

Wargrave Parish is a countryside community with a population of less than 4000 people. The boundary of the Parish runs up the Thames from the village towards Conways Bridge near Marsh Lock crosses the Park Place estate taking in Cockpole Green and Crazies Hill. It then passes through Bowsey Woods to Knowl Hill, Hare Hatch and Kiln Green and meanders alongside the A4 towards the roundabout at Twyford on the A321 then back to the Thames at Wargrave. The rivers Loddon and Thames and their flood plains form part of the boundary to the west; Green Belt and an Area of Special Landscape Importance lie to the north and east, and Green Belt to the south. All affording the village some protection from development.

There are many listed buildings, both in the Conservation Area of the village and in the surrounding countryside. There are also four archaeological sites and a number of Wildlife Heritage sites.

Wargrave has some shops public houses and small businesses in the High Street and Victoria Road; there are also small business centres which include light industrial units and offices in the rural part of the Parish. There are garden centres, supply companies, a bridge builder and other businesses such as the Grundon Landfill site at Knowl Hill to provide local employment opportunities. Agriculture continues though with more emphasis on arable and horticultural enterprises as there seem to be few dairy or livestock farmers remaining. Some farmland has been taken over by the leisure industry providing the golf courses at Castle Royale, Hennerton and Aspect Park.

More sport and leisure facilities are provided by the rivers, the Recreation Ground, with tennis bowls, cricket and football clubs, the allotments, the golf courses and many clubs and societies which are active in the village. The surrounding countryside is popular with walkers, dog owners and horse riders. The Parish Council provides and maintains the Recreation Ground, allotments and Kings Field an environmental project with a dog walking area, copse and community orchard.

Wargrave is served by an Infant and a Junior School in the village, and by a Secondary School on the A321, the Piggott School. This has continued to expand and has recently been designated a Language Centre as well as housing the Berkshire Cricket Centre. There are several pre-school groups. Crazies Hill also has a small primary school.

The Woodclyffe Hall in the High Street is used for meetings, functions, classes and some sports events and there are halls in Crazies Hill and Knowl Hill as well as smaller meeting rooms for hire throughout the village

There are Anglican and Catholic churches in Wargrave, St Mary's on Mill Green now combined with the parishes of Knowl Hill and Warren Row and Our Lady of Peace in Braybrooke Road.

Wargrave has won two Green Apple awards for environmental projects and the county heat of the Calor Best Village Competition in 2003 plus a South East regional award in the Berkshire Calor Best Village Competition for its provision for young people.