Goring-on-Thames


Goring-on-Thames is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about south of Wallingford and north-west of Reading.
Goring & Streatley railway station is on the main line between Oxford and London. Most land is farmland, with woodland on the Goring Gap outcrop of the Chiltern Hills. Its riverside plain encloses the residential area, including a high street with a few shops, pubs and restaurants. Nearby are the village churches – one dedicated to St Thomas Becket has a nave built within 50 years of the saint's death, in the early 13th century, and a later bell tower. Goring faces the smaller Streatley across the Thames. The two are linked by Goring and Streatley Bridge.

Geography

Goring is on the left bank of the River Thames, in the Goring Gap which separates the Berkshire Downs and the Chiltern Hills. The village is about north-west of Reading and south of Oxford. Immediately across the river is the Berkshire village of Streatley, and the two are often considered as twin villages, linked by Goring and Streatley Bridge and its adjacent lock and weir. The Thames Path, Icknield Way and the Ridgeway cross the Thames at Goring. The Great Western Main Line railway passes through Goring, and Goring & Streatley railway station in the village is served by Great Western Railway trains running between London Paddington, Reading and Didcot.

Early history

The name of Goring is first seen in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Garinges. It appears as Garingies in a charter once held in the British Museum. It means "Gara's people".

Religious sites

The Church of England parish church of Saint Thomas of Canterbury is Norman, built early in the 12th century. The bell-stage of St Thomas's bell tower was added in the 15th century and has a ring of eight bells, one of which dates from 1290. The rood screen is carved from wood taken from HMS Thunderer, one of Nelson's fleet at Trafalgar. The church hall was added in 1901. The Anglican Churches of Goring, Streatley and South Stoke form a United Benefice.
A priory of Augustinian nuns was built late in the 12th century with its own priory church adjoining St Thomas's. The priory survived until the early part of the 16th century when it was suppressed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and then demolished. The foundations of the priory church, cloister, dormitory, vestry, chapter house and parlour were excavated in 1892.
Goring Free Church is a member of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion. The congregation was founded in 1788 and its first chapel was built in 1793. At its centenary, in 1893, a new church building was added and the original chapel became the church hall. It holds Sunday services at 10.30 am and 6.30 pm.
The Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and Saint John was designed by the architect William Ravenscroft and built in 1898. It is now part of a single parish with the Roman Catholic Church of Christ the King in Woodcote.

Amenities

Goring United Football Club plays in the Reading Football League. Goring-on-Thames Cricket Club was founded in 1876. Two of its teams play in the Berkshire Cricket League. Goring has also a lawn tennis club with teams that play in two local leagues. Goring and Streatley Golf Club is located in the adjoining village of Streatley.
Goring on Thames Decorative and Fine Arts Society was founded in 1987 and is a member of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies. Goring has a Women's Institute.
The local bus service between Goring and Wallingford is run by the Goring-based community interest company Going Forward Buses, established in December 2016.

Awards

Oxfordshire Village of the Year 2009

On 10 July 2009, Goring was named Oxfordshire's Village of the Year, ahead of 11 other villages and taking the title from neighbouring Woodcote. The £1000 prize will be put towards the village's hydro-electric project to generate electricity from the river Thames.
The competition looks at the depth of the infrastructure and activity within the village and Goring's plans to raise £1m to fund the hydro-electric project was instrumental to its success.

Calor Village of the Year – South England Regional Winner 2009/2010

Goring-on-Thames was both the winner in the Sustainability and Communications category and the Overall Regional Winner of the Calor Village of the Year regional heat for South England.

Britain in Bloom

Goring is a finalist in the small towns category of the Britain in Bloom contest in 2019.

Miscellaneous

In the summer of 1893, Oscar Wilde stayed at Ferry House in Goring with Lord Alfred Douglas. There, Wilde began writing his play An Ideal Husband, which includes a major character named Lord Goring.
An enlarged Ferry Cottage was the home in retirement of Sir Arthur Harris, the wartime leader of RAF Bomber Command, from 1953 until his death in 1984.
The pop star George Michael had a home at Mill Cottage close to the river in his later years. He was found dead there on 26 December 2016.

Notable residents

In order of birth:
The following have been awarded the Freedom of the Parish of Goring on Thames.

Twin towns