Basildon

This small village is the last resting place of the inventor and agricultural engineer, Jethro Tull, whose grave can be seen in the churchyard. The inventor of the seed drill and the horse-drawn hoe also wrote several books on farming and plant nutrition, including The New Horse Hoeing Husbandry and An Essay on the Principles of Tillage & Vegetation. Outside the churchyard is a classic pavilion built in memory of his parents by the late Mr Childe-Beale, which is, today, the focal point of Beale Park. Covering some 300 acres of ancient water meadow, the park is home to a wide range of birds and animals. There are small herds of unusual farm animals, including rare breeds of sheep and goats, Highland cattle, deer, and South American llama, more than 120 species of birds living in their natural habitat, and a pets’ corner for smaller children. The park’s work is not confined to the keeping of animals. A Community Woodland has been planted and an ancient reed bed restored. The park’s other main attraction, housed in the pavilion, is the Model Boat Collection, which is one of the finest of its kind.

However, the village’s main feature is Basildon Park (National Trust), an elegant, classical house designed in the 18th century by Carr of York and undoubtedly Berkshire’s foremost mansion. Built between 1776 and 1783 for Francis Sykes, an official of the East India Company, the house has the unusual addition of an Anglo-Indian room. The interior, finished by JB Papworth and restored to its original splendour after  World War Two, is rich in fine plasterwork, pictures and furniture, and the rooms open to the public include the Octagon Room and a decorative Shell Room. If the name Basildon seems familiar, it is probably as a result of the notepaper: the head of the papermaking firm of Dickinson visited the house and decided to use the name for the high quality paper his firm produced.