Lambourn

Lambourn, a market town in the Newbury parliamentary division of Berkshire, England, 65 m. W. of London, the terminus of the Lambourn Valley light railway from Newbury. Pop. (1901) 2071. It lies high up the narrow valley of the Lambourn, a tributary of the Kennet famous for its trout-fishing, among the Berkshire Downs. The church of St Michael is cruciform and principally late Norman, but has numerous additions of later periods and has been considerably altered by modern restoration. The inmates of an almshouse founded by John Estbury, c. 1500, by his desire still hold service daily at his tomb in the church. A Perpendicular market-cross stands without the church. The town has agricultural trade, but its chief importance is derived from large training stables in the neighbourhood. To the north of the town is a large group of tumuli known as the Seven Barrows, ascertained by excavation to be a British burial-place.