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Garston has an enviable location in wildest West Berkshire,
it is a long, narrow parish of nearly 4,500 acres in the
far west of the county, between the village of Lambourn
and town of Newbury. The village occupies the centre of
the parish, through which runs the river Lambourn. The
parish has approximately 226 dwellings and a population
of 532 (2001 census). The
village sits just off the unclassified road that runs
from Great Shefford, along the valley to Lambourn.
Memories
in East Garston go back a long way.The village predates
its busier neighbour, Newbury, by several centuries, and
in case you're wondering ~ No, there is no West Garston.
East Garston is a corruption of Asgar. ~ Asgar being the
name of the Saxon lord of the manor, but settlement here
goes back well before this.
Asgar was procurer of horses for the King, and owned land
in several counties. He witnessed many of Edward the Confessor's
charters, and also the queen mother's will. He appears
to have held all the cultivated land of the Lambourn Hundred,
which emcompassed East Garston.
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