The Croft

The Croft is a quiet green, lying away from the hustle and bustle of the High Street. It probably originated as the village green of the original village of Hungerford, before the “new” medieval town was laid out slightly to the east sometime between 1180 and 1250. It was originally known as “Town Croft” and has also been called “Play Croft” and “Church Croft”.
Around 1553 the land was owned by John Undewes and his wife. They gave the land, about one acre, “for the people of Hungerford to sport herein” at the nominal rent of a red rose yearly, if demanded. Such a rent is not demanded, and The Croft is now part of the Town and Manor land.
The alley way to the High Street (now known as Church Lane) was first originally known as Church Passage, and later as Little Church Lane. There are several notes in the Constable’s Accounts of money paid to the Bellman for sweeping Church Lane on Saturday evenings, so it was clean for the townspeople to go to Church on Sundays. In 1837 a turnstile was erected at west end of Little Church Lane, but it proved unsatisfactory, and was replaced by the two cast iron posts in 1863.
The line of trees along the northern part of The Croft has variously been known as “The Avenue” and “The Mall”.
The Croft Nursery School opened in 1942 as a Wartime Nursery (later re-named Day Nursery) administered by the Ministry of Health, to provide young mothers with crèche facilities whilst they worked at local factories involved in the war effort, including the Vickers Armstrong Aircraft Factory in Eddington and the Chilton Aircraft Factory in Church Way. The original prefabricated buildings were replaced in 2005.
The doctors’ surgery was built in 1959 and extended in 1993.