Editing Goring-on-Thames

{{Short description|Village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2015}}
{{Distinguish|Goring-by-Sea}}
{{infobox UK place
|type = [[Village]] and [[civil parish]]
|official_name = Goring-on-Thames
|static_image_name = GoringMill01.JPG
|static_image_caption = Goring mill and parish church from the bridge
|coordinates = {{coord|51.523|-1.135|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|os_grid_reference = SU6080
|population = 3187
|population_ref = ([[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]])<ref name=ons>{{Cite web |url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ |title=Key Statistics: Dwellings; Quick Statistics: Population Density; Physical Environment: Land Use Survey 2005 |access-date=21 March 2010 |archive-date=11 February 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030211201309/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|area_total_km2 = 9.61
|civil_parish = Goring-on-Thames
|shire_district = [[South Oxfordshire]]
|shire_county = [[Oxfordshire]]
|region = South East England
|country = England
|post_town = READING
|postcode_district = RG8
|postcode_area = RG
|dial_code = 01491
|constituency_westminster = [[Henley and Thame (UK Parliament constituency)|Henley and Thame]]
|website = [https://www.goringparishcouncil.gov.uk Goring Parish Council]
}}
'''Goring-on-Thames''' (or '''Goring''') is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] on the [[River Thames]] in [[South Oxfordshire]], England. Situated on the county border with [[Berkshire]], it is {{convert|6|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} south of [[Wallingford, Oxfordshire|Wallingford]] and {{convert|8|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} north-west of [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]]. It had a population of 3,187 in the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]] and was estimated to have increased to 3,335 by 2019.<ref>[https://citypopulation.de/en/uk/southeastengland/admin/south_oxfordshire/E04008131__goring_on_thames/ City Population. Retrieved 6 January 2021.]</ref> 

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 shops, pubs and restaurants. [[Goring & Streatley railway station]] lies on the [[Great Western Main Line]], providing trains between London, {{stnlnk|Reading}}, and {{stnlnk|Didcot}}.

The village church is dedicated to St [[Thomas Becket]] with a nave that was built within 50 years of the saint's death, in the early 13th century, along with a later bell tower. Goring faces the smaller [[Streatley, Berkshire|Streatley]] across the Thames; the two are linked by [[Goring and Streatley Bridge]].

==Geography==

[[File:Goring and Streatley, Oxfordshire and West Berkshire, England-LCCN2002696967.tif|thumb|right|Goring (right), at the end of the nineteenth century]]

Goring is on the left bank of the [[River Thames]] in the [[Goring Gap]] between the [[Berkshire Downs]] and [[Chiltern Hills]], about {{convert|8|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} north-west of [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] and {{convert|16|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} south of [[Oxford]]. Across the river is the [[Berkshire]] village of [[Streatley, Berkshire|Streatley]], often seen as a twin village. They are linked by [[Goring and Streatley Bridge]] and its adjacent [[Goring Lock|lock and weir]]. The [[Thames Path]], [[Icknield Way]] and the [[Ridgeway National Trail|Ridgeway]] cross the Thames at Goring. 

==Transport==

The [[Great Western Main Line]] serves [[Goring & Streatley railway station]]; [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] operates trains between [[Paddington railway station|London Paddington]], [[Reading railway station|Reading]], and [[Didcot Parkway railway station|Didcot]].   The service runs every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, and every hour on Sundays.<ref> {{Cite web |work=Great Western Railway |title=Train Times |date=November 2024 |access-date=9 November 2024 |url=https://www.gwr.com/-/media/gwr-sc-website/files/plan-journey/timetables/2024/Train-times-15-December-to-17-May/T10-train-times-15-December-2024-to-17-May-2025.pdf |quote=}}</ref>   

GWR provide the service with [[British Rail Class 387]] electric trains, and because
work on electrification from Didcot to {{rws|Oxford}} has been suspended since 2019, the trains no longer run beyond Didcot Parkway. A separate diesel service runs between Didcot and Oxford.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-42540143|title=New GWR trains enter service after electrification|work=BBC News |date=2 January 2018|access-date=7 January 2018}}</ref> 

The local bus service between Goring and Wallingford is run by a Goring-based [[community interest company]], ''Going Forward Buses'', which was established in December 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stops in Goring |work=Bus Times |date=2023 |access-date=18 October 2023 |url= https://bustimes.org/localities/goring-oxon |quote=}}</ref>  The bus service to Wallingford runs hourly during the working day from Monday to Friday.<ref>{{cite web |title=Going Forward bus timetables|date=2024|access-date=9 November 2024|url=https://www.goingforwardbuses.com/}}</ref>

==Early history==
The name Goring first appears in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as ''Garinges'', then as ''Garingies'' in a charter once held in the [[British Museum]]. It translates as "Gara's people".<ref>[[Eilert Ekwall]], ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p. 201.</ref>

==Religious sites==

[[File:St Thomas of Canterbury, Goring.jpg|thumb|Church of St Thomas of Canterbury]]

The [[Church of England parish church]] of [[St Thomas of Canterbury]] displays [[Norman architecture]] of the early 12th century,<ref name=Sherwood614>Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, p. 614.</ref> with the bell-stage of a [[bell tower]] added in the 15th century.<ref name=Sherwood614/> This has a [[change ringing|ring]] of eight bells,<ref>[http://www.odgreadingbranch.co.uk/towers/goring.html The Oxford Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers, Reading Branch: Goring-on-Thames] {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20120906095958/http://www.odgreadingbranch.co.uk/towers/goring.html |date=6 September 2012}}</ref> one dating from 1290. The wood for the [[rood screen]] was taken from {{HMS|Thunderer |1783|6}}, one of [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Nelson]]'s fleet at [[Battle of Trafalgar|Trafalgar]].<ref>Christopher Winn: ''I Never Knew That about the Thames'' (London: Ebury Press, 2010), p. 77.</ref> A church hall was added in 1901.<ref name=Sherwood615>Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, p. 615.</ref>

The Anglican Churches of Goring, Streatley and South Stoke form a united [[benefice]].<ref>[http://www.st-marys-streatley.org.uk/ Services. Retrieved 21 April 2019.]</ref> A [[priory]] of [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] nuns was built late in the 12th century with its own priory church adjoining St Thomas's.<ref name=Sherwood614/> This survived until demolished with the early 16th-century [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]].<ref>Page, 1907, pp. 103–104.</ref> The foundations of the priory church, [[cloister]], dormitory, [[vestry]], [[chapter house]] and parlour were excavated in 1892.<ref name=Sherwood615/> 

Goring Free Church belongs to the [[Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion]]. The congregation was founded in 1788 and its first [[chapel]] built in 1793.<ref name=FreeChurch>{{Cite web |url=http://www.goringfreechurch.org.uk/History.html |title=Goring Free Church: Our History}}</ref> At its centenary in 1893, a new church building was added<ref name=Sherwood615/> and the original chapel converted into a church hall.<ref name=FreeChurch/> It holds two Sunday services.<ref>[https://www.goringfreechurch.org.uk/ Service times. Retrieved 21 April 2019.]</ref> 

The [[Catholic Church]] of [[Mary (Mother of Jesus)|Our Lady]] and St [[John the Apostle]] was designed by the architect William Ravenscroft and built in 1898.<ref name=Sherwood615/> It now forms a single parish with the Roman Catholic Church of Christ the King in [[Woodcote#Churches|Woodcote]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ourladyandstjohngoring.org.uk/ |title=Our Lady & St John in Goring-on-Thames and of Christ the King in Woodcote |website=ourladyandstjohngoring.org.uk}}</ref>

==Amenities==

[[File:Flint House, Goring on Thames, Oxfordshire - geograph.org.uk - 1502629.jpg|thumb|Flint House, on a hill, is a large flint cobblestone house in a Tudor style converted partly to offices. It is used by police forces nationally as a rehabilitation centre.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1059528 |access-date=30 November 2014}} Flint House – Grade II listing.</ref>]]

Goring United [[Association football|Football]] Club plays in the [[Reading Football League]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://gufc.intheteam.com/modules/page/Page.aspx?pc=12840&mid=2904&pmid=32974 |title=Goring United Football Club: Saturday 1st team – Division 1 |access-date=18 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713050228/http://gufc.intheteam.com/modules/page/Page.aspx?pc=12840&mid=2904&pmid=32974 |archive-date=13 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Goring-on-Thames [[Cricket]] Club, founded in 1876,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gardinersworld.co.uk/page2.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802103629/http://www.gardinersworld.co.uk/page2.html |url-status=dead |title=GardinersWorld: Our History |archivedate=2 August 2009}}</ref> has two teams in the Berkshire Cricket League.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.berkshirecricketleague.com/public/docs/Fixtures.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104220658/http://www.berkshirecricketleague.com/public/docs/Fixtures.htm |url-status=dead |title=Berkshire Cricket League Resources and Information |archivedate=4 January 2012 |website=www.berkshirecricketleague.com}}</ref> Goring has a lawn [[tennis]] club with teams that play in two local leagues.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/GoringTennisClub |title=Goring Tennis Club  |website=Goring Tennis Club}}</ref> [[Goring and Streatley Golf Club]] is located in adjoining Streatley. 

Goring-on-Thames' ''Decorative and Fine Arts Society'', founded in 1987, belongs to the [[National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies]].<ref>[http://www.gadfas.org.uk/ Goring on Thames Decorative and Fine Arts Society]</ref> Goring has a [[Women's Institute]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oxfordshirefwi.freeuk.com/ |title=Oxfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes |access-date=18 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030907070954/http://www.oxfordshirefwi.freeuk.com/ |archive-date=7 September 2003 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==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 succeeding [[Woodcote]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/8144374.stm |title=Goring named Village of the Year |date=10 July 2009 |via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> The £1000 prize was put towards the village's hydro-electric project to generate electricity from the River [[Thames]].<ref>[http://www.gssg.org.uk/ Goring & Streatley Sustainability Group].</ref> The competition considered the depth of infrastructure and activity in the village and at Goring's £1 million [[hydro-electric]] plans.

===Calor success===
Goring-on-Thames was the winner in the Sustainability and Communications category and the Overall Regional Winner of the 2011 [[Calor Village of the Year]] regional heat for South England.<ref>[http://www.calorvillageoftheyear.org/england/category-winners-2009-2010/regional/goring-on-thames.htm Goring on Thames Celebrates Regional Success. Village wins through for South England in national competition] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103060029/http://www.calorvillageoftheyear.org/England/category-winners-2009-2010/regional/goring-on-thames.htm |date=3 January 2011}}</ref>

===Britain in Bloom===
Goring was a finalist in the small towns category of the [[Britain in Bloom]] contest in 2019.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

==Notable residents==
In the summer of 1893, [[Oscar Wilde]] stayed at Ferry House in Goring with [[Lord Alfred Douglas]]. While there, Wilde began writing his play ''[[An Ideal Husband]]'', which includes a main character named Lord Goring.

An enlarged Ferry Cottage became the retirement home of [[Arthur Harris|Sir Arthur Harris]], wartime leader of [[RAF Bomber Command]], from 1953 until his death in 1984.<ref>Christopher Winn: ''I Never Knew...'', p. 78.</ref> He was buried in Burntwood Cemetery in Goring.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/22548/Grave-Sir-Arthur-Harris.htm|title=Grave Sir Arthur Harris - Goring - TracesOfWar.com|website=www.tracesofwar.com}}</ref>

In order of birth:
*[[John Soane|Sir John Soane]] (1753–1837), architect, was born in Goring.
*[[Thomas Rome]] (1838–1916), Australian politician, died in Goring.
*[[Digby Willoughby (adventurer)|Digby Willoughby]] (1845–1901), military mercenary, died in Goring.
*[[Aubrey Strahan]] (1852–1928), geologist, retired to Goring.
*[[Noel Denholm Davis]] (1876–1950), portrait painter, died in Goring.
*[[Thomas Miller (cricketer)|Thomas Miller]] (1883–1962), first-class cricketer, died in Goring.
*[[C. H. Dodd]] (1884–1973), theologian who directed the translation of the [[New English Bible]], died in Goring.
*[[Henry Harwood]] (1888–1950), World War II admiral
*[[Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet]] (1892–1984), World War II RAF air marshal
*[[William Allmond Codrington Goode]] (1907–1986), first [[Yang di-Pertuan Negara|head of state]] of Singapore, died in Goring.
*[[Kenneth Walker (English cricketer)|Ken Walker]] (1922–1989), first-class cricketer, died in Goring.
*[[Anton Rogers]] (1933–2007), actor
*[[John Thomson (RAF officer)|Sir John Thomson]] (1941–1994), RAF Air Chief Marshal
*[[Jon Lord]] (1941–2012), composer, pianist and rock/classical pioneer, lived in Goring in later life.
*[[Pete Townshend]] (born 1945), musician ([[the Who]])
*[[Pete de Freitas]] (1961–1989), musician ([[Echo & the Bunnymen]]), ashes buried in Goring.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_1IsKvqj5tcC&q=%22pete+de+freitas%22+goring+on+thames&pg=PA248 |title=The Day the Music Died – Les MacDonald – Google Books |date=July 2010|isbn=9781453522677 |last1=MacDonald |first1=Les |publisher=Xlibris Corporation }}</ref>
*[[George Michael]] (1963–2016), musician, vocalist and producer.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Wadey |first1=Toby |title=George Michael's Goring neighbours share memories one year on |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-42238343 |access-date=26 October 2020 |work=BBC News Oxford |date=25 December 2017}}</ref> Michael lived at Mill Cottage close to the river in his later years. He was found dead there at the age of 53 in the early hours of 25 December 2016.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38432862 |title=Ex-Wham singer George Michael dies |work=BBC News |date=25 December 2016 |access-date=9 December 2020}}</ref>

==Freedom of the parish==
The privilege of [[Freedom of the City|Freedom of the Parish]] of Goring on Thames has been awarded to:
*Stephanie Bridle, 16 October 2017, for work as a parish councillor<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/goring/116551/freedom-of-village-given-to-award-winning-bloom-chief.html |title=Freedom of village given to award-winning bloom chief |work=Henley Standard}}</ref>
*[[Janet Hurst]]: 12 April 2020, for work on the Britain in Bloom competition and [[Goring Gap]] Local History Society<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/home/151228/woman-awarded-freedom-of-village-for-contribution.html |title=Woman awarded freedom of village for contribution |work=Henley Standard}}</ref>

==Nearby places==
{{Geographic location
|title      = '''Nearest Places (by Civil Parish)'''
|Centre     = Goring
|North      = [[South Stoke, Oxfordshire|South Stoke]]
|North-east = [[Woodcote, Oxfordshire|Woodcote]]
|East       = [[Goring Heath]]
|South-east = [[Goring Heath]] (part of)
|South      = [[Whitchurch-on-Thames]]
|South-west = [[Basildon, Berkshire|Basildon]]
|West       = [[Streatley, Berkshire|Streatley]]
|North-west = [[Moulsford]]
}}

==Twin towns==
*[[Bellême]] {{FRA}} since 1979
*[[Stühlingen]] {{GER}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{Cite book |editor=Page, William |title=[[Victoria County History]]: A History of the County of Oxford, Volume 2 |year=1907 |pages=103–104}}
*{{Cite book |author=Sherwood, Jennifer |author2=Pevsner, Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |title=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|The Buildings of England]]: Oxfordshire |year=1974 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=0-14-071045-0 |pages=613–616}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Goring-on-Thames}}
{{wikivoyage|Goring and Streatley}}
* [https://www.goringparishcouncil.gov.uk/ Goring Parish Council] – the official Parish Council website
* [https://www.southoxon.gov.uk/south-oxfordshire-district-council/planning-and-development/local-plan-and-planning-policies/neighbourhood-plans/emerging-neighbourhood-plans/goring-neighbourhood-plan/ Goring Neighbourhood Plan] – the local plan for community development
* [https://www.genienews.org/ Genie Newsletter] – Free community newsletter serving the Goring Gap
* [https://www.visitgoringandstreatley.co.uk/ Visit Goring & Streatley] – information about local businesses and amenities for visitors
* [https://www.goringgapnews.co.uk/ Goring Gap News] – the local community-run newspaper
* [https://www.goingforwardbuses.com Going Forward Buses] – the [[community interest company]] that runs the local bus service
* [https://www.goringgapinbloom.org.uk/ Goring in Bloom] – the voluntary group that maintains the flowers 
* [https://ggeo.online/ Goring Gap Environmental Organization] – information about the environment around Goring
* [http://www.goring-twinning.co.uk Goring and District Twinning Association]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119095041/http://www.goring-twinning.co.uk/ |date=19 November 2021 }}

{{South Oxfordshire|state=expanded}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goring-On-Thames}}
[[Category:Villages in Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:Populated places on the River Thames]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:South Oxfordshire District]]