Cholsey Meadows is a wonderful woodland and riverside development, with a mixture of Victorian grandeur and modern housing, set in 100 acres of parkland landscape.
Images from Cholsey Meadows [click to open]
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Lying amongst astoundingly beautiful grounds, the estate has over 600 trees, 150 of which are specimen trees. In the foreground, surrounded by lawns, the Grade II listed Victorian Fairmile Hospital has been converted into apartments. It was originally built as the Berkshire County Asylum in the 1860s. Fairmile was then a self-sufficient community, with vast areas under the building for heating and maintenance, large allotments and woodland surrounding, this extraordinary location gives Cholsey Meadows a real feeling of freedom and space – and this sense of space is echoed in the carefully designed and beautifully finished houses that have been built there.
Created between 2012 and 2015, and in addition to the Fairmile building apartments conversion, the Cholsey Meadows estate has 375 homes. There is a varied selection of properties, including three and four bedroom terraced houses, three and four bedroom semi detached houses, four bedroom townhouses and two bedroom apartments.
The new homes are set in small streets, around a cricket pitch, and near the former Chapel. The cricket pitch and its pavilion are in the centre of the development. It is a hub of activities for the games played there throughout the year and the social functions associated with the game.
There are allotments for residents to use and views down to the River Thames. There are fields on one side and a nature reserve and water meadow on the other. On the southern side is bucolic Ferry Lane, popu,lar with dog-owners and where once was a horse and cart ferry across the River Thames to Little Stoke.
Within the Victorian Fairmile buildings, the Great Hall is a magnificent area for entertainment and a hub for communal activities, including classes, concerts and private functions. It has a stage, a sprung wooden floor, and kitchens.
In one corner of the site, a vibrant cafe and a hairdressers have been converted from former agricultural outbuildings.
The former MP for Wantage and Didcot and one-time Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey commented when it was nearing completion –
“I think this is a magnificent scheme and was impressed with the development completed so far. Sites such as this present excellent opportunities to provide new and sustainable communities but it is how they are delivered that is crucial to their future success. Cholsey Meadows seems to be a prime example of how to get such projects right.”
Cholsey Meadows may seem like a rural idyll, but it is also very practically located too. Tucked into the edge of Cholsey, a thriving Oxfordshire village, it’s a ten-minute walk from Cholsey’s own railway station, and so just 30 minutes to Oxford or Reading, or an hour from London Paddington. The A34, M40 and M4 are around 15 miles away.
Cholsey is a quintessential – and historic – Oxfordshire countryside village located to the south of the market town of Wallingford and is a bustling community with fantastic amenities. There is a well-regarded village primary school as well as several high quality independent and other state schools nearby, together with local shops including a Tesco Express, pharmacy, family run butchers, two cafes, hairdressers, and a barbers.
There are many sports clubs on offer including adult and children’s football, cricket and tennis. The Springs Golf Club and Spa, along with riding schools can be found in neighbouring villages. Cholsey Pavilion and the Great Hall host numerous events from performing arts to farmers markets. For socialising, there are two public houses as well as Amwell Springs (a highly regarded microbrewery).
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Strategic Land Development Consultancy – Wallingford, Oxfordshire