About Benson
Benson is a thriving village nestled in South Oxfordshire now boasting a population of over 5,000. Over the past century, change and development have been defining features of Benson’s landscape.
Castle Square in the early 20th century
Reflecting on a map from 1900, it’s remarkable to observe the evolution of our village. Many areas, such as Sunnyside, Sands Way, Westfield Road, Blacklands Road, and St. Helen’s Avenue, have emerged within the last 80 years. Additionally, the presence of RAF Benson has significantly altered the village’s dynamics, severing the main road to Henley and London, once a vital artery during the coaching era. Change and growth have been constant companions in Benson’s journey.
Presently, the parish of Benson spans from Hale Farm in the North, extending towards Rokemarsh and Fifield Manor, skirting along the river down to Crowmarsh Battle Farm, and further out past RAF Benson toward Henley. With ongoing housing developments, particularly to the North of Littleworth Road, the parish has expanded again over the last few years and continues to grow.
Even a century ago, the Reverend Field, the then vicar of St. Helen’s Church, penned verses about the changing landscape. His poignant words, reflecting on Benson’s tranquility of yore, resonate through time:
“O Benson Village by The Thames
Where, tell me, is thy peace of old?
Gone like the dream of Yesterday
Or like a tale that’s told.”
What would the Reverend Field say if he could see all the change and growth that has taken place in the hundred years since he felt driven to write those lines? No doubt he’d be shocked. But if he really looked, he’d recognise the same kind of people living here, who greet each other as they walk about the village, who stop outside shops to chat, who gather at the war memorial on Remembrance Day. Benson changes and grows, but the people are the same at heart, fortunate to live in a quiet English village, close to the Thames, surrounded by fields and open countryside.
