About Us
The parishes lie on the Hampshire side of the Hampshire-Berkshire border in the beautiful North Hampshire countryside and, in ecclesiastical terms, are within Winchester diocese.
Kingsclere is a large, compact and attractive village with a population just under 4000 located half way between Basingstoke and Newbury and easily accessible from the A34 and both M3 and M4 motorways. It has a number of shops and amenities and nestles as the foot of the well known Watership Down and there are a number of good walks from the village and around the area. It has ancient royal connections (see Kingsclere page) and its splendid parish church known as the Cathedral of the Downs is the central landmark of the village.
Ashford Hill with Headley to the north and east of Kingsclere and is a parish of some 1200 in a number of scattered hamlets and settlements of which the two largest are Ashford Hill (between Kingsclere and Tadley) and Headley (on the A339 north of Kingsclere). The area used to be known as Kingsclere Woodlands and formed part of the parish of Kingsclere until 1840 when it was created as a separate parish of Kingsclere Woodlands and later renamed as Ashford Hill with Headley in 1982 to be consistent with the name of the civil parish as well as indicating the location of the two parish churches.
Since October 2006, the two parishes of Kingsclere and Ashford Hill with Headley, while remaining distinct, have been united under one Vicar.
Click on a church below for more information