Hungerford (GB)

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GB 1d Mulready cover sent from Hungerford to Amesbury in Wiltshire 1840
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Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, 8 miles west of Newbury, 9 miles east of Marlborough, 29 miles (47 km) northeast of Salisbury and 67 miles west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town from the west alongside the River Dun, a major tributary of the River Kennet. The confluence with the Kennet is to the north of the centre whence canal and river both continue east. Amenities include schools, shops, cafés, restaurants, and facilities for the main national sports. The railway station is a minor stop on the London to Exeter (via Taunton) Line.

Hungerford is a slight abbreviation and vowel shift from a Saxon name meaning "Hanging Wood Ford". The town's symbol is the estoile (a six-pointed star with wavy arms) and crescent moon.

The place does not occur in the Domesday Book of 1086, but certainly existed by 1173. By 1241, it called itself a borough. In the late 14th century, John of Gaunt was medieval lord of the manor and he granted the people the lucrative fishing rights on the River Kennet. During the Glorious Revolution of 1688, William of Orange was offered the Crown of England while staying at the Bear Inn in Hungerford. The Hungerford land south of the Kennet was for the centuries, until an 18th-century widespread growth in cultivation the area, in Savernake Forest.

Postmark Examples

GB 1d Mulready cover sent from Hungerford to Amesbury in Wiltshire 1840
GB 1d Mulready cover written side. Printed message from The Reformer with "Opinions of the Press"