Famous people of Newbury
and West Berkshire

Newbury has never really behaved like a small market town when it comes to famous neighbours.

Look beyond the town itself into East Ilsley, Bucklebury, Compton, Hungerford, Kintbury, Lambourn, Peasemore, Wash Common and the villages just over the Hampshire border, and an extraordinary collection of people have lived, grown up or spent important parts of their lives here.

Formula One team owners. Rock stars. Premier League footballers. A future Queen. A Prime Minister. World champion darts players. Some of Britain's best-known writers. And perhaps inevitably for this part of the world, some of the biggest names in horse racing.

Some connections are stronger than others, so rather than pretending everyone who once owned a house within 15 miles was a lifelong Newburian, here are some of the best-known people with genuine connections to Newbury and the surrounding area.

Sir Frank Williams: East Ilsley, Hampstead Marshall and Stargroves

For me, Sir Frank Williams is one of the most interesting.

The founder of Williams Formula One wasn't simply someone whose business happened to be based reasonably nearby. Frank and his family had a long connection with the countryside around Newbury.

The Williams family lived at the Old Rectory in East Ilsley, later moved to Craven House at Hampstead Marshall, and subsequently bought the extraordinary Stargroves estate at East Woodhay.

For a period, therefore, one of the most important figures in Formula One history was living among the villages west and south of Newbury.

Williams Grand Prix Engineering went on to become one of Formula One's great teams, winning nine Constructors' Championships and seven Drivers' Championships during Frank Williams' time at its head.

Yet locally, he was also simply part of village life.

It is one of those strange contrasts West Berkshire does rather well. Someone can spend the weekend running a Formula One team and then disappear back into a tiny village among the Downs.

Mick Jagger: when the Rolling Stones moved to the Newbury countryside

One of the area's most spectacular celebrity homes was Stargroves, the Gothic country house at East Woodhay.

Technically it sits just across the Berkshire border in Hampshire, but geographically and socially it is very much part of the wider Newbury area.

Mick Jagger bought Stargroves in 1970 for £55,000 and owned it for most of the decade.

More importantly, it wasn't simply somewhere Jagger slept between tours.

Stargroves became part of rock history.

The Rolling Stones used the estate for recording, bringing in their famous mobile recording studio. Music that would eventually appear on albums including Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St. and It's Only Rock 'n Roll was worked on there. Other major bands also used the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio at Stargroves.

Imagine that scene in the early 1970s.

The quiet lanes around East Woodhay and Highclere, and somewhere behind the gates of a Victorian mansion, the Rolling Stones making records.

It is difficult to get a better collision between rural England and rock 'n' roll.

Frank Williams then bought Mick Jagger's house

The Stargroves story becomes even more Newbury-like because years later Frank Williams became its owner.

That means the same country estate went from the frontman of the Rolling Stones to one of Formula One's greatest team principals.

You would struggle to deliberately invent a more eclectic ownership history.

And then another rock star entered the story.

Rod Stewart: the Newbury resident who almost was

Rod Stewart is often mentioned as another famous Stargroves resident.

There is a slight problem.

He apparently never actually lived there.

Stewart bought Stargroves from Frank Williams in 1998 for around £2.5 million, but following the breakdown of his relationship with Rachel Hunter, he sold the property again without moving in.

So putting Rod Stewart on a list of famous residents requires an asterisk.

He was certainly a famous Newbury-area property owner.

He just didn't get as far as becoming the neighbour you might have bumped into in the pub.

Still, the fact that Stargroves passed from Mick Jagger to Frank Williams and then briefly to Rod Stewart makes the house worthy of an article in its own right.

Richard Adams: Newbury created Watership Down

Some of Newbury's most important famous connections aren't about celebrity at all.

They are rooted in the landscape.

Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, was born and brought up in Wash Common, on the southern edge of Newbury. His childhood home was close to Sandleford, the landscape where his most famous novel begins.

That makes Watership Down one of the great pieces of literature to emerge directly from the Newbury countryside.

The hills, lanes and open chalk country around Newbury weren't just somewhere Adams happened to come from.

They helped create the book.

Anyone who knows the countryside south of Newbury towards Ecchinswell, Kingsclere and Watership Down can understand why.

Michael Bond: Paddington Bear was born in Newbury too

There is another globally recognised British character with an unexpectedly strong Newbury connection.

Michael Bond, creator of Paddington Bear, was born in Newbury in 1926.

His family moved to Reading when he was still a baby, so Newbury cannot claim his entire childhood.

But it can absolutely claim his birthplace.

Paddington eventually became one of the world's most recognisable children's characters, which makes the understated Newbury connection rather wonderful.

A statue of Paddington now stands in the town, recognising Bond's birthplace and that connection.

Theo Walcott: from Compton and Newbury to England

Football has produced several strong local connections.

Theo Walcott grew up in Compton, north of Newbury, attended Compton Primary School and The Downs School, and played for his village side before joining AFC Newbury.

His time playing for Newbury was rather productive.

He reportedly scored more than 100 goals during his only season with the club before progressing through Swindon and Southampton and eventually joining Arsenal.

He went on to win 47 England caps.

So before Arsenal, Wembley and World Cups, there was Compton and Newbury.

Shane Long: an adopted local

Shane Long is a slightly different case.

He was born in Ireland rather than Berkshire, but arrived at Reading FC as an 18-year-old in 2005 and spent six years with the club during one of the greatest periods in Reading's history. He later returned for the 2022-23 season.

There are longstanding local references to Long having a home in Newbury during his first Reading spell, although I haven't found a sufficiently authoritative source to make that the basis of his inclusion.

His connection with the area is nevertheless substantial.

He arrived as an unknown teenager, became part of Reading's record-breaking 106-point Championship side, developed into a Premier League and Republic of Ireland striker, and eventually returned to Reading towards the end of his career.

For many local football supporters, Shane Long feels like an adopted Berkshire resident whether the paperwork agrees or not.

Luke Humphries: a world champion from Newbury

More recently, Newbury has produced one of the biggest names in darts.

Luke Humphries, "Cool Hand Luke", is repeatedly described by the Professional Darts Corporation itself as Newbury-born.

He became PDC World Champion in 2024 and subsequently added a string of major titles.

For a town that already had Formula One, Premier League football and international racing connections, adding a darts world champion seems entirely appropriate.

The Princess of Wales and Bucklebury

Drive a few miles north-east of Newbury and you reach Bucklebury, which became internationally famous through the Middleton family.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, grew up in the Bucklebury area with her siblings Pippa and James.

The family's Berkshire home remained important even after her marriage to Prince William.

After Prince George was born in 2013, William and Catherine spent his first weeks at the Middleton family home outside Bucklebury, away from much of the attention surrounding the birth.

So one of the most photographed families in the world has surprisingly ordinary roots in the countryside outside Newbury.

David Cameron: raised near Newbury

Another future national figure grew up only a short distance away.

Former Prime Minister David Cameron was raised at Peasemore, a small village north of Newbury.

Again, this is what makes the area interesting.

These aren't distant Berkshire associations invented for tourism.

Peasemore is genuinely part of rural West Berkshire and sits only a few miles from Newbury.

Will Young: growing up in Hungerford

Singer Will Young also has strong West Berkshire roots.

Although born in Wokingham, he grew up in Hungerford and attended Horris Hill Preparatory School near Newbury.

He later became the first winner of Pop Idol in 2002 and one of the most successful British singers to emerge from the early reality-TV talent-show era.

For West Berkshire, though, he is another famous name whose story started locally.

Bruno Brookes and Keith Chegwin: the local radio station that almost was

Bruno Brookes and Keith Chegwin almost launched Newbury's local radio station. I then ended up working on the station that beat them.

Brookes and Chegwin were behind the unsuccessful NBC FM bid for the West Berkshire licence. The licence instead went to the station that became Kick FM.

And in one of those odd little circles of local history, I later worked at Kick FM as part of my college course, including being there for its first broadcast.

That is exactly the sort of detail that makes the whole article feel lived-in: you grow up around people and places that keep intersecting with Newbury's wider story, often without realising at the time how connected it all was.

Charlie Austin: Hungerford to the Premier League

Footballer Charlie Austin has an even more grassroots West Berkshire story.

Austin was born in Hungerford and, after being released by Reading as a youngster, played locally for Kintbury Rangers and Hungerford Town, as well as spending time with Thatcham Town.

He eventually climbed from non-league football all the way to the Premier League, scoring goals for QPR, Southampton and West Brom.

It is one of the area's best sporting stories because the path wasn't academy to Premier League.

It was Berkshire village football to the Premier League.

Nicky Henderson and the racing world around Lambourn

Any list of famous people around Newbury becomes impossible without horse racing.

Only a short drive west is Lambourn, one of the most important racehorse training centres in Britain.

Among its most famous residents is trainer Nicky Henderson, whose Seven Barrows yard has been based at Lambourn since 1992.

Henderson has been champion trainer multiple times and has trained some of the outstanding National Hunt horses of the modern era.

Jenny Pitman, the first woman to train a Grand National winner, also has deep Lambourn connections, having moved there in the 1960s and later operating from Weathercock House.

Newbury Racecourse might be the obvious public face of racing locally, but the villages west of town are where much of racing actually lives.

Sir Terence Conran: design from Kintbury

One of Britain's most influential designers also made his home locally.

Sir Terence Conran, founder of Habitat and one of the people who transformed British retail, restaurants and interior design, lived for decades at Barton Court near Kintbury.

He bought the Georgian estate in 1971 and continued using it as his country home for almost half a century.

Once again, this globally influential figure was living only a few miles from Newbury.

Why does the Newbury area attract so many famous people?

There is probably a fairly practical explanation.

London is close enough to reach relatively easily.

The M4 and railway provide good connections.

There is beautiful countryside.

There are substantial country houses hidden behind hedges and long drives.

Horse racing brings wealthy owners, trainers and sporting figures into the area.

And unlike some of the better-known celebrity enclaves around London, West Berkshire can still feel surprisingly anonymous.

But I think there is something else about it.

Newbury sits at a fascinating meeting point.

Go east and you are moving towards Reading and London.

Go west and England becomes progressively more rural.

Head north and you are quickly among the Downs.

Head south and within minutes you are into the rolling countryside towards Hampshire.

That creates a place where someone can live a remarkably private country life without actually being particularly remote.

A surprisingly star-studded corner of England

Put all those names together and it is an extraordinary collection.

Sir Frank Williams in East Ilsley, Hampstead Marshall and Stargroves. Mick Jagger recording with the Rolling Stones at Stargroves. Rod Stewart briefly owning the same house, even if he never quite moved in. Richard Adams growing up beside the landscape that became Watership Down. Michael Bond, creator of Paddington Bear, being born in Newbury. Theo Walcott growing up in Compton and playing for Newbury. Shane Long becoming an adopted local through Reading FC. Luke Humphries becoming a darts world champion. Catherine, Princess of Wales, growing up around Bucklebury. David Cameron growing up in Peasemore. Will Young in Hungerford. Bruno Brookes and Keith Chegwin almost launching NBC FM before Kick FM won the West Berkshire licence. Charlie Austin playing his way from Kintbury and Hungerford into the Premier League. Nicky Henderson and Jenny Pitman helping make Lambourn synonymous with top-level racing. And Sir Terence Conran quietly shaping British design from his country estate near Kintbury.

For a town and collection of villages that often seem remarkably understated, Newbury and West Berkshire have produced, hosted and attracted an unlikely amount of fame.

Perhaps that's part of the attraction.

You can be one of the most recognisable people in Britain and, around here, still disappear down a country lane and become somebody's neighbour.