for ye poor of Slade End". 1774-1849 Reverend Thomas Wintle. "About 4 o'clock with my neighbours at ye Red Lion where they dined at the expense of ye parish and myself and then set again to mark the boundaries" 1781 King George III rode through the village returning from a stag hunt. 1785 A Sunday school set up by the Reverend Wintle. 1811 Inclosure Act for Brightwell. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era, the village had some significant philanthropists who worked hard for the good of the villagers: Reverend Marmaduke Thompson - building of Brightwell National School in the village. Reverend John Haldane Stewart - building of the new village school, which is now the village hall. Forming a night school for adult parishioners. Farmer Edward Fairthorne - Reading Room and recreation ground for the villagers. Scholarships for promising boys to go to Wallingford Grammar School. Miss Augusta Fairthorne - endowment of the Free Church. Modern times The War Memorial records the loss of villagers in the armed services in the two world wars. In the second half of the 20th century there was significant expansion of the villages and in 1948 the villages of Brightwell and Sotwell were brought together as one civil parish. In 1949 the Greenmere estate was built and later, estates were also built at Kings Orchard, Monks Mead and Datchet Green. There are no immediate plans for any major development, though around 2011 there was some controversy regarding a plan to build some 800 houses between the village and Wallingford. The plan to develop on this area was eventually abandoned, in the face of local pressure, in favour of a new development on the Hithercroft. Notable buildings and structures A walk around the narrow village streets will reveal many houses still standing which date back to Tudor times and beyond. The oldest building is probably Woodleys (Old Nursery Lane), with other examples such as Dobson's (Sotwell Street), The Old Priory (Little Lane), Middle Farm and Abbots House (both Church Lane - formerly Great Lane) and Smalls House (Mackney). Brightwell Manor is a Grade II listed building, with a mid 17th century half timbered structure extended by an 18th century stone frontage. The Church of England parish churches of St Agatha (Brightwell) and St James (Sotwell) would have been at the centre of village affairs, surrounded by many thatched cottages with