Binfield
Encyclopedia
Binfield is a village
and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest
borough of Berkshire
, England
. According to the 2001 census it has a population of 7,475. The village is located on the northwestern fringe of the Bracknell
urban area, and lies less than 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Wokingham
and 8 miles (12.9 km) south east of Reading
.
is the north-western portion of Binfield parish, although Billingbear Park, near Shurlock Row
, is over the border, in the parish of Waltham St Lawrence.
The Stag and Hounds was reportedly used as a hunting lodge by Henry VIII
and Elizabeth I
and an elm
tree outside it (the stump of which was finally removed in 2004 - it was ravaged by Dutch Elm Disease in the 70s) was said to mark the centre of Windsor
Forest. John Constable
spent his honeymoon at the Rectory in 1816 and sketched 'All Saints Church' twice.
It is also said to have been a refuge for a number of Parliamentary soldiers during the Civil War. The lodge became a coaching inn in 1727. The 18th century travel writer, William Cobbett, once stayed there and wrote that it was "a very nice country inn". He called nearby Bracknell a "bleak and desolate" place.
All Saints Church is mostly mid-nineteenth century, but has some ancient fittings. Of particular note is the 17th century hourglass and elaborate iron stand. It features the arms of the Farriers' Company of London. The famous poet
, Alexander Pope
, lived at Pope's Manor in Popeswood and sang in the church choir as a boy in the early 1700s.
Binfield Manor was built in 1754 by Sir William Pitt (a distant cousin of Pitt the Elder, Earl of Chatham) at a cost of £36,000. It is currently owned by the [Sultan of Brunei].
The Luck of Binfield always hung in Binfield Place, a mostly Jacobean Manor (partly of Henry VII's reign) with a missing wing. It was a 17th century bas-relief of a lady's head, said to pour misfortune upon any owner who removes it. The grounds of the manor are used every summer for a large party for locals, called 'Party At The Place'.
From the late 19th century to the 1960s, brick-making was an important industry in the area, with the Binfield Brick and Tile works at Amen Corner being an important employer - this is now the site of the Coppid Beech Hotel and the John Nike Leisuresport Complex. The presence of large houses in the area, most of them without estates to support them, meant that many tradesmen could make a living in the village and Binfield continued to flourish until the development of Bracknell
New Town. Binfield bricks were partly used to create the world famous Royal Albert Hall
.
Suburbs include:
, a Seventh-day Adventist
college and church. There are two Church of England churches
, named All Saints' on Terrace Road North and St Mark's on St Mark's Road. There is also the Binfield Free Church, which features a baptismal pool, where you can be completely submerged in water. This is different from the other churches, as they have standard small baptism stands. In addition to the college, Newbold has its own Seventh-day Adventist
primary school. Binfield also has a Church of England
Primary School with about 420 pupils, and a day nursery. There is also a Pre-school at the Memorial Hall
.
Binfield has four Public House
s: The Roebuck (Greene King), The Victoria Arms (Fullers), the Jack O'Newbury
(Freehouse) and the Stag and Hounds (Marston's). There is also a doctors' surgery, a dental surgery, a Lloyd's chemist, three hairdressing salons, an art shop
http://www.traynorfinearts.co.uk/ V & A Traynor], a Londis supermarket (including a post office
), a coffee shop and two estate agents: Gerry Burke and Keith Gibbs. There are a number of take-aways, including a fish and chip shop (The Big Thumb), Amir restaurant (Indian food) and The Binfield Kitchen(Chinese food). A new addition to Binfield is Daruchini, a Bangladeshi/Indian restaurant, which replaced the Royal Standard Pub. For the motorist, there is a tyre and exhaust centre and a car repair workshop.
The village has four main parks: one at Wicks Green, one at Silver Jubilee Fields, one at Popes Meadow and the fourth at Foxley Fields, next to Binfield Primary School. The park at Wicks Green has a Trim Trail around the perimeter and a Cableway. The play area has recently been refurbished, with a large swing, climbing blocks, and multi-purpose frame - all designed for older children. Silver Jubilee Fields is next to Wicks Green, separated by a pond. At the northern side of these fields is an area of specimen trees, including Black Walnut, Pin Oak, White Berried Elderberry and Persian Ironwood. There is also a small play area for younger children, which includes swings and a climbing frame. Popes Meadow, a Green Flag park, has large grassed areas, a large pond and a small play-park for younger children. Foxley Fields has three tennis courts and a play area with a climbing frame, spinner and swings. For the older children and teenagers there is an all-weather pitch, with basketball hoops, integral cricket stumps and markings for several games. Recently, a brand new play area has been installed at Foxley Fields, with a trampoline, a tunnel, a climbing rock, various swings and a bridge and stepping stones.
, London
, and Edith Pope (née Turner) (1643–1733), who were both Catholics.
Shortly after William and Mary
became joint monarchs in 1689, Catholics were expelled from the City of London
. The Popes moved up river to Hammersmith
, but in 1700 they relocated to Binfield. There, the principal manor house, Binfield Place, was held by the Catholic Dancastle family. The village was also only seven miles across the heath from Hall Grove, Bagshot, in Surrey. This was the home of Magdalen Rackett, Mr Pope's daughter by his first wife.
It was through Magdalen's husband Charles Rackett that Pope had been able, in 1698, to purchase Whitehill House, a small manor house in fourteen acres of land at Binfield. The house has been known successively as Binfield Lodge, The Firs and Arthurstone. Now much altered, and renamed Pope's Manor, it was the headquarters of the construction company Bryant Southern, who refurbished the then much neglected property.
But if Queen Anne was capable of acts of clemency towards individual Catholics, she showed no compromise to Catholics in general. In 1706 she made it a treasonable offence to convert anyone to Catholicism. She ordered the enforcement of the laws against Catholics and had a census made 'of the Number of Papists in every Parish, with their Qualities, Estates and Places of Abode'. The Catholic population of the Thames Valley
area remained fairly static at about 1 per cent. In Berkshire
, for example, there were 293 known or suspected Catholics. In the city of Oxford
there were fourteen.
In the spring of 1714 Pope returned to his parents' home at Binfield from one of his frequent periods in London. With him came the poet Thomas Parnell, a charming Irish Anglican clergyman who was greatly liked by the Catholic household. Two months later Parnell revisited Binfield and from there he and Pope travelled to Letcombe Bassett (3 miles SW of Wantage).
In the spring of 1715 Alexander Pope paid his last visit to the family home at Binfield in Windsor Forest. Whitehill House, his parents' home, had been sold and a few weeks later they moved to Chiswick
.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest
Bracknell Forest
Bracknell Forest is a unitary authority and borough in Berkshire in southern England. It covers the towns of Bracknell, North Ascot, Sandhurst, Crowthorne and surrounding villages and hamlets.-History:...
borough of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. According to the 2001 census it has a population of 7,475. The village is located on the northwestern fringe of the Bracknell
Bracknell
Bracknell is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It lies to the south-east of Reading, southwest of Windsor and west of central London...
urban area, and lies less than 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Wokingham
Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire in South East England about west of central London. It is about east-southeast of Reading and west of Bracknell. It spans an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 30,403...
and 8 miles (12.9 km) south east of Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
.
History
The name is derived from the Old English beonet + feld and means "open land where bent grass grows". The surrounding forest was cleared after the Enclosure Act of 1813 when Forestal Rights were abolished and people bought parcels of land for agriculture; it was at this point that villages like Binfield expanded, when there was work for farm labourers. The local hundred of Beynhurst has a similar derivation. BillingbearBillingbear
Billingbear is a village in Berkshire, England, within the civil parish of Binfield. Billingbear House was in the adjoining parish of Waltham St Lawrence....
is the north-western portion of Binfield parish, although Billingbear Park, near Shurlock Row
Shurlock Row
Shurlock Row is a village in Berkshire, England, and part of the civil parish of Waltham St Lawrence.The settlement lies in the heart of the Thames Valley, north of the M4 motorway, and is located approximately south-west of Maidenhead.-History:...
, is over the border, in the parish of Waltham St Lawrence.
The Stag and Hounds was reportedly used as a hunting lodge by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
and an elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
tree outside it (the stump of which was finally removed in 2004 - it was ravaged by Dutch Elm Disease in the 70s) was said to mark the centre of Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
Forest. John Constable
John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
spent his honeymoon at the Rectory in 1816 and sketched 'All Saints Church' twice.
It is also said to have been a refuge for a number of Parliamentary soldiers during the Civil War. The lodge became a coaching inn in 1727. The 18th century travel writer, William Cobbett, once stayed there and wrote that it was "a very nice country inn". He called nearby Bracknell a "bleak and desolate" place.
All Saints Church is mostly mid-nineteenth century, but has some ancient fittings. Of particular note is the 17th century hourglass and elaborate iron stand. It features the arms of the Farriers' Company of London. The famous poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
, lived at Pope's Manor in Popeswood and sang in the church choir as a boy in the early 1700s.
Binfield Manor was built in 1754 by Sir William Pitt (a distant cousin of Pitt the Elder, Earl of Chatham) at a cost of £36,000. It is currently owned by the [Sultan of Brunei].
The Luck of Binfield always hung in Binfield Place, a mostly Jacobean Manor (partly of Henry VII's reign) with a missing wing. It was a 17th century bas-relief of a lady's head, said to pour misfortune upon any owner who removes it. The grounds of the manor are used every summer for a large party for locals, called 'Party At The Place'.
From the late 19th century to the 1960s, brick-making was an important industry in the area, with the Binfield Brick and Tile works at Amen Corner being an important employer - this is now the site of the Coppid Beech Hotel and the John Nike Leisuresport Complex. The presence of large houses in the area, most of them without estates to support them, meant that many tradesmen could make a living in the village and Binfield continued to flourish until the development of Bracknell
Bracknell
Bracknell is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It lies to the south-east of Reading, southwest of Windsor and west of central London...
New Town. Binfield bricks were partly used to create the world famous Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
.
Suburbs
Much of modern Binfield stretches towards the south and east of the original village.Suburbs include:
- Farley Wood (including Farley Copse)
- Amen Corner
- Temple Park
- Billingbear
- Popes Wood
Amenities
Binfield is home to Newbold CollegeNewbold College
Newbold College is a Seventh-day Adventist higher education provider located in Binfield, Berkshire, England; 40 miles west of London. It offers courses in Theology, Business Management, Arts & Social Studies as well as English Language and is accredited by the University of Wales Lampeter...
, a Seventh-day Adventist
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
college and church. There are two Church of England churches
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
, named All Saints' on Terrace Road North and St Mark's on St Mark's Road. There is also the Binfield Free Church, which features a baptismal pool, where you can be completely submerged in water. This is different from the other churches, as they have standard small baptism stands. In addition to the college, Newbold has its own Seventh-day Adventist
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
primary school. Binfield also has a Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
Primary School with about 420 pupils, and a day nursery. There is also a Pre-school at the Memorial Hall
Memorial Hall
Memorial Hall may refer to:in the United Kingdom* Memorial Hall is part of Workingman's Institute and Memorial Hall also called "Memo"* Memorial Hall, Manchesterin the United States...
.
Binfield has four Public House
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s: The Roebuck (Greene King), The Victoria Arms (Fullers), the Jack O'Newbury
Jack O'Newbury
Jack O'Newbury was the much-used nickname of John Winchcombe, otherwise John Smallwood, one of the richest and most influential English cloth merchants of the late 15th and early 16th century...
(Freehouse) and the Stag and Hounds (Marston's). There is also a doctors' surgery, a dental surgery, a Lloyd's chemist, three hairdressing salons, an art shop
http://www.traynorfinearts.co.uk/ V & A Traynor], a Londis supermarket (including a post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
), a coffee shop and two estate agents: Gerry Burke and Keith Gibbs. There are a number of take-aways, including a fish and chip shop (The Big Thumb), Amir restaurant (Indian food) and The Binfield Kitchen(Chinese food). A new addition to Binfield is Daruchini, a Bangladeshi/Indian restaurant, which replaced the Royal Standard Pub. For the motorist, there is a tyre and exhaust centre and a car repair workshop.
Sport and leisure
Binfield has a cricket club,Binfield CC founded in 1865. They became champions of the Morrants Chiltern League for the very first time in 2009. The village has a very well supported football team, founded by the brick makers of the village in 1892, Binfield FC is a Step 5, FA Community Standard club, with 28 teams from Under 6s to Veterans, including girls' teams. The first team played in the FA Cup for the first time in season 2009-10, after being promoted to the Hellenic League Premier Division from Division 1 East, which they won in 2008-09. Binfield resident Rob Jones is the Chairman of the club.The village has four main parks: one at Wicks Green, one at Silver Jubilee Fields, one at Popes Meadow and the fourth at Foxley Fields, next to Binfield Primary School. The park at Wicks Green has a Trim Trail around the perimeter and a Cableway. The play area has recently been refurbished, with a large swing, climbing blocks, and multi-purpose frame - all designed for older children. Silver Jubilee Fields is next to Wicks Green, separated by a pond. At the northern side of these fields is an area of specimen trees, including Black Walnut, Pin Oak, White Berried Elderberry and Persian Ironwood. There is also a small play area for younger children, which includes swings and a climbing frame. Popes Meadow, a Green Flag park, has large grassed areas, a large pond and a small play-park for younger children. Foxley Fields has three tennis courts and a play area with a climbing frame, spinner and swings. For the older children and teenagers there is an all-weather pitch, with basketball hoops, integral cricket stumps and markings for several games. Recently, a brand new play area has been installed at Foxley Fields, with a trampoline, a tunnel, a climbing rock, various swings and a bridge and stepping stones.
Alexander Pope
Pope was born to Alexander Pope Snr. (1646–1717) a linen merchant of Plough Court, Lombard StreetLombard Street
There are several famous Lombard Streets:* Lombard Street , famed for its twists and turns* Lombard Street, London, leading from the Bank of England to Gracechurch Street...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and Edith Pope (née Turner) (1643–1733), who were both Catholics.
Shortly after William and Mary
William and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
became joint monarchs in 1689, Catholics were expelled from the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
. The Popes moved up river to Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, but in 1700 they relocated to Binfield. There, the principal manor house, Binfield Place, was held by the Catholic Dancastle family. The village was also only seven miles across the heath from Hall Grove, Bagshot, in Surrey. This was the home of Magdalen Rackett, Mr Pope's daughter by his first wife.
It was through Magdalen's husband Charles Rackett that Pope had been able, in 1698, to purchase Whitehill House, a small manor house in fourteen acres of land at Binfield. The house has been known successively as Binfield Lodge, The Firs and Arthurstone. Now much altered, and renamed Pope's Manor, it was the headquarters of the construction company Bryant Southern, who refurbished the then much neglected property.
But if Queen Anne was capable of acts of clemency towards individual Catholics, she showed no compromise to Catholics in general. In 1706 she made it a treasonable offence to convert anyone to Catholicism. She ordered the enforcement of the laws against Catholics and had a census made 'of the Number of Papists in every Parish, with their Qualities, Estates and Places of Abode'. The Catholic population of the Thames Valley
Thames Valley
The Thames Valley Region is a loose term for the English counties and towns roughly following the course of the River Thames as it flows from Oxfordshire in the west to London in the east. It includes parts of Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, North Hampshire, Surrey and west London...
area remained fairly static at about 1 per cent. In Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, for example, there were 293 known or suspected Catholics. In the city of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
there were fourteen.
In the spring of 1714 Pope returned to his parents' home at Binfield from one of his frequent periods in London. With him came the poet Thomas Parnell, a charming Irish Anglican clergyman who was greatly liked by the Catholic household. Two months later Parnell revisited Binfield and from there he and Pope travelled to Letcombe Bassett (3 miles SW of Wantage).
In the spring of 1715 Alexander Pope paid his last visit to the family home at Binfield in Windsor Forest. Whitehill House, his parents' home, had been sold and a few weeks later they moved to Chiswick
Chiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
.