| Binfield | |
All Saints Church |
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Binfield
Binfield shown within Berkshire |
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| Population | 7,475 (2001) |
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| OS grid reference | SU8471 |
| Parish | Binfield |
| District | Bracknell Forest |
| Shire county | Berkshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRACKNELL |
| Postcode district | RG42 |
| Dialling code | 01344 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Windsor |
| List of places: UK • England • Berkshire | |
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 (13 km) south east of Reading.
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The name is derived from the Old English beonet + feld and means "open land where bent grass grows"[1]. 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. Billingbear 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.
Much of modern Binfield stretches towards the south and east of the original village. Suburbs include:
Binfield is home to Newbold College, 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 Houses: 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.
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.
Pope was born to Alexander Pope Snr. (1646–1717) a linen merchant of Plough Court, Lombard Street, 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.
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