Burnham, Buckinghamshire

Burnham

St Peter's parish church
Burnham
 Burnham shown within Buckinghamshire
Area  19.84 km2 (7.66 sq mi)
Population 11,630 (2011 census)[1]
   – density  586/km2 (1,520/sq mi)
OS grid referenceSU9282
Civil parishBurnham
DistrictSouth Bucks
Shire countyBuckinghamshire
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Slough
Postcode district SL1
Dialling code 01628
Police Thames Valley
Fire Buckinghamshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentBeaconsfield
List of places
UK
England
Buckinghamshire

Coordinates: 51°32′N 0°40′W / 51.54°N 0.66°W / 51.54; -0.66

Burnham is a village and civil parish that lies north of the River Thames in the South Bucks District of Buckinghamshire, on the boundary with Berkshire, between the towns of Maidenhead and Slough. It is served by Burnham railway station in the west of Slough on the main line between London Paddington and Reading. The M4 motorway passes through the south of the parish.

The toponym is derived from the Old English for "homestead on a stream". It was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Burneham, when the manor belonged to a Walter Fitz-Other.

Burnham was once a very important village. The road from London to Bath (now the A4) passed through the extensive parish of Burnham and as a result, in 1271, it received a Royal charter to hold a market and an annual fair. However, when the bridge crossing the Thames in Maidenhead opened the road was diverted away from Burnham, which fell into relative decay. The market was then transferred to Maidenhead.

Today the village is mostly contiguous with Slough and green-buffered within its own areas, a dispersed settlement the civil parish has a population of 11,630 and Burnham is the traditional village nucleus.[1]

In 1265 a Benedictine abbey was founded near the village by Richard, King of the Romans. This was, however, disbanded by King Henry VIII in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Since 1916, a contemplative order of Church of England Augustinian nuns has been based in the restored remains of the original abbey.

The Church of England parish church of Saint Peter dates in part from the 12th century but has been substantially expanded, refurbished and altered, with major restorations in 1863–64 and 1891 and the construction of the Cornerstone Centre in 1986.[2]

Burnham Beeches is an area of 540 acres (220 ha) of protected ancient woodland, and is just north of the village. Dorneywood is in the parish.

Hamlets

The parish of Burnham once included the hamlets of Boveney, Cippenham, Britwell and East Burnham. Boveney became a separate civil parish in 1866 though is now back in with Burnham parish again. Cippenham was transferred to Slough in 1930,[3] and therefore became part of Berkshire in 1974. Britwell was transferred to the borough of Slough and to Berkshire in 1974.

The parish also includes the hamlets of Lent Rise, Rose Hill, East Burnham, Egypt, Hitcham, Littleworth and Littleworth Common.

Schools

Burnham Grammar School and The E-ACT Burnham Park Academy provide secondary education to the children of Burnham and the surrounding area. Many students, however, commute to the nearby secondary schools in Slough. Priory School is the largest primary school in the area and provides primary education for many of the local children, although the smaller "Our Lady of Peace" Roman Catholic primary school is next to Priory School.

Owing to its proximity to Pinewood Film & TV Studios, Burnham and its surrounding areas (in particular Burnham Beeches) feature in films, notably main scenes in Carry On films and for the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Amenities

The Old Five Bells

There are three pubs on Burnham's High Street, with two more on the adjacent Church Street and Britwell Road.[4]

Burnham Football Club is a Non-League football team that plays at The Gore.

Demography

 2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005[1]
Output areaHomes owned outrightOwned with a loanSocially rentedPrivately rentedOtherkm² roadskm² waterkm² domestic gardenskm² domestic buildingskm² non-domestic buildingsUsual residents km²
Civil parish 1632 1748 780 472 60 0.716 0.057 1.907 0.355 0.122 11630 19.84

Notable people

References

  1. 1 2 3 Key Statistics: Dwellings; Quick Statistics: Population Density; Physical Environment: Land Use Survey 2005
  2. ↑ St. Peter's Church Burnham – a brief history
  3. ↑ Vision of Britain website
  4. ↑ Beer in the Evening - pubs in Burnham
  5. ↑ Tracey Ullman biography on album webpage – 'The Best of Tracey Ullman'

Further reading

External links

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