Burghfield

Since the 1980s the population of Burghfield has nearly doubled with the construction of housing estates, making it a dormitory for Reading, Newbury, Basingstoke and the M4 corridor (which crosses the north of the parish).Most of the former sparsely inhabited fields of the hamlet of Pingewood, in the north of the parish, are divided by the M4 motorway and have been converted, after gravel extraction in the mid to late 20th century, into lakes that are used for watersports, fishing, and other leisure activities.[3] A Burh is an Old English name for a fortified town or other defended site, (e.g., at Burgh Castle), sometimes centred upon a hill fort though always intended as a place of permanent settlement.Most of these were founded by Alfred the Great in a consciously planned policy that was continued under his son Edward the Elder and his daughter, Æthelflaed, "Lady of the Mercians" and her husband Æthelred, Ealdorman of Mercia.The first is a possible prehistoric or Roman settlement and field system near the River Kennet, to the west of Burghfield Mill, but now lost to gravel pits.[21] One half of the lands appear to have been transferred to Ralph de Mortemar around 1070, and they remained in that family until the death of Edmund, the last Earl of March in 1425.The manor of Sheffield was granted by the Count of Évreux to St Martin-de-Noyon, Charleval, in c. 1086, as an alien Benedictine cell, and was leased privately after 1166–67.Upon his death, having no male heirs, the manors of Burghfield were left to his daughter Margery[citation needed] (Margaret Williams of Rycote) and her husband, Sir Henry Norreys.[citation needed] Searle's Farm is an ancient Tudor building now marooned in the middle of the gravel pits in northern Burghfield.[25] Sir Gilbert Blane (1749–1834), a Scottish physician who instituted health reform in the Royal Navy, had a country house at Culverlands near Burghfield.In the early part of World War II, several wartime installations and anti-invasion measures were installed across the parish, including: Many of the former ROF workers' houses (both wooden and prefabricated single storey buildings) built along The Mearings, the road which went past the ROF's Main Gate, were removed and the road became a private one.Further south, between the M4 motorway and Burghfield Village the ground is flat, and consists of farmland and pastureland with occasional small stands of deciduous woodland.At Burghfield Hill, the slopes are covered in grassland and some larger copses of deciduous woodland, and are dissected by a number of partially wooded valleys and small streams such as Clayhill Brook.[47] The parish lies in an area of clay, gravel and sand which was laid down in shallow, marine, coastal and fluvial river environments.The dark bluish to brownish London Clay outcrops in a broad swathe between Windsor and Burghfield, and along the valley of the River Kennet towards Newbury.This was originally deposited in a shallow sub-tropical sea and contains the fossils of many marine animals such as bivalves, gastropods and sharks; as well as the remains of many species of plants, such as the seeds of palms, climbers, magnolias and mangroves.Of particular significance is the extensive wetland area in the Kennet Valley which has been created following the extraction of gravel from what are currently lakes, and is now a haven for a wide range of water birds and other protected bird species, such as the nightingale, and the red kite; together with kestrels, buzzards and peregrine falcons, the latter of which can often be seen on thermals enjoying this habitat of the Kennet Meadows.The northern boundary with Theale and the Southcote area of Reading is formed by the Holy Brook and the Draper's Osier Bed Stream.In Sheffield Bottom, Hosehill Lake, a flooded gravel pit falling also within Sulhamstead parish, is listed as a nature reserve, and is managed by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust alongside the Theale Area Bird Conservation Group.The main entrance to the reserve is opposite the Fox and Hounds pub, Sunnyside, on Station Road, Sheffield Bottom (Theale).The parish church contains a number of monuments from the old St. Mary's, including the alabaster effigy of an important historic figure, Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury[50] the father of Warwick the Kingmaker.He was buried first at Pontefract, but his son transferred his body to the family mausoleum at Bisham Priory and erected this effigy as part of his monument there.[citation needed] The effigy of a lady alongside him wears a headdress which is not thought to be of the right date to be his wife, but she may be one of the earlier Countesses of Salisbury buried at Bisham.[citation needed] Reverend John Ride was an evangelist who was locked up in Winchester prison for "holding a missionary meeting" in Micheldever in 1834.During the Second World War, two Douai monks, Fathers Oswald Dorman and Edward Fairhead, celebrated Mass for the hundreds of Irish who came to work in the local munitions factories at Burghfield and Grazeley Green.Heavy vehicular access in the area is restricted by the multiple low and narrow bridges over the canal and railways which lie to the north and east.In the latter half of the 20th century the canal was restored, largely by volunteers, and today is a popular heritage tourism destination, for boating, canoeing, fishing, walking and cycling.There are now a number of services in Burghfield Common, including a recently opened Tesco Express (converted from the former Rising Sun pub); a Post Office with a Nisa-Today's supermarket; an Esso petrol station incorporating an 'On the run' mini-market; a pharmacy; the Forge Garage; two estate agents (Parker's and Davis Tate); a baker; a window and conservatory supplier; a pet food shop; a hairdresser; a greengrocer; a health centre; a public library and a public swimming pool (both adjacent to The Willink School); a veterinary surgery; a Co-op small supermarket; a "Village stores"; a Bangladeshi restaurant/takeaway ("Bahgecha"); a Chinese takeaway; and a Burger and Grill fast food joint.[55] The headquarters of The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is located in Burghfield Hill[56] at Hillfields House, built for Horatio Bland in 1861–2,[57] and the former residence of Henry George Willink.As well as taking advantage of the numerous public footpaths that criss cross the parish, there are many other sports and leisure amenities in and around Burghfield, these include: