Billingbear | |
---|---|
Location within Berkshire | |
OS grid reference | SU838724 |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | READING |
Postcode district | RG40 |
Dialling code | 01344 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Royal Berkshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Billingbear is a hamlet in the civil parish of Binfield and a former country estate in the civil parish of Waltham St Lawrence, near Bracknell, in the English county of Berkshire. [1]
The settlement lies between the M4 motorway and the village of Binfield, just north-west of Binfield Parish Church, along Carters Hill and Billingbear Lane. The country estate is immediately to the west.
Billingbear Park is now the site of a large late 20th century country house and a golf course. It was previously a large area of parkland surrounding Billingbear House, a huge Elizabethan mansion erected in 1567. [1] It burnt down in 1924. [1]
Just north-east of the hamlet is Allanbay Park, a grade II listed country house set in parkland. [2] It was the home of John Lycett Wills (1910–1999) and his wife Jean Elphinstone. Wills served as High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1958. Jean was a niece of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and lady-in-waiting to her cousin, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. In 1955, Group Captain Peter Townsend stayed at Allanbay to avoid the press furore surrounding his relationship with the Princess. [1]
Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, 37 miles (60 km) west of London, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Reading, 8 miles (13 km) north of Camberley and 4 miles (6 km) west of Bracknell. The town is a constituent part of the Reading/Wokingham Urban Area. Wokingham was a borough before the 1974 reorganisation of local government, when it merged with Wokingham Rural District to form the new Wokingham District. Borough status was granted in 2007.
Sandhurst is a town and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest borough in Berkshire, England. It is in the south eastern corner of Berkshire, and is situated 32 miles (51 km) west-southwest of central London, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north west of Camberley and 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Bracknell. Sandhurst is known worldwide as the location of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Despite its close proximity to Camberley, Sandhurst is also home to a large and well-known out-of-town mercantile development. The site is named "The Meadows" and has a Tesco Extra hypermarket and a Marks & Spencer, two of the largest in the country. A large Next clothing and homeware store is open on the site of the old Homebase.
Bracknell is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies 11 miles (18 km) to the east of Reading, 9 miles (14 km) south of Maidenhead, 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Windsor and 25 miles (40 km) west of central London. Originally a market village and part of the Windsor Great Forest, Bracknell experienced a period of huge growth during the mid-20th Century when it was declared a New Town.
Earley is a town and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. Along with neighbouring town of Woodley. The Office for National Statistics places Earley within the Reading/Wokingham Urban Area; for the purposes of local government it falls within the Borough of Wokingham, outside the area of Reading Borough Council. The name is sometimes spelt Erleigh or Erlegh. The town consists of a number of smaller areas, including Maiden Erlegh and Lower Earley, and lies some 3 miles (5 km) south and east of the centre of Reading, and some 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Wokingham. It has a population of around 32,000. In 2014, the RG6 postcode area was rated one of the most desirable postcode areas to live in England. The main campus of the University of Reading, Whiteknights Park, lies partly in Earley and partly in the borough of Reading.
Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It lies to the west of the centre of Reading, and extends from the River Thames in the north to the A4 road in the south. The suburb is partly within the boundaries of the Borough of Reading and partly in the district of West Berkshire. The part within West Berkshire forms part of the civil parish of Tilehurst, which also includes the northern part of Calcot and a small rural area west of the suburb. The part within the Borough of Reading includes the Reading electoral ward of Tilehurst, together with parts of Kentwood and Norcot wards.
Hurst is a village in the civil parish of St Nicholas Hurst in the English county of Berkshire.
Calcot, or Calcot Row, is a suburb west of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Calcot straddles the historic A4 Bath Road and is between ex-hamlet Horncastle and Junction 12 of the M4 motorway. The suburb of Tilehurst is to the north, taking up the hills above the place; the populous village of Theale is west, across the motorway. Its named neighbourhoods include Beansheaf Farm and Fords Farm mainly of the early 21st century in its south.
Sulham is a village in West Berkshire, England. The larger village of Tidmarsh is adjacent to Sulham on the west side and of Tilehurst on the east side.
Finchampstead is a village and civil parish in the Wokingham Borough in the shire of Berkshire, England. Its northern extremity is 2 miles (3 km) south of Wokingham, 5 miles (8 km) west of Bracknell, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Reading, and 34 miles (55 km) west of Central London. It is an affluent area, with the village ranking as Britain's 31st wealthiest. It has a high standard of living and is rated as one of the most desirable places to live in the United Kingdom.
Beech Hill is a small village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is in the south east of the West Berkshire district and bounds Hampshire and Wokingham district.
Binfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 8,689. The village lies 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Bracknell, 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Wokingham, 8 miles (13 km) south east of Reading on the westernmost extremity of the Greater London Urban Area.
East Lockinge is a village in Lockinge civil parish, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Wantage. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 local authority boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire. The village is included within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Shottesbrooke is a hamlet and civil parish administered by the unitary authority of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the English county of Berkshire. The hamlet is mostly rural: 88% covered by agriculture or woodland and had a population of 141 at the 2011 census.
Farley Wood is a suburb in the civil parish of Binfield, approximately 1.2 miles (1.9 km) west of Bracknell, in the English county of Berkshire. Farley Wood is dominated by Farley Copse, a large woodland and local nature reserve on the slopes falling away from Farley Hall and Farley Moor, two large Victorian houses.
Englefield House is an Elizabethan country house with surrounding estate at Englefield in the English county of Berkshire. The gardens are open to the public all year round on particular weekdays and the house by appointment only for large groups.
Amen Corner is a suburb of Bracknell, Berkshire, England within the civil parish of Binfield, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Bracknell. It is south of the B3408 between Popeswood and Wokingham.
Temple Park is a suburb of Bracknell in the English county of Berkshire and part of the civil parish of Binfield. It was built during the 1990s as the town continued to expand on open countryside between Bracknell and Binfield.
Popeswood is a village in Berkshire, England, near Bracknell. The village is within the civil parish of Binfield approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Bracknell. The main part of Popeswood lies north of the B3408 west of Temple Park and south of Binfield village, with a smaller section south of the B3408 between Amen Corner and Farley Wood.
The Cut is a river in England that rises in North Ascot, Berkshire. It flows for around 14 miles (23 km), through the rural Northern Parishes of Winkfield, Warfield and Binfield in Bracknell Forest on its way down to Bray, where it meets the River Thames just above Queens Eyot on the reach below Bray Lock, having been joined by the Maidenhead Waterways.