Burnham, Buckinghamshire

Last updated

Burnham
Burnham, St Peter's Church - geograph.org.uk - 1118895.jpg
St Peter's parish church
Buckinghamshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Burnham
Location within Buckinghamshire
Area19.84 km2 (7.66 sq mi)
Population11,630 (2011 census) [1]
  Density 586/km2 (1,520/sq mi)
OS grid reference SU9282
Civil parish
  • Burnham
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Slough
Postcode district SL1, SL2
Dialling code 01628
Police Thames Valley
Fire Buckinghamshire
Ambulance South Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Buckinghamshire
51°32′N0°40′W / 51.54°N 0.66°W / 51.54; -0.66

Burnham is a large village and civil parish that lies north of the River Thames in Buckinghamshire, between the towns of Maidenhead and Slough, about 24 miles west of Charing Cross, London. It is probably best known for the nearby Burnham Beeches woodland.

Contents

The village is served by Burnham railway station on the main line between London Paddington and Reading. The M4 motorway passes through the south of the parish.

History

The toponym is derived from the Old English for "homestead on a stream". [2] It was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Burneham, when the manor was held by Walter FitzOther.

Burnham was once a very important village. The Great West Road from London to Bath passed through the extensive parish of Burnham and as a result, in 1271, a Royal charter was granted to hold a market and an annual fair. However, when the first Maidenhead Bridge crossing the Thames opened c.1280, the road was diverted to the south of Burnham (the route of the modern A4), and Burnham fell into relative decline. The market was then transferred to Maidenhead.

Today the village is nearly contiguous with west Slough, though green-buffered by parkland. At the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 11,630 and Burnham is the traditional village nucleus. [1]

Parish Church

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. [3]

Burnham Abbey

In 1265 a Benedictine women's abbey was founded near the village by Richard, Earl of Cornwall. The community was dispersed under 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 abbey is now up for sale at a price of around £3 million.

Hamlets

The parish of Burnham included a number of communities: in the 18th century the liberties assessed for the poor rate were Burnham Town, East Burnham, Boveney, Britwell, Cippenham and Wood. [4] Boveney became a separate civil parish in 1866 [5] Cippenham was transferred to Slough in 1930, [6] and therefore became part of Berkshire in 1974. Britwell was transferred to the borough of Slough and to Berkshire in 1974.

The current civil parish now includes Lent Rise, Rose Hill, East Burnham, Hitcham, Littleworth and Littleworth Common.

Schools

The selective Burnham Grammar School provides secondary education

Amenities

The Old Five Bells Burnham - Old Five Bells - geograph.org.uk - 1118885.jpg
The Old Five Bells

The village has a traditional High Street, with many buildings dating from the 18th and 19th century. There are two small supermarkets and five pubs on or near the High Street, [7] and many small independent cafes and shops. At the south end of the High Street is a large park, which contains the community centre of Burnham Park Hall and a small public library.

Burnham Football Club is a non-League football team that plays at the 1878 Stadium.

Burnham has a Local nature reserve on the eastern border of the village called Haymill Valley. [8]

Burnham Beeches National Nature Reserve, an area of 540 acres (220 ha) of protected ancient woodland, lies just north of the village. 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.

The major National Trust estate of Cliveden is about three miles northwest, in the neighbouring parish of Taplow. Dorneywood, currently the country home of the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, is in Burnham parish.

The River Thames is about two miles south and west of the village centre. The major rowing venue of Dorney Lake is nearby. There are three golf courses (Huntswood, Lambourne, Burnham Beeches) to the north and west of the village.

In addition to Burnham railway station (Elizabeth Line) and the nearby M4, the Chiltern Main Line and the M40 are accessible about 5 miles north at Beaconsfield [9] while Heathrow Airport is about 12 miles east. [10]

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 residentskm2
Civil parish16321748780472600.7160.0571.9070.3550.1221163019.84

Notable people

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slough</span> Town in Berkshire, England

Slough is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley 20 miles (32 km) west of central London and 19 miles (31 km) north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021 Census, the population of the town was 143,184. In 2021, the wider Borough of Slough had a population of 158,500. Slough borders the ceremonial counties of Greater London and Buckinghamshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britwell</span> Human settlement in England

Britwell is a residential housing estate and civil parish in the north west of Slough, Berkshire, South East England. It is about 23 miles (37 km) west of Charing Cross, the centremost point of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cippenham</span> Human settlement in England

Cippenham is a suburb of Slough. Close by are the neighbouring towns and villages of Beaconsfield, Farnham Common, Burnham, Gerrards Cross, Stoke Poges, Windsor and Taplow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colnbrook</span> Village in Berkshire, England

Colnbrook is a village in the Slough district in Berkshire, England. It lies within the historic boundaries of Buckinghamshire, and straddles two distributaries of the Colne, the Colne Brook and Wraysbury River. These two streams have their confluence just to the southeast of the village. Colnbrook is centred 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of the Slough town centre, 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Windsor, and 19 miles (31 km) west of central London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wexham</span> Human settlement in England

Wexham is a civil parish in Buckinghamshire in southern England. The parish includes part of the forest of Burnham Beeches. The separate parish of Wexham Court was created in 1974 from parts of the old Wexham parish that were transferred to the Borough of Slough in Berkshire. Wexham Park Hospital is a large hospital within the Wexham Court parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maidenhead</span> Market town in England

Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. In the 2021 Census, it had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Buckinghamshire. The town is situated 27 miles (43 km) west of Charing Cross, London and 13 miles (21 km) east-northeast of the county town of Reading. The town differs from the Parliamentary constituency of Maidenhead, which includes a number of outer suburbs and villages, including villages which form part of the Borough of Wokingham such as Twyford, Charvil, Remenham, Ruscombe and Wargrave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorney</span> Human settlement in England

Dorney is a village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It borders the River Thames to the west and south, and is bisected by the Jubilee River. In 2011 it had a population of 752. It is 2.3 miles (3.7 km) west of neighbouring Eton, which is a slightly larger parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boveney</span> Human settlement in England

Boveney is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Dorney, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated near Windsor, between the villages of Eton Wick in Berkshire, and Dorney and Dorney Reach in Buckinghamshire. Since boundary changes in 1974 and 1995, Boveney is the southernmost village in Buckinghamshire. In 1931 the parish had a population of 630.

Farnham Common is a village in Buckinghamshire, England, 3 miles north of Slough and 3 miles south of Beaconsfield, on the A355 road. It adjoins the ancient woodland of Burnham Beeches, has an area of 2.5 miles and a population of around 6,000. It is in the civil parish of Farnham Royal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Bucks</span> Former non-metropolitan district in England

South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eton Wick</span> Village in England

Eton Wick is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Eton, in the Windsor and Maidenhead district, in Berkshire, England. Historically it was part of Buckinghamshire. Between the River Thames and the Jubilee River, the village is close to the towns of Windsor, Eton and Slough. The village has a long history, with evidence of habitation dating back over 5,500 years, including a Neolithic causewayed enclosure and a variety of later historical periods marked by significant agricultural and social development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burnham railway station</span> Railway station serving the village of Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England

Burnham railway station is a railway station serving Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England, 20 miles 77 chains (33.7 km) from London Paddington and situated between Slough to the east and Taplow to the west. The station is in Haymill, a ward of western Slough, about half a mile to the south of Burnham proper. Originally in Buckinghamshire, the station transferred into the county of Berkshire when county boundaries were realigned in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slough (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

Slough is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Tan Dhesi, a member of the Labour Party, since the 2017 UK general election.

An election to Slough Borough Council was held on 10 June 2004. The whole council was up for election. This was the 120th Slough general local authority election, since Slough became a local government unit in 1863, including both whole Council elections and elections by thirds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burnham Abbey</span>

Burnham Abbey was a house of Augustinian canonesses regular near Burnham in Buckinghamshire, England. It was founded in 1266 by Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall. The abbey of St Mary consisted of around twenty nuns at the outset, but was never wealthy and by the time of its dissolution in 1539 there were only ten.

Slough is a town and unitary authority in the English county of Berkshire, just to the west of Greater London. Until 1974 the town was in Buckinghamshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntercombe</span> Area of Buckinghamshire, England

Huntercombe is an area of Cippenham in Slough in the English historic county of Buckinghamshire, although it was administered as part of Berkshire between 1974 and 1996. It adjoins Burnham in Buckinghamshire. The district is well known to residents of Slough and Burnham, but is usually not listed on maps of the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borough of Slough</span> Borough and unitary authority in England

The Borough of Slough is a unitary authority with borough status in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, Southern England. The borough is centred around the town of Slough and includes Langley. It forms an urban area with parts of Buckinghamshire and extends to the villages of Burnham, Farnham Royal, George Green, and Iver. Part of the district's area was in Buckinghamshire prior to the district's formation and in Middlesex until 1965.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Key Statistics: Dwellings; Quick Statistics: Population Density; Physical Environment: Land Use Survey 2005". Archived from the original on 11 February 2003. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  2. Warminster, Phil; Wiltshire, Devises. "Old English Translator – Contact me". Old English Translator. lue Engine Web Development 2008-2017. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  3. "St. Peter's Church Burnham – a brief history". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
  4. 'Parishes: Burnham with Lower Boveney', in A History of the County of Buckingham: Volume 3, ed. William Page (London, 1925), pp. 165-184. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/bucks/vol3/pp165-184 [accessed 23 April 2016]
  5. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, Boveney Ch/ParLib/CP through time | Census tables with data for the Parish-level Unit, A Vision of Britain through Time. URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10093508 Date accessed: 23 April 2016.
  6. Vision of Britain website
  7. Whatpub.com – The Garibaldi and other nearby pubs in Burnham
  8. "Magic Map Application". Magic.defra.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  9. "Google Maps – The Bee at Burnham to Beaconsfield Services M40 Junction 2" . Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  10. "Google Maps – The Bee at Burnham to Heathrow terminal 5" . Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  11. Rectors & Vicars of the Parish Church of St Peter, Burnham, GENUKI, Accessed 11 January 2022
  12. Taboo-buster: the dark side of Jimmy Carr, The Independent , 18 November 2008
  13. Tracey Ullman biography on album webpage – 'The Best of Tracey Ullman' Archived 15 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading