Farnham Common | |
---|---|
Location within Buckinghamshire | |
OS grid reference | SU961850 |
Civil parish | |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | SLOUGH |
Postcode district | SL2 |
Dialling code | 01753 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Buckinghamshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
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.
Farnham Royal [1] was the main village with its church of St Mary's, shops, cottages and village pump situated in the centre junction of the cross roads. Farnham Common was known as 'Up End', being the common land of the parish where the livestock was grazed at certain times of the year. As this common area became more populated it became known as Farnham Common.
Farnham Common is on the border of Burnham Beeches, the well known Beech forest owned by the City of London Corporation, having been given to the people of London as a place in the country for their recreation and pleasure. [2] In the 1920s it was very common for coach loads of Londoners to come down for the day at weekends having tea at the tea rooms and enjoying the donkey rides.
A few of the large old houses still remain such as Yew Place, Farnham Park House and the home of Caldicott. Yew Place was formerly known as The Rectory, part of which dates back to the time of King John. The original farmhouse was given to a coachman in the service of the Earl of Warwick. The Chase, now known as Farnham Park House, was owned by Mr Carr Gomme, a very influential member of the community, being one of the main organisers of fund-raisers for the building of St John's Church. The house passed into the hands of Sir Gomer Berry, later Lord Kemsley, who had the organ dismantled from Farnham Park House and gave it to St John's Church. In 1948 Farnham Park house became the Farnham Park Rehabilitation Centre, a renowned sports injury hospital owned by the East Berkshire Health Authority until its closure in 1988. In 1996 Farnham Park House was re-established as a private residence.
Caldicott is large house situated on the edge of Burnham Beeches and was once owned by Mrs Harvey who gave money for the extension of Farnham Common Village Hall. Caldicott is now a boys' preparatory school.
A few names of note who have been associated with Farnham Common have been the artist Rex Whistler's mother, who lived in The Small House in Burnham Beeches; J. M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan and Enid Blyton, the children's author. In Burnham Beeches there is a large beech tree under which Felix Mendelssohn used to sit and compose some of his works in 'peaceful splendour'. Joan Hammond, the opera singer, lived in the part of the village known as Egypt. The Moore family live in the village and hold the record of three generations of one family representing Great Britain in the Olympic Games, Major George Moore having competed in 1948, Lieut. Col. John Moore, his son, in 1956, 1960 and 1964 and Lieut. Mark Moore, his grandson, in 1984. Lieut. Col. John Moore was appointed OBE for his services to skiing. Lois Allan invented Fuzzy Felt in her cottage in the village during World War II.
More recently, Burnham Beeches has been used as a film set for some of the Harry Potter films, [3] including the Order of the Phoenix and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.
A small high street includes numerous businesses, stores, eateries and shops.
The National Baseball & Softball Complex at Farnham Park is located just south of the village, between Farnham Royal and Slough. It is the home of the Great Britain Baseball and Great Britain Softball Olympic National Teams, and is the largest complex of its kind in the United Kingdom.
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.
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the east, Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, and Oxfordshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Milton Keynes, and the county town is Aylesbury.
Britwell, often referred to as 'Crack City' amongst its residents, 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.
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.
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.
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.
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, the Maidenhead built-up area had a population of 67,375. 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 gives its name to the Maidenhead constituency, which extends beyond the town to also include various nearby villages.
Beaconsfield is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, 23+1⁄2 miles northwest of central London and 16 miles southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within five miles : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe.
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.
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.
Farnham Royal is a village and civil parish within Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the south of the county, immediately north of Slough, and around 22 miles west of Charing Cross, Central London. Within the parish boundary is the village of Farnham Common and the hamlet of Farnham Park.
South Bucks was one of four local government districts in the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in South East England.
Burnham Beeches is a 374.6-hectare (926-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest situated west of Farnham Common in the village of Burnham, Buckinghamshire. The southern half is owned by the Corporation of London and is open to the public. It is also a National Nature Reserve and a Special Area of Conservation.
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.
Beaconsfield is a constituency in Buckinghamshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Joy Morrissey of the Conservative Party. She succeeded Independent and former Conservative Dominic Grieve, whom she defeated following his suspension from the party. The constituency was established for the February 1974 general election.
Caldicott Preparatory School is a prep school for boys aged 7–13 in southern Buckinghamshire, England.
Dropmore Park is a private estate located along Dropmore Road, north of Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England, about 220 acres (89 ha) in size. The park with its buildings, including Dropmore House, have Grade I listed building status. Dropmore House is one of the most important buildings in south Buckinghamshire.
The Thorney Interchange is a large motorway intersection in the UK, between the M4 and M25. It is one of the busiest motorway interchanges in the country. It lies on the edges of Buckinghamshire, Greater London and Berkshire, and is close to Surrey and Staines-upon-Thames.
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.
Media related to Farnham Common at Wikimedia Commons