Great Hollands

Last updated

Great Hollands
Great Hollands, Bracknell - geograph.org.uk - 114958.jpg
Berkshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Great Hollands
Location within Berkshire
OS grid reference SU855674
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Bracknell
Dialling code 01344
Police Thames Valley
Fire Royal Berkshire
Ambulance South Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Berkshire
51°23′57″N0°46′14″W / 51.399169°N 0.770631°W / 51.399169; -0.770631

Great Hollands is a suburb of Bracknell in Berkshire, England. It takes its name from a medieval field-name of Easthampstead parish, which it was previously in. [1] Building of the estate began around 1967 as the town continued to expand.

Contents

The estate lies approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of the town centre, to the west of the A3095 road. Great Hollands is in two wards, Great Hollands North and Great Hollands South. [2]

Facilities include a shopping centre, library, community centre, the William Twigg public house and Great Hollands Primary School . There are a number of light industrial units near the shopping centre.

History

The development of Great Hollands neighbourhood was originally closely linked with the growth of the Bracknell company, Sperry, which was at the time Bracknell's largest employer. The only memory now left of this company is the concrete gyroscope, which is situated on one of the roundabouts on the Wokingham Road, opposite which Sperry's main building once stood. The site is now the Arlington Square Complex.

In the mid 1960s Sperry built an extension to its Bracknell factory so that the work of its Brentford branch could be transferred here. Houses were needed for employees, and, as a result, the development of Great Hollands neighbourhood had to be pushed ahead faster than was originally intended. The first houses were completed in 1967 but the acceleration in the building of the houses led to a longer than usual wait for the provision of other services and facilities. Great Hollands was, at that time, the furthest neighbourhood from the town and the bus service was somewhat inadequate.

Some of the first people to move to Great Hollands complained of the delay in the provision of a primary school, shops (especially a chemist) and public telephones. Temporary shops were provided (two houses in Abbotsbury were used - one a Londis store, and the other a newsagent). A community centre was improvised in converted premises (East Lodge).

Great Hollands shops in 1971 Great Hollands shops.jpg
Great Hollands shops in 1971

The population of Great Hollands had passed the 3000 mark before the neighbourhood centre known today began to take shape. Sixteen shops opened during 1971, followed somewhat later by the William Twigg public house and, later still, by a primary school.

In its fully developed form, Great Hollands has a number of features which distinguish it from some of Bracknell's original housing estates. There was a large proportion of private housing built. The neighbourhood centre was planned more comprehensively and included a small amount of light industry. The primary school, a community centre and a branch of the library were all constructed.

In 1976 the town's first purpose-built health centre opened its doors in the Great Hollands neighbourhood centre.

Traffic segregation, which was originally started when Wildridings was constructed, was considerably extended along the same lines in Great Hollands.

The neighbourhood streets branched off a circular road called Ringmead and they were all named in alphabetical order: Abbotsbury, Ambassador, Appledore and so on ending with Yardley. Many of the names were very familiar ones to the Londoners who moved here as they were the old names of the London telephone exchanges. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bracknell Forest</span> District in Berkshire, England

Bracknell Forest is a unitary authority area in Berkshire, southern England. It covers the two towns of Bracknell and Sandhurst and the village of Crowthorne and also includes the areas of North Ascot, Binfield, Warfield, and Winkfield. The borough borders Wokingham and the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead in Berkshire, and also parts of Surrey and Hampshire.

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

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bracknell</span> Town and civil parish in England

Bracknell is a 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. Bracknell is the third largest town in Berkshire.

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

Calcot, or Calcot Row, is a village in the West Berkshire unitary area of the county of Berkshire, England. Calcot straddles the historic A4 Bath Road and is between the hamlet of Horncastle, and Junction 12 of the M4 motorway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Hill Park</span> Arts centre, theatre and cinema in a former mansion in Bracknell, England

South Hill Park is a 24-acre (9.7 ha) English country house and its grounds, now run as an arts centre. It lies in the Birch Hill estate to the south of Bracknell town centre, in Berkshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wokingham (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom 1885-1918 and from 1950 onwards

Wokingham is a constituency in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 1987 by John Redwood, a Conservative.

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

Easthampstead is a former village and now a southern suburb of the town of Bracknell in the English county of Berkshire, although the old village can still be easily identified around the Church of St Michael and St Mary Magdalene. This building houses some of the finest stained glass works of Sir Edward Burne-Jones.

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

Adeyfield was the first planned neighbourhood to be built in the postwar new town expansion of Hemel Hempstead, in the English county of Hertfordshire. The keys to the first houses to be occupied, in Homefield Road, were handed over to their tenants in February 1950. The Queens Square shopping parade was visited by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 July 1952, to lay the first foundation slab of St. Barnabas Church.

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

Brickhill is a civil parish and electoral ward within northern Bedford in Bedfordshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Easthampstead Park</span>

Easthampstead Park is a Victorian mansion in the civil parish of Bracknell in the English county of Berkshire. It is now a conference centre.

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

Birch Hill is a southern suburb of Bracknell, originally part of the now-defunct civil parish of Easthampstead, in the English county of Berkshire. Although Birch Hill is a separate ward in Bracknell Town Council it is combined with Hanworth to form Hanworth ward in Bracknell Forest Council. The Birch Hill estate was built in the 1970s on the slightly higher ground above South Hill Park, a Georgian and Victorian country house in parkland with two lakes, now an arts centre. Birch Hill is bounded by Hanworth to the west, Crown Wood and Forest Park to the north-east, Easthampstead to the north and Nine Mile Ride and the Crown plantations of Swinley Forest to the south.

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

Hanworth is a southern suburb of Bracknell, originally part of the now-defunct civil parish of Easthampstead, in the English county of Berkshire. The Hanworth estate was built in the 1970s upon the site of the wooded Hanworth Plantation. It is bounded by Birch Hill to the east, Great Hollands to the north-west, Easthampstead and the Church Hill estate to the north and the Nine Mile Ride and Crown plantations at Crowthorne Woods to the south. The Iron Age hill fort of Caesar's Camp is basically at Hanworth, although it has been transferred to the parish of Crowthorne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amen Corner, Berkshire</span> Human settlement in England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bracknell Forest Council</span>

Bracknell Forest Council, also known as Bracknell Forest Borough Council is the local authority of Bracknell Forest in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined.

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

Harmans Water is a suburb of Bracknell, in the English county of Berkshire, formerly part of the parish of Winkfield. It takes its name from Harman's Water Lake, long gone. Building of the estate began around 1960 and was the fourth and last estate to be built as part of the original plan for the new town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bullbrook</span> Suburb of Bracknell , in the English county of Berkshire, formerly part of the parish of Winkfield

Bullbrook is a suburb of Bracknell, in the English county of Berkshire, formerly part of the parish of Winkfield. It is named after the Bull Brook which runs through the area, although most of the brook now runs underground in culverts. Bullbrook is one of the earlier estates of Bracknell and was built in the late 1950s.

Home Farm is a suburb of Bracknell, in Berkshire, England.

King's Academy Easthampstead Park is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Bracknell, Berkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennett's Park</span> Human settlement in England

Jennett's Park is a suburb of Bracknell in the English county of Berkshire. It is a recent development with the first residents moving there in 2007. It is in Great Hollands North ward of Bracknell Forest Council.

References

  1. ↑ "History of the Hamlets of Easthampstead, Berkshire". David Nash Ford. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "Elections - ward maps". Bracknell Forest Council. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "About Great Hollands". Great Hollands Community Website. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.