Wokefield | |
---|---|
Hamlet and civil parish | |
Wokefield Park | |
Location within Berkshire | |
Population | 416 (2011 Census) [1] |
OS grid reference | SU677660 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | READING |
Postcode district | RG7 |
Dialling code | 0118 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Royal Berkshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Wokefield is a hamlet and civil parish in the West Berkshire district of Berkshire, England, south of Reading. The parish includes the hamlets of Goddard's Green and Bloomfield Hatch. It also includes part of the former parish of Sulhamstead and Grazeley.
To the north of the parish are Burghfield and Burghfield Common, to the east is Shinfield, and to the south are Stratfield Mortimer and Mortimer Common. It lies between 40 m (130 ft) and 95 m (312 ft) above sea level.
Wokefield Common is an area of mixed woodland on the northern border of the parish. It has been declared a Wildlife Heritage Site by West Berkshire Council's Countryside Service, and is described as a quiet site with a network of paths leading through tall pine and broadleaf woodland, ponds, small areas of heather and rich wet gullies. Of particular significance are the heathland areas which support rare species including slowworms, grass snakes and adders. [2] The 60-hectare (0.60 km2) site is jointly managed by the Countryside Service, the landowner and Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. [3] The main entrance is on Goring Lane on the outskirts of Burghfield. [4] Several public bridleways and public footpaths cross the common.[ citation needed ] There are several smaller woods and coppices, including Pitchkettle Wood, Rookery Wood, Bell Copse and Pond Wood. Much of the rest of the parish is agricultural and there are several farms in the parish.[ citation needed ]
Burghfield Brook lies at the northern border of Wokefield Common. A feature of this watercourse is Pullens Pond, formed where the brook is dammed by a forest access road within the common. To the east of this area the brook continues into a small valley, Burghfield Slade, which contains a larger reservoir. It then continues to the northeast, leaving the parish, and feeds into Foudry Brook. Lockram Brook runs northeast through the parish via Millbarn Pond, joining Burghfield Brook near Grazeley Green.
The 18th-century mansion of Wokefield Park was the home of Alfred Palmer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It later served as St Benedict's School before becoming a community home. It is now a hotel and conference centre with its own golf course. [5] The building is a Grade II* listed building. [6]
Pingewood is a hamlet in the civil parish of Burghfield, to the south of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It lies to the Southwest of Burghfield Bridge The name Pingewood derives from the old Celtic word 'pen' meaning head, peak, tip or end. The 'ge' is a contraction of the Celtic word for wood, 'coed'. When the Saxons moved into the area in the 5th century, they did not understand the meaning and added their own descriptive word 'wood' on the end.
Foudry Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises from a number of springs near the Hampshire village of Baughurst, and flows to the east and then the north, to join the River Kennet to the south of Reading. The upper section is called Silchester Brook, and beyond that, Bishop's Wood Stream. The underlying geology is chalk, covered by a layer of clay, and so it has the characteristics of a clay stream, experiencing rapid increases in level after heavy rain due to run-off from the surrounding land. It passes a number of listed buildings and scheduled monuments, including the site of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum or Silchester.
Wokefield Park is an 18th-century country house, situated in the parish of Wokefield, near Mortimer, in the English county of Berkshire. It is currently run as an events venue.
Sulhamstead is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. It occupies an approximate rectangle of land south of the (Old) Bath Road (A4) between Reading, its nearest town and Thatcham. It has several small clusters of homes and woodland covering about a fifth of the land, in the centre and north beside which is Thames Valley Police's main Training Centre at Sulhamstead House. Its main amenities are its Church of England parish church and a shop and visitor centre by the Kennet & Avon Canal.
Stratfield Mortimer is a village and civil parish, just south of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire and unitary authority area of West Berkshire.
Burghfield is a village and large civil parish in West Berkshire, England, with a boundary with Reading. Burghfield can trace its history back to before the Domesday book, and was once home to three manors: Burghfield Regis, Burghfield Abbas and Sheffield. Since the 1980s the population of Burghfield has nearly doubled with the construction of many new housing estates, making it a dormitory for Reading, Newbury, Basingstoke and the M4 corridor which crosses the north of the parish.
Blakenhall is a small village and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, about 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Nantwich. It lies on the county boundary with Staffordshire. The parish has an area of 654 hectares and also includes the small settlements of The Den and Gonsley Green, with a total population of 125 in 2001. Nearby villages include Wybunbury in Cheshire and Betley and Wrinehill in Staffordshire. Blakenhall was first recorded in the Domesday survey as Blachenhale, and the parish had one of Cheshire's early ironworks in the 17th and 18th centuries. The area is rural and predominantly agricultural, with small areas of ancient woodland and the nature reserve of Blakenhall Moss, a rejuvenating lowland raised bog. The Crewe-to-Stafford railway line runs through the parish and it is on the proposed route of HS2.
Grazeley is an area covering the small villages of Grazeley in the civil parish of Shinfield and Grazeley Green in the civil parish of Wokefield, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. To the east is the village of Spencers Wood, to the west is Wokefield and to the south is Beech Hill.
Hatherton is a hamlet and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The hamlet is located on the B5071 at SJ687474, 2+3⁄4 miles (4.4 km) to the north east of Audlem and 3+3⁄4 miles (6.0 km) to the south east of Nantwich. The civil parish has an area of 673 hectares and also includes the small settlements of Birchall Moss, Broomlands and part of Artlebrook, with a total population of 360 in 2011. Nearby villages include Hankelow, Stapeley, Walgherton, Wybunbury, Blakenhall and Buerton. The A529 runs through the parish and the River Weaver forms the western boundary.
Goddard's Green is a hamlet and part of the civil parish of Wokefield in Berkshire, England. The settlement lies between the villages of Burghfield Common and Mortimer Common, and is located approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south-east of Reading. The Garth and South Berks Hunt had kennels here until 2002.
Mortimer Common, generally referred to as Mortimer, is a village in the civil parish of Stratfield Mortimer in Berkshire. Mortimer is in the local government district of West Berkshire and is seven miles south-west of Reading.
Lockram Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises near the Berkshire village of Mortimer, and is a tributary of Burghfield Brook.
Burghfield Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises in Wokefield Common between the Berkshire villages of Mortimer and Burghfield Common. It is a tributary of Foudry Brook, which it joins near Hartley Court Farm, just to the south of the M4 motorway.
Clayhill Brook is a small stream in southern England, in the county of Berkshire.
The Teg is a small stream in southern England, in the county of Berkshire. It rises in Burghfield Common and flows northwards and then eastwards to join Burghfield Brook, a tributary of Foudry Brook.
Fancott Woods and Meadows is a 13.3-hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest near the hamlet of Fancott in Bedfordshire. It was notified under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the local planning authority is Central Bedfordshire Council. The site is managed by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.
Decoy Pit, Pools and Woods is a 17.7-hectare (44-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Aldermaston in Berkshire. An area of 8 hectares is a nature reserve called Decoy Heath, which is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
Bucklebury Common is an elevated common consisting of woodland with a few relatively small clearings in the English county of Berkshire, within the civil parish of Bucklebury centred 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Thatcham and encircling the settled localities of Upper Bucklebury and Chapel Row. It is one of the largest commons in Southern England covering 350 hectares. Since Inclosure the area is privately owned by the Bucklebury Manor estate, but has public access on a network of public rights of way bolstered by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
Padworth Common Local Nature Reserve is a 28-hectare (69-acre) Local Nature Reserve on the edge of the hamlet of Padworth Common, between Reading and Newbury in Berkshire. It is owned by West Berkshire Council and managed by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.
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