Beech Hill, Berkshire
| Beech Hill | |
|---|---|
 St Mary the Virgin Church | |
  Beech Hill Location within Berkshire | |
| Area | 4.70 km2 (1.81 sq mi) |
| Population | 294 (2011 census)[1] |
| • Density | 63/km2 (160/sq mi) |
| OS grid reference | SU696644 |
| Civil parish |
|
| 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 | |
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (February 2022) |
Beech Hill is a small village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is in the south east of the West Berkshire unitary authority area and bounds Hampshire and Wokingham district.
Etymology
[edit]Beech Hill is a Norman name derived from the family of De La Bec, usually resident at Aldworth, but who also had a home at Beaumys Castle, just over the parish boundary in Swallowfield.[citation needed]
Geography
[edit]Beech Hill stretches from the River Loddon, just west of the A33 in the east, to Trunkwell in the west and to Clappers Farm in the north, and to the Hampshire border, above Fair Cross, in the south. The village sits on a small hill above the Loddon Valley at the junction of Beech Hill Road and Wood Lane. The Foudry Brook, a tributary of the River Kennet, and the Reading–Basingstoke railway line, run through the north of the parish.
Natural conservation areas
[edit]The Stanford End Mill and River Loddon site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is partially within the parish, just to the south east of the village.[2]
History
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The Camlet Way - the Roman Road which runs south-west from Verulamium, modern St. Albans - joins the Devil's Highway at Fair Cross on Beech Hill's southern border and continues on westward to Calleva Atrebatum, modern Silchester.[citation needed] On the Beech Hill side is The Priory, a 17th-century house on the site of Stratfield Saye Priory which was founded on the site of an old hermitage in 1170 and dissolved in 1399.[citation needed] Beech Hill House, of 1720, stands on the eastern side of the village. It is a Grade II listed building.[4] Trunkwell House, on the west side, was originally the Tudor home of the Noyes family, the current English country house at Trunkwell was built in 1878[citation needed] for a successful local business family and is now a hotel and restaurant. It is associated with the local pub, The Elm Tree Inn. The Church of England parish church of St Mary the Virgin was built in 1867 by William Butterfield and is Grade II* listed.[5]
Transport
[edit]The nearest railway station is Mortimer, 1.7 miles (2.7 km) east of the village, with services to Reading and Basingstoke.
Governance
[edit]Beech Hill was originally part of the parish of Stratfield Saye, a cross-county-border parish, most of which was in Hampshire. The part in Berkshire became a civil parish in its own right in 1894.[citation needed] In the 16th century, it was part of the hundred of Theale, but was later transferred to the hundred of Reading which effectively ceased to function after 1886. By 1875, Beech Hill had become part of the Bradfield rural sanitary district which, in 1894, became the Bradfield Rural District. From 1974 to 1998, it was part of the district of Newbury which is now the West Berkshire unitary authority. It is represented at Westminster by the MP for Wokingham.
Demography
[edit]| Output area | Homes owned outright | Owned with a loan | Socially rented | Privately rented | Other | km2 roads | km2 water | km2 domestic gardens | Usual residents | km2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civil parish | 48 | 41 | 15 | 22 | 1 | 0.1 | 0.02 | 0.1 | 294 | 4.70 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Key Statistics: Dwellings; Quick Statistics: Population Density; Physical Environment: Land Use Survey 2005". Archived from the original on 11 February 2003. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
- ^ Magic Map Application
- ^ Broomfield, M. (4 October 2016) [31 August 2016]. "Finds record for: SUR-67ED35". The Portable Antiquities Scheme. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
- ^ Historic England (25 October 1951). "Beech Hill House (Grade II) (1135763)". National Heritage List for England.
- ^ Historic England (14 April 1967). "Church of St Mary the Virgin (Grade II*) (1117135)". National Heritage List for England.
External links
[edit]
- Beech Hill Village Web Site
- Royal Berkshire History: Beech Hill
- Beech Hill Memorial Hall Web Site
- The Elm Tree Web Site
