Bracknell Forest

This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  "Bracknell Forest"  –  news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this message )

Bracknell Forest
Unitary authority, borough
From left to right Top: Bracknell town skyline Middle: Wellington College in Crowthorne and College Road, College Town Bottom: St Michael's Church in Sandhurst and Bracknell Forest
Shown within Berkshire
Coordinates: 51°25′01″N0°44′49″W / 51.417°N 0.7469°W / 51.417; -0.7469
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	South East England
Ceremonial Counties	Berkshire
Status	Unitary authority
Incorporated	1 April 1974
Admin HQ	Bracknell
Government
• Type	Unitary authority
• Body	Bracknell Forest Borough Council
• Leadership	Leader & Cabinet (Labour)
•  MPs:	Peter Swallow (Lab) Joshua Reynolds (Lib Dem)
Area
• Total	42.23 sq mi (109.38 km2)
• Rank	191st (of 296)
Population  (2022)
• Total	126,881
• Rank	188th (of 296)
• Density	3,000/sq mi (1,200/km2)
Ethnicity (2021 census) [1]
•  Ethnic groups	List 86.1% White 7.1% Asian 3.1% Mixed 2.4% Black 1.3% other
Religion (2021) [1]
•  Religion	List 47.5% Christianity 40.4% no religion 10.3% other 1.8% Islam
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	00MA (ONS) E06000036 (GSS)
OS grid reference	SU871694
ISO 3166-2	GB-BRC
Website	www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk

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.

Contents

• History
• Geography
• Demographics
• Industry
• Education
• Swinley Forest
• Civil parishes
• References
• External links

History

The district was formed as Easthampstead Rural District under the Local Government Act 1894 as a successor to the Easthampstead rural sanitary district. Originally a small rural district, its population was about 20,000 during World War II. Bracknell, in the district, was one of the first post-war new towns to be designated, and became a civil parish in 1955, created from parts of Binfield, Easthampstead, Warfield and Winkfield parishes. Bracknell had originally been a hamlet at the far south-west of Warfield parish.

The district's population rose rapidly, and reached 64,135 by the 1971 census. ^[2] In 1974 the district was reconstituted as the non-metropolitan district of Bracknell under the Local Government Act 1972. ^{[3] [4]} It changed its name in May 1988 to Bracknell Forest, at the same time as it was granted borough status.

On 1 April 1998, Berkshire County Council was abolished, as a consequence of the Banham Review, and Bracknell Forest Borough Council became a unitary authority. From 2008, references to 'borough' were phased out in favour of simply Bracknell Forest Council.

Since 1973, Bracknell Forest has been twinned with Opladen in Germany, continued by Leverkusen after Opladen's incorporation in 1975.

There are 265 Listed Buildings in the borough of which 254 are Grade II, 10 are Grade II* and 1 is Grade I.^{[ citation needed ]}

There are five sites in the borough included on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens: Ascot Place, Broadmoor Hospital, Newbold College, South Hill Park and Windsor Great Park. ^[5]

Bracknell Forest Borough Council's offices at Time Square in Market Street were featured in an episode of Road Wars on 4 February 2010 when a pursuit ended in the carpark. ^[6]

Geography

Two rivers run through Bracknell Forest: the River Blackwater forms the borough's southern boundary, and the Cut meanders through the northern parishes. These receive water from small streams within the borough namely the Bull Brook in the north which feeds into the Cut and the Wish stream which flows into the River Blackwater. The built and developed proportion of the Borough amounts to about 35% of the total land area. Extensive forests cover more than 20% of the total area, consisting principally of parts of Windsor Forest; predominantly conifer plantation owned and managed by the Crown Estate and Forestry Commission. Agricultural land covers 24% of the land, located mainly in the north of the borough.

More than 20% of the borough is recognised as being of a high wildlife value and protected by some form of designation. Nine sites in Bracknell Forest are designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), comprising 1911.5 hectares or 17.48% of the Borough's total area. The largest, Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods & Heaths SSSI was designated in 2001 to include the majority of Swinley Forest.

The Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (SPA), 1356 hectares of which lie within Bracknell Forest (Sandhurst to Owlsmoor Bogs and Heaths SSSI and the Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths SSSI), supports nationally important populations of Dartford warblers, nightjars and woodlarks, all of which are Annex I species of the Birds Directive, and a small breeding population of hobbies, an important migratory species in a European context.

Demographics

Bracknell Forest is generally affluent (ranked 291 out of 326 on the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010, Rank of Average Score) ^[7] with significantly lower than average unemployment levels. Property prices and levels of car ownership are significantly higher than the national average. ^[8] However deprivation does exist in the borough -central Bracknell is within the 30% most deprived areas in England, with several other parts of the town also within the more deprived half of England. In contrast, almost all of Crowthorne, Sandhurst, and the borough's rural fringes fall into the 10% least deprived areas in England. ^[9] Household incomes are also significantly lower than other areas of similar deprivation, being close to the national average. ^[10]

According to the Office for National Statistics figures the borough's population is 113,696. ^[11] 77% of the borough's population, aged between 16 and 74 years are economically active with the service sector employing the largest proportion, 46.4% of this group. Only 11% of the population is of pensionable age, compared to a national average of 18%, with 7% being over 75 years old. ^[8]

There are many distinctive local geographical communities within Bracknell Forest, from Sandhurst and Crowthorne in the south, the semi-rural communities of Binfield, Winkfield and Warfield in the north and the former new town of Bracknell in the centre, which contains most of the Borough's commercial and industrial areas. ^[12]

With respect to ethnicity, according to the Office for National Statistics, the vast majority of the Borough's residents (89.6%) consider themselves to be 'White'. The second largest group is defined as 'Asian' at 4.34%, third as 'Black' at 2.35%, fourth as Mixed at 1.82%. ^[13] With regard to religious affiliation, the population is predominantly Christian (77.8%), followed by those who have no religion (19.4%), Hindus (1.1%), Muslims (0.7%), Buddhists (0.3%), other religions (0.3%), Jews (0.2%) and Sikhs (0.2%). ^[14]

The population is quite healthy comparing well regionally and nationally with life expectancy at 80.15 years. ^[15]

Industry

Bracknell Forest is a base for high-tech industries and home to companies such as Panasonic, Fujitsu (formerly ICL) and Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Sharp Corporation, Tracks Laser & Electronics and LSI Corporation. The software development and computer services side of the industry also thrives in Bracknell Forest and includes companies like Cable and Wireless, Honeywell, Avnet, Novell, and RSA Security. Pharmaceutical and engineering companies also draw together in Bracknell Forest, these include Boehringer Ingelheim, Syngenta, Minebea, Daler-Rowney and Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Bracknell is also home to the central Waitrose distribution centre and head office which is on a 70-acre (280,000 m²) site on the Southern Industrial Estate. Waitrose has operated from the town since the 1970s. The town is also home to the headquarters of Avis Europe.

Education

Swinley Forest

There is no forest called 'Bracknell Forest'. This name is often confused with Swinley Forest (or Woods), which is an area of the Windsor Estate between Bracknell and Bagshot. Owned and managed by the Crown Estates, it comprises 2,600 acres (11 km²) of woodland (mainly Scots pine). It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and has protected areas for the birds that live there.

It also provides some of the best mountain biking in South-East England, with many off-road 'single-track' trails available as well as plenty of fire roads. In recent years, Swinley forest has also been used as a filming location for a number of films including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2. ^[16]

Civil parishes

• Binfield
• Bracknell
• Crowthorne
• Sandhurst
• Warfield
• Winkfield

Related Research Articles

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 London, 3 miles (4.8 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 superstore 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.

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.

The Borough of Wokingham is a unitary authority area with borough status in Berkshire, England. It is named after its main town, Wokingham. Other places in the district include Arborfield, Barkham, Charvil, Earley, Finchampstead, Hurst, Remenham, Ruscombe, Shinfield, Sonning, Spencers Wood, Three Mile Cross, Twyford, Wargrave, Winnersh and Woodley. The population of Wokingham is 177,500 according to 2021 census.

Crowthorne is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 7,806 at the 2021 census. Crowthorne is the venue of Wellington College, a large co-educational boarding and day independent school, which opened in 1859, and of Broadmoor Hospital, one of England's three maximum-security psychiatric hospitals, which lies on the eastern edge of the village.

Maidenhead is a constituency in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Joshua Reynolds, a Liberal Democrat, since 2024. Following its creation at the 1997 general election, the seat was held for twenty-seven years by Conservative Member of Parliament Theresa May, who served as Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016 and as Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019.

Bracknell is a constituency in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Peter Swallow, from the Labour Party. It was created for the 1997 general election, largely replacing the abolished county constituency of East Berkshire.

Easthampstead is a former village and now a southern suburb of the town of Bracknell, in the civil parish of Bracknell, in the Bracknell Forest district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. 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.

Winkfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest unitary authority of Berkshire, England.

Bracknell Forest Borough Council is the local authority for Bracknell Forest, a unitary authority in Berkshire, England. Until 1 April 1998 it was a lower-tier district council.

Warfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire and the borough of Bracknell Forest.

East Berkshire was a county constituency in the county of Berkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Swinley Forest is a large expanse of Crown Estate woodland managed by Forestry England mainly within the civil parishes of Windlesham in Surrey and Winkfield and Crowthorne in Berkshire, England.

Broadmoor to Bagshot Woods and Heaths is a 1,696.3-hectare (4,192-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Berkshire and Surrey that extend from a minority of the parish of Crowthorne including around Broadmoor Hospital in the west to Bagshot south-east, Bracknell north-east, and Sandhurst, south. It is part of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area. Two nature reserves which are managed by the Surrey Wildlife Trust are in the SSSI, Barossa nature reserve and Poors Allotment. Broadmoor Bottom, which is part of Wildmoor Heath, also falls within the SSSI; this reserve is managed by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Caesar's Camp is an Iron Age hill fort around 2,400 years old. It is located just in Crowthorne civil parish to the south of Bracknell in the English county of Berkshire. It falls within the Windsor Forest and is well wooded, although parts of the fort have now been cleared of some trees. The area is managed by the Forestry Commission but owned by Crown Estate, and is open and accessible to the public. The hill fort covers an area of about 17.2 acres and is surrounded by a mile-long ditch, making it one of the largest in southern England.

The Cut is a river in England that rises in North Ascot, Berkshire. It flows for around 14 miles (23 km), through the rural Northern Parishes of Winkfield, Warfield and Binfield in Bracknell Forest on its way down to Bray, where it meets the River Thames just above Queens Eyot on the reach below Bray Lock, having been joined by the Maidenhead Waterways.

The Devil's Highway was a Roman road in Britain connecting Londinium (London) to Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester) via Pontes (Staines). The road was the principal route to the west of Britain during the Roman period but, whilst maintained for its easternmost section, was replaced by other routes after the demise of Roman Britain.

The 2023 Bracknell Forest Borough Council election took place on 4 May 2023, to elect all 41 members in 15 wards for Bracknell Forest Borough Council in England. The election took place on the same day as other local elections in England as part of the 2023 United Kingdom local elections. Due to a boundary review there had been a change in ward boundaries, along with a reduction in size from 42 members elected in 2019. This is the first election since 1971 where a majority of seats are outside Bracknell. The election was held alongside concurrent town and parish council elections in Binfield, Bracknell, Crowthorne, Sandhurst, Warfield, and Winkfield.

References

External links

• Official website