Bracknell, Berkshire

A New Town

Evidence of human occupation in and around Bracknell can be traced back as far as the Bronze Age, over 2000 years ago. Bill Hill open space in Bracknell is a scheduled burial mound, known as a bowl barrow, dating back to this period, and although there is no evidence above ground today, past excavations have revealed there was once also a settlement at Cabbage Hill in Warfield. Caesar's Camp to the south of the town, wrongly thought to be a Roman settlement due to its prime location by the main Roman link between London and Silchester, is in fact an Iron Age Hill Fort built between 500 and 700 BC. Situated on a natural spur the settlement would have had a wooden palisade of tree trunks around it and would have been a community centre and base as well as a refuge in times of attack.

The first mention of the name Bracknell appeared in a 10th Century Saxon document. Spelt as "Braccan Heal" the name was thought to mean a piece of land belonging to "Bracca" in a projecting spur of the parish. This community developed at the junction of two major routes through Windsor Forest, at that time the king's major hunting grounds.

Its situation and good communications brought prosperity, and there are fine Victorian mansions set in striking estates at Easthampstead Park, and Lily Hill Park. South Hill Park, now home to one of the country's largest arts centres, is a Georgian mansion house set in its own beautiful gardens. Binfield, to the north of the town, was the home of the poet Alexander Pope.

Following the destruction caused by the Second World War, eight New Towns were built within a 30 mile radius of London. Designed to become self-contained communities combining the convenience of town life with the advantages of the country. Bracknell was one of these eight, and expansion began promptly with the creation of neighbourhoods, such as Priestwood, Easthampstead, Bullbrook and Harmans Water in the 1950s.