Bracknell
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{{infobox UK place|
|country = England
|official_name= Bracknell
|shire_district= [[Bracknell Forest]]
|shire_county = [[Berkshire]]
|region= South East England
|static_image=[[Image:Centre bracknell GB.jpg|240px|]]
|static_image_caption=<small>Charles Square, Bracknell</small>
|population= 50,131 (2001)<ref>[http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=791705&c=bracknell&d=16&e=15&g=407067&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1210617585750&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 Office for National Statistics - Neighbourhood Statistics for Bracknell (Parish)]</ref>
|constituency_westminster= [[Bracknell (UK Parliament constituency)|Bracknell]]
|post_town= BRACKNELL
|postcode_district = RG12, RG42
|postcode_area= RG
|dial_code= 01344
|os_grid_reference= SU870693
|latitude= 51.416
|longitude= -0.749
}}
'''Bracknell''' is a [[town]] in the [[Bracknell Forest]] borough of the [[England|English]] county of [[Berkshire]]. It lies 18 km (11 miles) to the south-east of [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], 16 km (10 miles) southwest of [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]] and 53 km (33 miles) west of [[London]].
The town is surrounded, on the east and south, by the vast expanse of [[Swinley Woods]] and [[Crowthorne]] Woods. The town has absorbed parts of many local outlying areas including [[Warfield]], [[Winkfield]] and [[Binfield]].
==History==
The town covers all of the old village of [[Easthampstead]] (though not all of the old parish) and the hamlet of [[Harmans Water|Ramslade]]. Easthampstead has a very long history. There is a [[Bronze Age]] [[round barrow]] at Bill Hill. [[Easthampstead Park]] was a favoured Royal hunting lodge in Windsor Forest and [[Catherine of Aragon]] was banished there until her divorce was finalised. It was later the home of the Trumbulls who were patrons of [[Alexander Pope]] from Binfield.
Bracknell is a [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] word meaning 'Bracken-covered Hiding Place'. One of the oldest buildings in the town is the 'Old Manor' [[public house]], a 17th century brick [[manor house]] featuring a number of [[priest hole]]s. Next door once stood the 'Hind's Head' coaching inn, where it is said [[Dick Turpin]] used to drink. It is believed that there were once underground tunnels between the two, along which the famous highwayman could escape from the authorities. In 1723, the [[Grenadier Guards]] had a battle with the infamous bandits called the '[[Wokingham]] Blacks' near the town.
Barack Obama's step-mother lives in Bracknell and he visited for his half-brother-in-law's Stag Night in 1998. Keiza Obama, the first wife of Barack Obama Senior, was family guest of honour at Barack Obama Junior's inauguration for the US Senate.
<ref>[http://obama.wikia.com/wiki/United_Kingdom Barack Obama Wiki]</ref>
==New town==
Bracknell was designated a [[New towns in the United Kingdom|new town]] in 1949,<ref>[http://www.englishpartnerships.co.uk/bracknell.htm English Partnerships]</ref> in the aftermath of the [[Second World War]]. The site was originally a village-come-small-town in the [[civil parish]] of [[Warfield]] in the [[Easthampstead Rural District]]. Very little of the original Bracknell is left. The location was chosen over [[White Waltham]], an alternative possibility, because the Bracknell site avoided encroaching on good quality agricultural land. It had the additional advantage of being on a railway line.
The new town was planned for 25,000 people; it was intended to occupy 1,337 hectares of land on and around ‘Old Bracknell’ in the area now covered by Priestwood, Easthampstead, Bullbrook and Harman’s Water. The existing town centre and industrial areas were to be retained with new industry brought in to provide jobs.<ref>[http://www.bfheritage.org.uk/history.php?CID=37&Title=New+Town+Development+Corporation New Town Development Corporation]</ref> However, the town has since expanded far beyond its intended size into farmland to the south, and major expansion is now, as of 2008, under way to the west of the town at Peacock Farm, and on the site of the former RAF Staff College.<ref>[http://www.englishpartnerships.co.uk/theparks.htm The Parks, Bracknell]</ref>
The town centre is a 1960s design, and considered by many to be in need of a major refurbishment. The Borough Council is therefore working in partnership with the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership ([[Legal & General]] and [[Schroders]]) to regenerate the town centre with new shops and facilities to be built.
At the heart of most Bracknell neighbourhoods is a church, a small parade of shops, a primary school, a community centre and a pub, although there is no church in Crown Wood. The neighbourhoods varied in size from 3000 to 9000. Pedestrianisation was a key idea, as was the construction of a ring road, and segregation of industrial areas from residential areas.<ref>[http://www.geographypages.co.uk/newt.htm New Town]</ref><ref>[http://www.bfheritage.org.uk/history.php?CID=38&Title=The+First++%27Neighbourhoods%27+of+the+New+Town Neighbourhoods]</ref>
A feature of a number of the estates that causes great confusion for outsiders and newcomers alike is the fact that streets only have names, not titles - in Birch Hill, Crown Wood, Great Hollands and others there is no '[[Road]]', '[[Avenue]]', '[[Street]]', just 'Frobisher', 'Jameston', 'Juniper', 'Jevington'. The residential streets are, however, named in alphabetical order starting in [[Great Hollands]], with As, through Ds, such as Donnybrook, in [[Hanworth]], Js, such as 'Jameston' and 'Jevington' in [[Birch Hill]], and beyond. The exceptions are streets in the Wimpey Homes area of the town, where street names such as Hornby Avenue and Packenham Road can be found.
==Business==
[[Image:Red lion bracknell GB.jpg|thumb|250px|right|''The Red Lion'' [[pub]] and the "3M Building", as seen in 2004.]]
The town was successful in attracting high-tech industries, and has become home to companies such as [[Panasonic]], [[Fujitsu]] (formerly [[International Computers Limited|ICL]]) and [[Fujitsu-Siemens Computers]], [[Dell]], [[Hewlett-Packard]], [[Siemens AG|Siemens]] (originally [[Nixdorf Computer AG|Nixdorf]]), [[Honeywell]], [[Cable and Wireless]] and [[Novell]]. The distibution centre for [[Waitrose]] is located in the town.
Its success subsequently spread into the surrounding [[Thames Valley]] or [[M4 corridor]], attracting [[Information Technology|IT]] firms such as [[Cable and Wireless]], [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] (subsequently [[Hewlett-Packard]]), [[Microsoft]], [[Sharp Corporation|Sharp Telecommunications]], [[Oracle Corporation]], [[Sun Microsystems]] and [[Cognos]]. It is also home to the central [[Waitrose]] distribution centre and head office which is on a 70 acre site on the Southern Industrial Estate. Waitrose has operated from the town since the 1970s. Bracknell is also home to the UK headquarters of [[BMW|BMW Group]].
Manufacturing industry has largely disappeared since the 1980s. Former significant sites included Clifford's Dairy in Downshire Way and [[British Aerospace]] (originally [[Sperry|Sperry Gyroscope]]) now occupied by Arlington Square. The Thomas Lawrence brickworks on the north side of the town was famous for 'red rubber' bricks to be found in the [[Royal Albert Hall]] and [[Westminster Cathedral]], and in restoration work at [[10 Downing Street]] and [[Hampton Court Palace]].
The most visible landmark in the town centre is Winchester House, formerly owned by [[3M]] and informally known as the "3M Building", as it had the 3M logo in large illuminated red letters in a prominent place at the top of the building. It is a twelve-storey structure and it can be seen from over a mile away. It used to house the company's UK headquarters before being abandoned in favour of new premises in [[Farley Wood]] on the town's northern edge in 2004 – since then, the building has had the 3M logo removed and has been heavily vandalised inside. It is also due for demolition. The town was also the home of [[Racal]] and [[Ferranti|Ferranti Computer Systems Ltd]]. The [[Met Office]] maintained a large presence in the town until 2003, when it relocated to [[Exeter]] in Devon.
"Arlington Square", a 22 acre (8ha) business park (first stage completed in 1995), is home to several of the town's businesses. Others are on the Western and Southern industrial areas.
==Local government==
Bracknell was made a [[civil parish]] in its own right in 1955. It has a town council. Under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], the entire Easthampstead Rural District became the Bracknell District on [[1 April]] [[1974]]. It was granted [[Borough]] status, when it changed its name to [[Bracknell Forest]] in 1988. When Berkshire [[County Council]] was abolished on 1 April 1998 (and the [[Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England|non-metropolitan county]] was reclassified as a [[ceremonial county]]), [[Bracknell Forest]] became one of the [[unitary authority|unitary authorities]] which together make up Berkshire.
==Geography==
The town covers areas previously in the parishes of [[Easthampstead]], [[Warfield]], [[Binfield]] and [[Winkfield]]. The town's centre lies just north of the [[Bracknell railway station|Railway Station]] with completely pedestrianized and much undercover shopping around Princess Square, Charles Square and the Broadway. There are 'out-of-town' shops, a multiscreen [[Movie theater|cinema]] and ten pin bowling complex at the Peel Centre. Just to the west are the Western and Southern Industrial Estates, either side of the railway line. There are many residential [[suburb]]s (see settlement table below) of varying dates, the oldest being [[Priestwood]] and, of course, [[Easthampstead]] Village.
The former [[RAF Staff College]] buildings in [[Harmans Water]], now closed, was part of the [[Joint Services Command and Staff College]]. This site is now, as of 2008, being redeveloped for housing by Wimpey, with an estimated 730 houses on the college's former site. The south-western corner of the town remains rural around Easthampstead Park and the wooded Yew Tree Corner. Another new housing development called Jennett's Park is however being built nearby at Peacock Farm. There are large ponds at [[Farley Wood]] and the Easthampstead Mill Pond between [[Great Hollands]] and [[Wildridings]], and two lakes at [[South Hill Park]]. The [[Bull Brook]] emerges above ground just within the bounds of the suburb of [[Bullbrook]].
==Arts==
[[Image:SHP rear.jpg|thumb|250px|right|South Hill Park lies in Bracknell and houses an arts centre]]
In the south of the town is [[South Hill Park]], a [[mansion]] dating from 1760, although much rebuilt, that now houses a large [[Arts Centre]]. The Wilde Theatre was opened in 1984, named after [[Oscar Wilde]] who created the character 'Lady Bracknell' in his play [[The Importance of Being Earnest]].
Bracknell has been used in the filming of many TV shows and films, such as [[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]] ([[Martins Heron]]) and [[Time Bandits]] ([[Birch Hill]]).<ref>[http://www.imdb.com IMDB - Movie Database]</ref>. Waterside Park was used for the exterior of the police HQ in TV detective series [[Pie in the Sky]].
Bracknell is featured in the Playstation 3 title "Resistance: Fall of Man" set in 1951, as the location at which power conduits travel deep underground south-east England to power the Chimeran fortresses.
==Transport==
Bracknell has two railway stations, [[Bracknell railway station|Bracknell]] and [[Martins Heron railway station|Martins Heron]], both of which are on the [[Waterloo to Reading Line]], originally built by the [[London and South Western Railway]] and now operated by [[South West Trains]]. As a consequence of the frequent service on this line, Bracknell is now a major commuter centre with its residents travelling in both directions (westwards to [[Reading railway station|Reading]] and eastwards to [[London Waterloo station|London (Waterloo)]]).
The town has good road links and is situated at the end of the [[A329(M)]], mid-way between Junction 3 of the [[M3 motorway|M3]] and Junction 10 of the [[M4 motorway|M4]] motorways. A proposed motorway link between the M3 and the M4 – to be called the [[M31 motorway|M31]] – would have passed to the west of the town centre, but only the section that is now the A329(M) and the A3290 was built.<ref>[http://pathetic.org.uk/unbuilt/m31 Proposed M31]</ref>
Local bus services are provided by [[First Group]] and Courtney Coaches.
==Sport and leisure==
[[Image:TheDrySkiSlopeBracknell(AndrewSmith)Jan2006.jpg|right|thumb|234px|The dry ski slope at the [[John Nike]] Leisure Complex in nearby [[Binfield]] (photo by Andrew Smith)]]
[[Bracknell Town F.C.|Bracknell Town Football Club]] are members of the [[Southern Football League]] [[Southern Football League Division One South & West|Division One South & West]], and play their home matches at Larges Lane. The [[Bracknell Bees|Bracknell Bees Ice Hockey Club]] are former national champions, who currently play in the English Premier League. The town is also represented by teams playing rugby<ref>[http://www.bracknellrugbyclub.com Bracknell Rugby Club]</ref>, hockey<ref>[http://bracknellhockeyclub.com Bracknell Hockey Club]</ref> and cricket.<ref>[http://www.bracknellcricketclub.co.uk Bracknell Cricket Club]</ref>
The town has a large leisure centre, which includes swimming and athletics facilities, whilst there is also the Coral Reef Water Park, the Downshire Golf Complex and Esporta, the Royal County of Berkshire Club. The [[John Nike]] Leisuresport Complex houses a dry ski slope and an ice rink, and there are 2,600 acres of Crown Estate woodland at the Look Out Discovery Centre.<ref>[http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/lookout Look Out Discovery Centre]</ref> A number of organisations are active in the area, including several troops of Scouts, and the Bracknell Forest Lions Club, which was formed in 1968 to help those in need.<ref>[http://www.bracknelllions.org.uk Bracknell Lions Club]</ref>
==Education==
The area has various schools including Brakenhale School, Easthampstead Park School, [[Garth Hill College]], Ranelagh Church of England School and St Margaret Clitherow Primary School. [[Bracknell and Wokingham College]] of further education is also based in the area.
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
*[http://www.bracknelltowncouncil.gov.uk/ Bracknell Town Council]
*[http://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk Bracknell Forest Borough Unitary Authority]
*[http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/bracknell.html Royal Berkshire History: Bracknell]
*[http://www.bracknell.com Bracknell Town Centre]
*[http://www.changebracknell.com Bracknell Regeneration]
*{{PDFlink|[http://www.mvaconsultancy.com/papers/A%20Sustainable%20Transport%20Strategy%20to%20Support%20the%20Regeneration%20of%20Bracknell.pdf BFBC Report: "A Sustainable Transport Strategy to Support the Regeneration of Bracknell" (Tim Cuthbert, Jon Freer)]|~20MB}}
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{{Bracknell Forest}}
[[Category:Towns in Berkshire]]
[[Category:Bracknell Forest| ]]
[[Category:New towns in the United Kingdom]]
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