Beech Hill, Berkshire
Beech Hill | |
St.Mary the Virgin Church |
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Beech Hill |
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Area | 4.70 km2 (1.81 sq mi) |
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Population | 294 (2011 census)[1] |
– density | 63/km2 (160/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | SU696644 |
Civil parish | Beech Hill |
Unitary authority | West Berkshire |
Ceremonial county | Berkshire |
Region | South East |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | READING |
Postcode district | RG7 |
Dialling code | 0118 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Royal Berkshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
EU Parliament | South East England |
Coordinates: 51°22′27″N 0°59′57″W / 51.3743°N 0.9992°W
Beech Hill is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is in the south east of the West Berkshire district (a unitary authority) and bounds Hampshire and Wokingham district. The Foudry Brook, a tributary of the Kennet, and the Reading to Basingstoke Line, run through the north of the parish.
Local government
Beech Hill was originally part of the parish of Stratfield Saye, a cross-county-border parish, most of which was in Hampshire. The Berkshire part became a civil parish in its own right in 1894. 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. Since 1974, it has been part of the district of Newbury, now called West Berkshire.
History
The Camlet Way - the Roman Road which runs south-west from Verulamium (St. Albans) - joins the Devil's Highway at Fair Cross on Beech Hill's southern border and continues on westward to Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester). Beech Hill is a Norman name derived from the family of De La Beche, usually resident at Aldworth, but who also had a home at Beaumys Castle, just over the parish boundary in Swallowfield. On the Beech Hill side is 'The Priory', a 17th-century house on the site of Stratfield Saye Priory founded on the site of an old hermitage in 1170. It only lasted 200 years. Beech Hill House, of 1720, stands on the eastern side of the village and Trunkwell House on the west. Originally the Tudor home of the Noyes family, the current country house at Trunkwell was built in 1878 for a successful local business family and is now a well-known restaurant and conference venue. It is associated with the local pub, The Elm Tree Inn. The parish church (CofE) was built in 1867.
Demography
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
- Nearby towns: Reading
- Nearby villages: Stratfield Mortimer, Spencers Wood, Swallowfield
- List of civil parishes in Berkshire
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beech Hill, Berkshire. |
- Beech Hill Village Web Site
- Royal Berkshire History: Beech Hill
- Beech Hill Memorial Hall Web Site
- The Elm Tree Web Site