Englefield, Berkshire

Englefield

St Mark's Church
Englefield
 Englefield shown within Berkshire
Area  9.25 km2 (3.57 sq mi)
Population 286 (2011 census)[1]
    density  31/km2 (80/sq mi)
OS grid referenceSU6272
Civil parishEnglefield
Unitary authorityWest Berkshire
Ceremonial countyBerkshire
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Police Thames Valley
Fire Royal Berkshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentReading West
List of places
UK
England
Berkshire

Coordinates: 51°26′35″N 1°06′00″W / 51.443°N 1.1°W / 51.443; -1.1

Englefield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The village is mostly within the bounds of the private walled estate of Englefield House. The village is in the district of West Berkshire, close to Reading.

Battle of Englefield

In 870, the village was the site of the Battle of Englefield. This was fought between the Anglo-Saxons, under Æthelwulf, Ealdorman of Berkshire, and the Danes, and resulted in a resounding victory for the Saxons. The battle was the first of a series in the winter of 870-1. The village is thought to be named after the battle: Englefield meaning either "English field" or "warning beacon field".

Englefield House

Main article: Englefield House

Englefield House was the home of the Englefield family, supposedly from the time of King Edgar and certainly until the Elizabethan era when the present building was erected. The house eventually passed to the Benyon family.

Village

In the late 19th century, Richard Fellowes Benyon rebuilt the villagers' houses as a model estate village and provided them with such amenities as a swimming pool, soup kitchen and a new school. Today the estate, owned by a family company, the Englefield Estate, covers some 20,000 acres (8,100 ha), and its farm is a beneficiary of European Union agricultural subsidies.[2] The village relies on and contributes to the amenities and organisations in Theale and Tilehurst as well as Reading which bound it to the south and east.

Demography

2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005[1]
Output areaHomes owned outrightOwned with a loanSocially rentedPrivately rentedOtherkm² roadskm² waterkm² domestic gardensUsual residents km²
Civil parish 14 8 9 65 28 0.147 0.109 0.124 286 9.25

References

External links

Media related to Englefield, Berkshire at Wikimedia Commons

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