Bracknell () is a large town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, the westernmost area within the Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

, south of Maidenhead, southwest of Windsor and west of central

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Originally a market village and part of the Windsor Great Forest, Bracknell experienced a period of huge growth during the mid-20th century when it was declared a

new town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. Planned at first for a population of 25,000, Bracknell New Town was further expanded in the late 1960s to accommodate a population of 60,000. As part of this expansion, Bracknell absorbed many of the surrounding hamlets including Easthampstead, Ramslade and Old Bracknell. As of 2021, Bracknell Forest has an estimated population of around 113,205 (Census 2021). It is a commercial centre and the UK headquarters for several technology companies. The town is surrounded by Swinley Forest (up to Winkfield Row) and Crowthorne Woods on the east and south. The urban area has absorbed parts of many local outlying areas including Ascot,

Warfield Warfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire and the borough of Bracknell Forest. History Warfield was originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement and is recorded in the Domesday Book as ''Warwelt'' ic The name is believ ...

, Winkfield and Binfield.

History

Holy Trinity Church, Bracknell - geograph

The name Bracknell is first recorded in a Winkfield Boundary Charter of AD 942 as ''Braccan heal'', and may mean "Nook of land belonging to a man called Bracca", from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

''Braccan'' (genitive singular of a personal name) + ''heal, healh'' (a corner, nook or secret place). An early form of the town's name, ''Brakenhale'', still survives as the name of one of its schools. The town covers all of the old village of Easthampstead (though not all of the old parish) and the hamlet of Ramslade. There is a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

round barrow at Bill Hill. Easthampstead Park was a favoured royal hunting lodge in Windsor Forest and

Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously ...

was banished there until her divorce was finalised. It was later the home of the Trumbulls who were patrons of

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

from Binfield. To the north-east of the town, in the suburb of Quelm Park, is the Quelm Stone, a

standing stone A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be fou ...

, and to the south-west, just over the border in Crowthorne, is Caesar's Camp, an

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

. One of the oldest buildings in the town is the 'Old Manor'

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

, a 17th-century brick

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

featuring a number of priest holes. Next door once stood the 'Hind's Head' coaching inn, where it is said

Dick Turpin Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's trade as a butcher ea ...

used to drink. It is believed that there were once tunnels between the two, along which the famous

highwayman A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...

could escape from the authorities. Other surviving old pubs are the Red Lion and the Bull, both timber-framed and dating from before the 18th century. The oldest place of worship in the town is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

St Michael and St Mary Magdalene The Church of St Michael and St Mary Magdalene, is the Parish Church of Easthampstead, Berkshire. The parish of Easthampstead is one of the largest parishes in the Church of England. The ethos of the parish is one of traditional worship allied t ...

in Easthampstead. There has been a church there since Saxon times, although the present building dates from the mid 19th century, except for the lower portions of the Tudor tower. Holy Trinity Church near the town centre was built in 1851.

New town

Bracknell was designated a

on 17 June 1949, in the aftermath of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The site was originally a village ''cum'' small town in the

in the Easthampstead Rural District. Very little of the original Bracknell is left. The location was preferred to

White Waltham White Waltham is a village and civil parish, west of Maidenhead, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is crossed briefly by the M4 motorway, which along with the Great Western Main Line and all other roads c ...

, which was also considered, 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 over of land in and around 'Old Bracknell', in the area now occupied by Priestwood, Easthampstead, Bullbrook and Harmans Water. The existing town centre and industrial areas were to be retained with new industry brought in to provide jobs. The town has since expanded far beyond its intended size into farmland to the south. The New Town was planned on the neighbourhood principle, with a series of neighbourhoods each with a population of around 10,000 with (no more than around five minutes walk away) a church, a small parade of shops, a primary school, small business space, a community centre and a pub. The plans included pedestrianisation, the construction of a ring road around the town centre, and segregation of industrial areas from residential areas. A feature of some of the estates is that streets only have names, not odonyms – 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 in Great Hollands and

Wildridings Wildridings is a suburb of Bracknell, in Berkshire, England. The settlement lies between the A322 and A3095 roads, is approximately south-west of Bracknell town centre and is in the Wildridings and Central local council ward. Wildridings wa ...

, with As, through Ds, such as Donnybrook, in Hanworth, Js, such as 'Jameston', 'Juniper' and 'Jevington' in Birch Hill.

Regeneration

Because of Bracknell's age, it was decidedby the local authorities that it should undergo renovation. Designs and plans were submitted and rejected first time round. The council went for a second attempt and were accepted, work was due to commence early in 2008 but due to the global credit crisis, the plans were postponed. The cost is estimated at around £750 million. The regeneration will provide brand new services, a completely redeveloped town centre, 1,000 new homes and new police and bus stations. The Borough Council continues to work in partnership with the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership (comprising Legal and General and Schroder) to regenerate the town centre. The first stage of the redevelopment began with the opening of a new

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

store in December 2011. By June 2013 shops in the northern part of the town in Broadway and Crossway had been vacated. Demolition of the new town's old retro-futuristic,

Brutalist Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...

central area then began in September 2013, and was completed in December of the same year. Construction of the new centre began in February 2015. On 4 September 2015, it was announced that the new development would be known as The Lexicon. The Lexicon opened on 7 September 2017, comprising of new retail space, a 12-screen cinema which includes a 4DX screen, restaurants and cafes, completely new paving and public realm and 1300 parking spaces as well as improved access by public transport, the council having substantially refurbished the bus station in 2015. The scheme won at the Revo Awards 2018: Gold in the Re:new category and Best of the Best in the Re:turn category. Shortlisted for the Planning Awards 2017 in the Regeneration category, the scheme won Development of the Year at the 2018 Thames Valley Property Awards. The town saw visitor numbers of 16m in its first year (compared with around 4-5m prior to the town centre's demolition). The town centre rose in the retail rankings to number 33 (from 255 before redevelopment). In January 2019, the town had risen again to 29 in the retail rankings. A second retail centre, the Peel Centre, managed by Land Securities, has 2 car parks, a leisure area called ''The Point''. and includes stores Such as The Range, Sports Direct and New Look. The Point includes an Odeon multiplex 10-screen cinema and a bowling alley. Bracknell is the first post-war New Town centre to have been substantially regenerated and represents a significant exemplar development.

Demography

According to the Office for National Statistics in 2018 there were 121,676 people in Bracknell Forest. According to the 2011 Census. 94% of Bracknell residents can speak English. The second language being Nepalese, at 0.90%, followed by Polish at 0.70%, Tagalog/Filipino at 0.30% and French and Spanish, both at 0.30%. 61% of residents identify themselves as Christian. The second most common belief is 'none', with 35% of residents choosing this in the census, in third place is Hinduism at 1.61%, followed by Islam at 1.13% and Buddhism at 0.73%. The demonym for a person from Bracknell is Bracknellian.

Business

The town is home to companies such as 3M, Panasonic, Egnyte,

Fujitsu is a Japanese multinational information and communications technology equipment and services corporation, established in 1935 and headquartered in Tokyo. Fujitsu is the world's sixth-largest IT services provider by annual revenue, and the la ...

(formerly ICL),

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

, HP Inc.,

Hewlett Packard Enterprise The Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) is an American multinational information technology company based in Spring, Texas, United States. HPE was founded on November 1, 2015, in Palo Alto, California, as part of the splitting of the ...

Micron Technology Micron Technology, Inc. is an American producer of computer memory and computer data storage including dynamic random-access memory, flash memory, and USB flash drives. It is headquartered in Boise, Idaho. Its consumer products, includin ...

, Brocade Communications Systems,

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...

(originally Nixdorf), Riverbed,

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

, Intercall, Broadcom, Avnet Technology Solutions,

Novell Novell, Inc. was an American software and services company headquartered in Provo, Utah, that existed from 1980 until 2014. Its most significant product was the multi- platform network operating system known as Novell NetWare. Under the le ...

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

and Kleenway, a Royal Warrant holding chimney sweeping company based in Neuman Crescent. The Southern Industrial Area houses the head office of

. The site which houses the Waitrose head office also houses the central distribution centre. Waitrose has operated from the town since the 1970s, with a recently added supermarket in the town centre in 2011. Manufacturing industry has largely disappeared since the 1980s. Former significant sites included Clifford's Dairy in Downshire Way and

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

(originally Sperry Gyroscope) now occupied by Arlington Square, a 22-acre (8 ha) business park of which the first stage was completed in 1995. 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 The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

and

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...

, and in restoration work at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along w ...

and

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

. In the town centre was the 12-storey Winchester House, formerly owned by 3M who moved to new premises in

Farley Wood Farley Wood is a suburb in the civil parish of Binfield, approximately west of Bracknell, in the English county of Berkshire. Farley Wood is dominated by Farley Copse (sometimes known as Farley Moor Copse), a large woodland and local nature re ...

on the town's northern edge in 2004. The building was demolished and has been replaced with a large block of flats The town was also the home of Racal and Ferranti Computer Systems Ltd. The

Met Office The Meteorological Office, abbreviated as the Met Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is led by CEO Penelop ...

maintained a large presence in the town until 2003, when it relocated to

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

in Devon; however, the junction of the A329 and A3095 is still named the "Met Office Roundabout". Many businesses are located on the town's three industrial areas. Easthampstead Park in the southern suburb of Easthampstead was a conference centre owned by Bracknell Forest Borough Council. In 2019 an agreement was made between the local authority and a hotel group, Active Hospitality. The building is now leased to the company and has reopened as a hotel Fujitsu - geograph

Local government

Bracknell was made a

in its own right in 1955. Under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, the entire Easthampstead Rural District became the Bracknell District on 1 April 1974. In 1988, it was granted

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

status, and it changed its name to Bracknell Forest. When Berkshire

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

was abolished on 1 April 1998 (and the non-metropolitan county was reclassified as a

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

), Bracknell Forest became one of the six unitary authorities which together make up Berkshire. Bracknell Forest Borough Council's offices are at Time Square in Market Street.

Geography

The town covers areas previously in the parishes of Easthampstead,

, Binfield and Winkfield. The town's centre lies just north of the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

with completely pedestrianised and much undercover shopping around Princess Square, Charles Square and the Broadway. There are 'out-of-town' shops, a multiscreen 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 suburbs (see settlement table below) of varying dates, the oldest being Priestwood and, of course, Easthampstead village. The former

RAF Staff College The RAF Staff College may refer to: *RAF Staff College, Andover (active: 1922 to 1940 and 1948 to 1970) *RAF Staff College, Bulstrode Park (active: 1941 to 1948) *RAF Staff College, Bracknell The RAF Staff College at Bracknell was a Royal Air ...

buildings in Harmans Water, now closed, was part of the Joint Services Command and Staff College. From 2008, the site was redeveloped for housing by Wimpey, with an estimated 730 houses. The south-western corner of the town remains rural around Easthampstead Park and the wooded Yew Tree Corner. However, a new housing development called Jennett's Park is currently being built (from 2007) at Peacock Farm and on part of what was historically the grounds of Easthampstead Park. There are large ponds at

and the Easthampstead Mill Pond between Great Hollands and

, and two lakes at South Hill Park. The ''Bull Brook'' emerges above ground just within the bounds of the suburb of Bullbrook.

Culture

In the south of the town is South Hill Park, a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

dating from 1760, although much rebuilt, that now houses a large arts centre. The Wilde Theatre was opened in 1984, named after

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

who created the character 'Lady Bracknell' in his play ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

''. South Hill Park has been home to a number of major music festivals over the years: * 1975 – 1990s

Bracknell Jazz Festival The Bracknell Jazz Festival was a major showcase for British modern jazz in the 1980s. The festival was known for attracting a largish audience for free improvisation, modern jazz composition and all kinds of British modern jazz in general. H ...

* 1970s – 1980s Bracknell Folk Festival ("The Handsome Mouldiwarp Festival") * 1988 – Womad Festival * 1980s – 1990s – Bracknell Music Festival / South Hill Park Festival * 2000s – 2013 – Big Day Out festival, a free, annual World Music and acoustic/ folk festival Bracknell has been used in the filming of many TV shows and films, such as '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' ( Martins Heron) and '' Time Bandits'' ( Birch Hill). Bracknell is given the name 'Laxton' in the TV detective series Pie in the Sky and Waterside Park was used for the exterior of the police HQ in the same series. Bracknell has also featured in the 1991

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include " My Generation", " Pinball Wizard", " Won't Get Fooled ...

film '' Buddy's Song''. ''

The Offence ''The Offence'' is a 1973 British crime neo noir drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, based upon the 1968 stage play ''This Story of Yours'' by John Hopkins. It stars Sean Connery as police detective Johnson, who kills suspected child moles ...

'' (1972), a psychological thriller with

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

and Ian Bannen, was filmed in Bracknell. There are scenes in the town centre, on Broadway, Charles Square and Market Street. The flat for Connery's character was filmed at the listed Point Royal, and the bulk of the outdoor scenes were taken around Wildridings, specifically Arncliffe, Crossfell, Mill Pond and Mill Lane. The wages snatch scene in ''

Villain A villain (also known as a " black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. '' Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a charact ...

'' (1971), a gangster film with Richard Burton, was filmed in Ellesfield Avenue on the Southern Industrial Estate outside the former Clark Eaton glass factory, with the ICL tower block (under construction at the time) visible in the background; after the robbery the gang make their getaway along Peacock Lane nearby and hijack a car at the junction with the footpath from Tarmans Copse (now Osprey Avenue on the Jennett's Park estate). Bracknell is featured in the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

'' 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. It also featured in the sequel ''

Resistance 2 ''Resistance 2'' is a 2008 science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. The game was released in North America on November 4, 2008, in Australia o ...

'' in a similar role. The BBC show

The Wrong Mans ''The Wrong Mans'' is a British BBC Television comedy-drama series, co-produced with the American online television provider Hulu. It premiered on BBC Two on 24 September 2013 and in the United States on 11 November 2013. Considered a critica ...

is set almost entirely in Bracknell. ''

Tracy Beaker Tracy, Tracey, or Tracie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tracy (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname, also encompassing spelling variations Places United States * Tracy, C ...

'' actress Dani Harmer was brought up in Bracknell. During the 1960s, author

J.M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in ...

lived in the town and worked for an IT company. Artist Kerry Lemon was commissioned to create a number of site-specific artworks for the Lexicon town centre development. Her work includes a series of 36 unique botanical paving slabs in granite and brass designed to create a nature trail through the town centre; 15 gobo lights projecting moth drawings in light onto the pavements below; 5 cast

jesmonite Jesmonite is a composite material used in fine arts, crafts, and construction. It consists of a gypsum-based material in an acrylic resin. It was invented in the United Kingdom in 1984 by Peter Hawkins. Usage Jesmonite is a versatile material a ...

birch leaf benches with hand sculpted solid brass insects and painted brass leaf veins.

Twinning

Bracknell is twinned with Leverkusen in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, an arrangement which has existed since 1973. It was originally twinned with Opladen, which was incorporated into Leverkusen in a 1975 local government reorganisation. Each town has a square named after the other.

Transport

Rail

The town of Bracknell has two railway stations, Bracknell and Martins Heron, both of which are on the

Waterloo to Reading Line Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

, built by the London and South Western Railway and now operated by South Western Railway. Bracknell is a commuter centre with its residents travelling in both directions (westwards to

and eastwards to

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station o ...

Road

The town has good road links and is situated at the end of the A329(M) motorway, midway between Junction 3 of the M3 and Junction 10 of the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...

s. A proposed motorway link between the M3 and the M4 to be called the 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.

Bus

Bracknell bus station serves the town of Bracknell. The bus station is on The Ring in the Town Centre across the road from Bracknell railway station. The bus station consists of three long shelters each with three stands. Bus services go from Bracknell as far afield as Crowthorne,

Camberley Camberley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, approximately south-west of Central London. The town is in the far west of the county, close to the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire. Once part of Windsor Forest, Camb ...

Wokingham Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell. History Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...

, Maidenhead, Windsor and

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the ...

. Local bus services are provided by Thames Valley Buses and

Reading Buses Reading Buses is a bus operator serving the towns of Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead, Wokingham and the surrounding areas in the counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and Hampshire, England, as well as parts of Greater ...

, who also provide the Green Line services to London Victoria and

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

Air

is east of Bracknell, accessible by train from Bracknell railway station. Green Line operates a bus from Heathrow Airport to Bracknell. Courtney Buses also services this route. Blackbushe Airport in Yateley is the nearest general aviation airport located southwest of Bracknell.

Sport and leisure

Bracknell Town F.C. are members of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 t ...

South Central Division, and play their home matches at Larges Lane. The Bracknell Bees Ice Hockey Club are former national champions, who currently play in the NIHL National League. The Bracknell Blazers were the 2009 BBF National League champions. The town is also represented by teams playing rugby,

Bracknell RFC Bracknell Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Bracknell, Berkshire. The club was established in 1955 and has served the community ever since. Bracknell RFC is known for a friendly welcome and a highly dedicated executive, ...

hockey and cricket. The town has a large leisure centre, the Bracknell Leisure Centre, and the Coral Reef

Water Park A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other bare ...

. A golf course, the Downshire Golf Complex. Two tennis Clubs, the Bracknell Lawn Tennis Club and Esporta, the Royal County of Berkshire Club. There are of Crown Estate woodland at the Look Out Discovery Centre. A number of organisations are active in the area. These consist of an Army Cadet Force detachment (7 Platoon Bracknell) and the Air Training Corps (2211 Squadron), Saint John Ambulance Cadets and the Bracknell Forest Lions Club, which was formed in 1968 to help those in need.Bracknell Lions Club

Education

The area has various schools including St Joseph's Catholic Primary School,

The Brakenhale School The Brakenhale School (simply referred to as Brakenhale and formerly Borough Green City Secondary School) is an 11–18 mixed, secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Bracknell, Berkshire, England. It was formerly a community sc ...

, Garth Hill College, King's Academy Easthampstead Park and

Ranelagh Church of England School Ranelagh School is a Church of England day school in Berkshire close to the centre of Bracknell. The school was founded by Lord Ranelagh in 1709. Admissions Attendance is limited to Church of England children whose parents attend church at l ...

Bracknell and Wokingham College Bracknell & Wokingham College is a general college of further education, offering courses for school leavers, adults and employers training their staff, and based in Bracknell, Berkshire, England. The college became Bracknell & Wokingham College ...

of further education is also based in the area. The

Silwood Park Silwood Park is the rural campus of Imperial College London, England. It is situated near the village of Sunninghill, near Ascot in Berkshire. Since 1986, there have been major developments on the site with four new college buildings. Adjacent ...

campus of

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

is east of Bracknell town centre. The University of Reading is northwest, and

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

is east.

Notable people

Dani Harmer (born 8 February 1989) - actress and television personality who starred in The Story of Tracy Beaker

References

External links

Bracknell Town CouncilVideo of portion of town centre before its demolition in 2013, focusing on Crossway House
{{Authority control Towns in Berkshire New towns in England Civil parishes in Berkshire New towns started in the 1950s