Arborfield Cross is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Arborfield and Newland in the

Borough of Wokingham Wokingham, or the Borough of Wokingham, is a local government district with borough status in Berkshire, England. Since 1998 its council has been a unitary authority, having taken on county-level functions when Berkshire County Council wa ...

in the English county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

Location

It is situated at what was a cross-roads but is now a roundabout on the A327 road, 3 miles south-east of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, 3 miles west of

Wokingham Wokingham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is the main administrative centre of the wider Borough of Wokingham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 38,284 and the wider built-up area had a populati ...

, and half a mile to the east of the smaller village of

Arborfield Arborfield is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Arborfield and Newland, in the Borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. It is about south-east of Reading, about west of Wokingham. It lies about west of the village o ...

. Recently, both Arborfield and Arborfield Cross have become collectively known as Arborfield, there are no signs marking the boundary of Arborfield Cross.

Amenities

The village features a diverse range of residential architecture, ranging from beautiful 15th-century cottages through to modern housing. It includes five listed properties, including the Grade II listed Arborfield Court. The Swan

Inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...

, formerly the local

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, closed its doors in 2019. Another prominent establishment in the village is the Grade II listed Bull

, located near a farm park. Additional amenities include a village store and a garage where drivers can get their cars washed. Historically, the village hosted an annual charitable music event, Rock in the Rec, held each summer on a Saturday until its discontinuation in 2010. The park is home to the Arborfield Football Club. The southern section of the village houses a

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...

Club, while the Henry Street Garden Centre is located to the west. Educational services are provided by the Coombes

Primary School A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, which is situated adjacent to the Coombes Woods. There is a war memorial cross that commemorates the 31 people from Arborfield, Newland and

Barkham Barkham is a village and civil parish in the borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England, located around southwest of the town of Wokingham. History Barkham dates back to 951, when a Saxon thane gave ''Bloreham'' to the monks of Abingdon Abb ...

who died or went missing in both world wars.

Royal Connection

In the winter of 1924,

The Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

(later Edward VIII and Duke of Windsor) suffered a heavy fall at the first fence of a race for Lord Cavan's Cup held at the Arborfield Cross Point-to-Point meeting. The Prince, who was known for his daredevil horsemanship, something that his father,

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

, tried to stop, was concussed for approximately half an hour. This led to questions being raised in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

as to the safe well-being of the Prince, and the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

wrote to the Prince on 19 March 1924, appealing to the Prince to give up competitive riding. A subsequent letter to the Prince from his father, dated 30 March 1924, asked for similar but confirmed that the Prince could still enjoy hunting and playing polo.

References

External links

Villages in Berkshire Borough of Wokingham {{Berkshire-geo-stub