Binfield, Berkshire
| Binfield | |
|---|---|
 All Saints Church |
|
 Binfield
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| Binfield shown within Berkshire | |
| Population | 7,880 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SU8471 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRACKNELL |
| Postcode district | RG42 |
| Dialling code | 01344 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Binfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest borough of Berkshire, England. According to the 2011 census it has a population of 8,689. The village lies 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Bracknell, 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Wokingham, 8 miles (13 km) south east of Reading and is located on the westernmost extremity of the Greater London Urban Area.
The name is derived from the Old English beonet + feld and means "open land where bent-grass grows". The surrounding forest was cleared after the Enclosure Act of 1813 when Forestal Rights were abolished and people bought parcels of land for agriculture; it was at this point that villages like Binfield expanded, when there was work for farm labourers. The local hundred of Beynhurst has a similar derivation. Billingbear is the north-western portion of Binfield parish, although Billingbear Park, near Shurlock Row, is over the border, in the parish of Waltham St Lawrence.
The Stag and Hounds was reportedly used as a hunting lodge by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I and an elm tree outside it (the stump of which was finally removed in 2004 – it was ravaged by Dutch Elm Disease in the 1970s) was said to mark the centre of Windsor Forest. John Constable spent his honeymoon at the Rectory in 1816 and sketched 'All Saints Church' twice. It is also said to have been a refuge for a number of Parliamentary soldiers during the Civil War. The lodge became a coaching inn in 1727. The 18th-century travel writer, William Cobbett, once stayed there and wrote that it was "a very nice country inn". He called nearby Bracknell a "bleak and desolate" place.
All Saints Church (7th century) is mostly mid-19th century, but has some ancient fittings. Of particular note is the 17th century hourglass and elaborate iron stand. It features the arms of the Farriers' Company of London. The famous poet, Alexander Pope, lived at Pope's Manor in Popeswood and sang in the church choir as a boy in the early 1700s.
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