Bracknell
Bracknell
is a town in the Bracknell Forest borough of the English
county of Berkshire. It lies 18 km (11 miles) to the
south-east of Reading, 16 km (10 miles) southwest of
Windsor and 53 km (33 miles) west of London.
The
town is surrounded, on the east and south, by the vast
expanse of Swinley Woods and Crowthorne Woods. The town
has absorbed parts of many local outlying areas including
Warfield, Winkfield and Binfield.
The town covers all of the old village of Easthampstead
(though not all of the old parish) and the hamlet of
Ramslade. Easthampstead has a very long history. There
is a Bronze Age round barrow at Bill Hill. Easthampstead
Park was a favoured Royal hunting lodge in Windsor Forest
and Catherine of Aragon was banished there until her
divorce was finalised. It was later the home of the
Trumbulls who were patrons of Alexander Pope from Binfield.
Bracknell
is a Saxon word meaning 'Bracken-covered Hiding Place'.
One of the oldest buildings in the town is the 'Old
Manor' public house, a 17th century brick manor house
featuring a number of priest holes. Next door once stood
the 'Hind's Head' coaching inn, where it is said Dick
Turpin used to drink. It is believed that there were
once underground tunnels between the two, along which
the famous highwayman could escape from the authorities.
In 1723, the Grenadier Guards had a battle with the
infamous bandits called the 'Wokingham Blacks' near
the town.
Barack
Obama's step-mother lives in Bracknell and he visited
for his half-brother-in-law's Stag Night in 1998. Keiza
Obama, the first wife of Barack Obama Senior, was family
guest of honour at Barack Obama Junior's inauguration
for the US Senate. |