Crowthorne

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This article is about the village in Berkshire, England. For the suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, see Crowthorne, Gauteng.

Crowthorne
Crowthorne, Berks - geograph.org.uk - 485.jpg
The shops in Duke's Ride near Crowthorne Station
Crowthorne is located in Berkshire
Crowthorne
Crowthorne
Location within Berkshire
Population6,711 (2001)
6,902 (2011 Census)[1]
OS grid referenceSU841641
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCROWTHORNE
Postcode districtRG45
Dialling code01344
PoliceThames Valley
FireRoyal Berkshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Berkshire
51°22′12″N 0°47′31″W / 51.370°N 0.792°W / 51.370; -0.792Coordinates: 51°22′12″N 0°47′31″W / 51.370°N 0.792°W / 51.370; -0.792

Crowthorne is a large village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England[3] It had a population of 6,711 at the 2001 census,[4] which rose to 6,902 at the 2011 Census.[1] A 2019 estimate put it at 7,565.[5] Crowthorne is the venue of Wellington College, a large co-educational boarding and day independent school, which opened in 1859, and of Broadmoor Hospital, one of England's three maximum-security psychiatric hospitals, which lies on the eastern edge of the village.[6]

History[]

Crowthorne was only a small hamlet until Wellington College was opened in 1859 and Broadmoor Hospital in 1863.[6] Crowthorne railway station, originally Wellington College for Crowthorne Station, opened in 1860 and burgeoned quickly. In the 1960s, the Transport Research Laboratory established by the UK Government as the Road Research Laboratory (RRL) opened in Crowthorne.[6] It was privatised in 1996.[citation needed]

Geography[]

Crowthorne is part of the Reading/Wokingham Urban Area. It lies 4 miles (6.5 km) NNE of Camberley and some 5 miles (8 km) SSW of Bracknell. The Crowthorne urban area spills over into the neighbouring parish of Wokingham Without.[6] However, most of the housing is in Crowthorne parish which is part of Bracknell Forest district.[6] North of Crowthorne is Pinewood, which has a leisure centre, cafe and miniature railway.[7][8][9]

Natural environment[]

The Crowthorne urban area adjoins several Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and local nature reserves:

Schools[]

Crowthorne houses Wellington College, a large co-educational boarding and day independent school, which opened in 1859 as a national monument in honour of the Duke of Wellington (1769–1852), who had led British, Spanish and Portuguese forces in a succession of military victories in the Iberian Peninsula.[12] The school became fully coeducational in 2005.

Edgbarrow is a secondary school that serves the whole of Crowthorne, with five feeder schools: Hatch Ride Primary, New Scotland Hill, Crowthorne Church of England School, Wildmoor Heath (formerly Broadmoor Primary) and Oaklands Junior. There are a few pre-preparatory and preparatory schools, nurseries and childcare centres in the town accepting children between 3 months and 11 years old.

Aeronautics[]

C. F. Taylor is a company that grew into a large international aeronautical fabrications business, later part of British Aerospace. It was born in a shed of the Buckler premises in Heath Hill Road shortly after World War II. Metal craftsman C. F. Taylor single-handedly produced aluminium racing fairings for motorcycles and bodies for early Buckler cars.[citation needed]

Local societies and community groups[]

Crowthorne holds a biennial carnival, usually in early July, the whole being organised by the Crowthorne Carnival Association, with some individual events put up by local schools, groups and businesses.[13]

Crowthorne Amateur Theatrical Society was founded in 1978.[14]

The Crowthorne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Robert Roscoe, gives three concerts a year, usually at Wellington College. It also holds an open workshop for full orchestra in September and a string workshop in May. The orchestra marked its 20th anniversary in 2011.[15]

The Crowthorne Natural History Group was founded in 1977, but held its final meeting in 2013, due to a diminishing and ageing membership.[16]

Sports[]

Crowthorne & Crown Wood Cricket Club was formed in January 2014 out of two existing clubs. It plays its home games in the grounds of Wellington College and at Crown Wood's established base at St Sebastian's. It belongs to the Saturday League Cricket in the Berkshire League and Sunday Friendlies. In 2013, Crowthorne CC fielded two Saturday teams for the first time, as well as a Sunday Team and a Midweek T20 team, while Crown Wood CC fielded two League teams and a youth setup. The 1st XI gained promotion from Division 2 in 2013 after winning the League. Crown Wood's existing youth set-up continues under the merged club.[17]

AFC Crowthorne is one of the local football teams that play their home games at the Morgan Recreation ground.

Crowthorne RFC is the local rugby union club. Its team has played at New Nest in Lower Broadmoor Road since its construction in 2019.

Notable residents[]

In order of birth:

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ Office for National Statistics: Census 2001: Parish Headcounts: Bracknell Forest Retrieved 3 November 2010.
  5. ^ City Population. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Ford, David Nash (2020). East Berkshire Town and Village Histories. Wokingham: Nash Ford Publishing. pp. 99–103. ISBN 9781905191017.
  7. ^ Wokingham Borough Council Leisure centres Archived 30 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Wokingham.gov.uk (11 July 2013). Retrieved on 17 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Home Page for the Pinewood (Wokingham) Miniature Railway". Pinewoodrailway.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  9. ^ "Places to eat in Crowthorne, places to eat in Bracknell, places to eat in Wokingham". Pinewoodbarandcafe.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  10. ^ "Heathlake – Site of Special Scientific Interest – Wokingham Borough Council". Wokingham.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Magic Map Application". Magic.defra.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  12. ^ The Duke of Wellington: Soldiering to Glory. Author: Andrew Roberts (historian). Publisher: BBC History. Published: 17 February 2011. Retrieved: 5 January 2014.
  13. ^ "Carnival". Crowthornecarnival.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  14. ^ "Crowthorne Amateur Theatrical Society". Catswebsite.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  15. ^ "The Crowthorne Symphony Orchestra". Crowthorneorchestra.com. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  16. ^ Get Reading coverage. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Crowthorne CC". Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  18. ^ Royal Academy Dictionary of Exhibitors: Summer Exhibition catalogue archives

External links[]

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