Shinfield

Shinfield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, just south of Reading. It contains 4,313 acres and is administered by the unitary authority of Wokingham District.

Geography

Shinfield is at gbmapping|SU733682. The parish includes the roadside hamlets of Ryeish Green, Spencers Wood, Three Mile Cross, Shinfield Village and Grazeley and the southern suburb of Reading called Shinfield Rise. It is surrounded on its eastern and southern boundary by the River Loddon.

The M4 motorway runs through the northern portion of the parish, near the county's old Shire Hall, now the offices of Foster Wheeler. The main road through the village is the A327, running between Reading and Aldershot.

Shinfield Village is centred around the village green (School Green), surrounded by two pubs, a few shops, the village school and recreation grounds. Its residential housing has increased considerably in during the first years of the 21st century.

The parish consists of a central ridge of high land sloping down to the Loddon on the east and the Kennet Valley on the west. The soil is mostly London Clay, with patchy spreads of valley and plateau gravel.

Government

As well as being part of the District of Wokingham, Shinfield is governed by a parish council consisting of fifteen parish councillors, assisted by two part-time administrative staff and several part-time caretaking and maintenance employees.

Shinfield has been part of the Hundred of Charlton since before the Conquest. Hundreds effectively ceased to function after 1886. Between 1894 and 1974, it was in the Wokingham Rural District.

There are a large number of manors and supposed manors in the parish: Shinfield, Hartley Dummer alias Arbor, Hartley Battle, Hartley Amys, Hartley Pellitot, Moor Place, Diddenham Court, Hartley Court and Garston. Hartley Dummer is in the hundred of Theale. The Diddenham estate was always officially a detached part of Wiltshire until transferred to Berkshire in 1844.

History

The village was named "Shining Field", by the Anglo-Saxons, after the sparkling flood-waters which still often cover the meadows down by the Loddon on the Arborfield border. The manor was one of the many owned by Catherine of Aragon in Tudor times. Yet she is said to have stayed there on occasion, possibly while visiting Reading Abbey. During the Civil War, King Charles is said to have stayed at Goodrest House (now part of Crosfields School). Later, the local church tower was blown to pieces by Parliamentary soldiers trying to oust a group of Royalists who were hiding out there. The fine brick replacement can still be seen today. The churchyard is the last resting place of Mary Russell Mitford's parents. She was a famous authoress and all three lived together at Three Mile Cross in the parish.

Business

The GreenPark Business Park lies half in the Hartley area of Shinfield and half in the Smallmead area of Whitley in Reading. The famous 2 megawatt (peak) Enercon wind turbine, near Junction 11 of the M4, stands in Shinfield. It has been described as "the UK's most visible turbine". It was constructed in November 2005 and is owned by Ecotricity. The blades are 33 m (108 ft) long, with a tower height of 85 m (279 ft). At a wind speed of 14 m/s (31 mph) the machine generates 2.05 MW of electricity (less for lower wind speeds) and has the potential to produce 3.5 million units of electricity a year, enough to power 1,063 local homes. The Courage Berkshire Brewery, built in 1978, is also half within Shinfield.

Institutions

Churches

*The historic Anglican church of St. Mary stands in Church Lane on the western side of the village, near Alan Murchison's well-known L'Ortolan Restaurant.
*Shinfield Baptist Church is on Hollow Lane (A327)

chools

*Shinfield Infants & Nursery School - built by Richard Piggott in 1707
*Shinfield St Mary’s CoE Junior School
*Whiteknights County Primary School
*Crosfields Independent Day School for Boys - centred on the early 17th century Goodrest House
*Ryeish Green School

port & Leisure

*Shinfield Players Theatre
*Shinfield Tennis Club, Shinfield Cricket Club & [http://shinfieldrangersfc.co.uk/ Shinfield Rangers FC]
*The Shinfield Shambles Border Morris & the Kennet Morris Men
*There are play areas & recreation grounds in Kendal Avenue, Millworth Lane and at Frensham Green and Pearman's Copse
*Pound Green WI and Shinfield Mothers' Union
*Shinfield & District History Society
*There is a library in Spencers Wood

Notable residents

*Shinfield is the current home of Reading footballers Nicky Shorey, Glen Little, Dave Kitson and James Harper. The comedian Lenny Henry and his wife Dawn French also live in Spencers Wood with their adoptive daughter Billie.

External links

* [http://www.shinfieldparish.gov.uk/ Shinfield Parish Council]
* [http://www.shinfield-residents-action-group.com/ Shinfield Residents' Action Group]
* [http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/shinfield.html Royal Berkshire History: Shinfield]