Pirbright

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude=51.2862
longitude=-0.6391
official_name= Pirbright
map_type= Surrey
static_

static_image_caption=Statue near Pirbright village hall
population = 1,374 [ [http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspublications.nsf/591f7dda55aad72a80256c670041a50d/1c602ea59c869c9180256e600054b26c/$FILE/Town%20populations.pdf Surrey County Council census data] ]
shire_district= Guildford
shire_county = Surrey
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= Woking
post_town= Woking
postcode_district = GU24
postcode_area= GU
dial_code= 01483
os_grid_reference=SU950550

Pirbright is a village in Surrey, England. Neighbouring villages include Worplesdon, Deepcut, Brookwood and Normandy. Pirbright parish has an area of some 4,711 acres falling into two distinct communities with the military area to the north of the railway and the village to the south. The area includes army training barracks.

Its name came from Anglo-Saxon "Pirige-fyrhþ" = "sparse woodland where peartrees grow".

Excluding the military area, the village has a population of 1,750 with 1,200 living near the green and the remainder in three outlying settlements, each about a mile from the centre. The village is almost entirely surrounded by heathland, much of it owned and used by the MoD. [ [http://www.guildford.gov.uk/GuildfordWeb/Council/ParishCouncils/Pirbright.htm Pirbright Parish Council] ]

Its churchyard contains the grave of Henry Morton Stanley.

Cricket has been played on the village green since 1780. [ [http://pirbright.play-cricket.com/home/home.asp? Pirbright cricket club] ]

Pirbright Laboratory

The Pirbright Laboratory is a government research establishment that investigates diseases in farm animals. It is part of the Institute for Animal Health, which is supported by the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The Pirbright Laboratory is an international reference laboratory for the diagnosis of diseases in an emergency. Its research includes work on foot and mouth disease and swine vesicular disease.

On Saturday 4 August 2007 it was announced that the a strain of foot-and-mouth disease detected in cattle three miles away was similar to that in use at Pirbright. It is widely believed within the scientific community that the strain of the virus released came from the Merial lab [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merial] due to leaking pipes connecting Merial and the IAH.

References

ee also

2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak

External links

* [http://www.iah.bbsrc.ac.uk/ Institute for Animal Health]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6931639.stm BBC News article on Foot-and-Mouth]