|
Billingbear
Billingbear is a hamlet in the civil parish of Binfield and a former country estate in the civil parish of Waltham St Lawrence, near Bracknell, in the English county of Berkshire. Geography The settlement lies between the M4 motorway and the village of Binfield, just north-west of Binfield Parish Church, along Carters Hill and Billingbear Lane. The country estate is immediately to the west. Billingbear Park Billingbear Park is now the site of a large late 20th century country house and a golf course. It was previously a large area of parkland surrounding Billingbear House, a huge Elizabethan mansion erected in 1567. It burnt down in 1924. Allanbay Park Just north-east of the hamlet is Allanbay Park, a grade II listed country house set in parkland. It was the home of John Lycett Wills (1910–1999) and his wife Jean Elphinstone. Wills served as High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1958. Jean was a niece of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billingbear House
Billingbear House was situated in the parish of Waltham St. Lawrence in Berkshire, England, about six miles from Windsor. Originally owned by the Bishop of Winchester, the land was given to Sir Henry Neville (father of politician and diplomat, Sir Henry Neville) in 1549 by King Edward VI. He finally took possession in 1567 and began construction of a Tudor mansion. With the identification in 2005 of the younger Sir Henry Neville as a candidate for the authorship of the Shakespearean plays and sonnets, it is conceivable that some of those works might have been composed at Billingbear. It has been noted that the play '' The Merry Wives of Windsor'' displays a knowledge of local towns, a Windsor inn, and a local tale called ''Herne the Hunter''. When the house was visited by Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Lorenzo Magalotti in 1669, their host was Colonel John Neville. A member of the duke's retinue painted a view of the house during the two-day stay, [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High Sheriff Of Berkshire
The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff is therefore much older than the other crown appointment, the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, which came about after 1545. Between 1248 and 1566, Berkshire and Oxfordshire formed a joint shrievalty (apart from a brief period in 1258/1259). See High Sheriff of Oxfordshire. Unlike the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, which is generally held from appointment until the holder's death or incapacity, the title of High Sheriff is appointed / reappointed annually. The High Sheriff is assisted by an Under-Sheriff of Berkshire. List of High Sheriffs of Berkshire 1248–1566 See High Sheriff of Berkshire and Oxfordshire for incumbents during this period. (From 3 November 1258 to Michaelmas 1259, Nicholas de Hendred was sheriff for Berkshire only.) 1350 John de Alveton, Sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waltham St Lawrence
Waltham St Lawrence is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. History The name 'Waltham' is believed to be derived from the Anglo-Saxon words ''Wealt'' and ''Ham'', meaning 'dilapidated homes'.Ford, David Nash (2001)Royal Berkshire History Retrieved 6 October 2005 The church is called St. Lawrence and thus gives the village its name. There is evidence of the existence of a Roman temple in Weycock Field in the parish. Most of the coins found from the site are of the lower empire (except for a silver one of Amyntas, the grandfather of Alexander the Great) and the area was occupied until 270. The high-road to London formerly left the London to Reading main-road at the 29th milestone and ran across Weycock Field (often referred to as Weycock Highrood). The Priory of Hurley maintained a grange in the village on the site of what is now Church Farm (to the north-west of the present Church) and this is why the great tithes of the parish were formerly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Binfield
Binfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 8,689. The village lies north-west of Bracknell, north-east of Wokingham, and south-east of Reading at the westernmost extremity of the Greater London Urban Area. Geography Much of modern Binfield stretches towards the south and east of the original village. Parts are now suburbs of Bracknell: * Amen Corner * Farley Wood (including Farley Copse) * Popeswood * Temple Park while Billingbear is a small hamlet north-west of the church. History The name Binfield 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 Stag and Hounds was reportedly used as a hunting lodge by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bracknell Forest
Bracknell Forest is a unitary authority area in Berkshire, southern England. It covers the two towns of Bracknell and Sandhurst and the village of Crowthorne and also includes the areas of North Ascot, Warfield and Winkfield. The borough borders Wokingham and the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead in Berkshire, and also parts of Surrey and Hampshire. History The district was formed as Easthampstead Rural District under the Local Government Act 1894 as a successor to the Easthampstead rural sanitary district. Originally a small rural district, its population was about 20,000 during the Second World War. Bracknell, in the district, was one of the first post-war new towns to be designated, and became a civil parish in 1955, created from parts of Binfield, Easthampstead, Warfield and Winkfield parishes. Bracknell had originally been a hamlet at the far south-west of Warfield parish. The district's population rose rapidly, and reached 64,135 by the 1971 census. In 1974 the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. National parks and country parks are green spaces used for recreation in the countryside. State parks and provincial parks are administered by sub-national government states and agencies. Parks may consist of grassy areas, rocks, soil and trees, but may also contain buildings and other artifacts such as monuments, fountains or playground structures. Many parks have fields for playing sports such as baseball and football, and paved areas for games such as basketball. Many parks have trails for walking, biking and other activities. Some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Urban parks often have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables and barbecue grills. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Townsend (RAF Officer)
Group Captain Peter Wooldridge Townsend, (22 November 1914 – 19 June 1995) was a British Royal Air Force officer, flying ace, courtier and author. He was equerry to King George VI from 1944 to 1952 and held the same position for Queen Elizabeth II from 1952 to 1953. Townsend notably had a romance with Princess Margaret, Elizabeth's younger sister. Early life Townsend was born in Rangoon, Burma, to doctor's son Lieutenant Colonel Edward Copleston Townsend, of the Indian Army,Barrymaine, Norman (1958). ''The Peter Townsend Story''. E. P. Dutton Ltd., p. 19. and his wife, Gladys, daughter of H. Hatt-Cook, of Hartford Hall, Cheshire; his father had married aged 42, 20 years older than his bride. The Townsend family, of Devon, tended to send its sons into the church or the armed forces. From 1928 to 1932, Townsend was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College, then an all-boys independent school. RAF career Townsend joined the Royal Air Force in 1930 and trained at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Princess Margaret, Countess Of Snowdon
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. Margaret was born when her parents were the Duke and Duchess of York, and she spent much of her childhood with them and her elder sister. Her life changed at the age of six, when her father ascended the British throne following the abdication of his brother Edward VIII. Margaret's sister became heir presumptive, with Margaret second in line to the throne. Her position in the line of succession diminished over the following decades as Elizabeth's children and grandchildren were born. During the Second World War, the two sisters stayed at Windsor Castle despite suggestions to evacuate them to Canada. During the war years, Margaret was too young to perform official duties and continued her education, being nine years old when the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the last Empress of India from her husband's accession 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947. After her husband died, she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. Born into a family of British nobility, Elizabeth came to prominence in 1923 when she married the Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. The couple and their daughters Elizabeth and Margaret embodied traditional ideas of family and public service. The Duchess undertook a variety of public engagements and became known for her consistently cheerful countenance. In 1936, Elizabeth's husband unexpectedly became king when his older brother, Edward VIII, abdicated in o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone
Mary Frances Buller-Fullerton-Elphinstone, Lady Elphinstone Royal Victorian Order, DCVO (née Lady Mary Frances Bowes-Lyon; 30 August 1883 – 8 February 1961), was a maternal aunt and godparent of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II. Early life Lady Elphinstone was born Lady Mary Frances Bowes-Lyon on 30 August 1883 in Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, to Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne, Cecilia Cavendish-Bentinck. She was an elder sister of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon known as Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (later The Queen Mother). Personal life Lady Mary married Sidney Elphinstone, 16th Lord Elphinstone (1869–1955) on 24 July 1910 in Westminster. Lord Elphinstone inherited extensive estates, some of which had been in the family since the reign of King David II of Scotland. He served as a governor of the Bank of Scotland, Lord Clerk Register, Lord Clerk Register of Scotl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabethan Architecture
Elizabethan architecture refers to buildings of a certain style constructed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland from 1558–1603. Historically, the era sits between the long era of the dominant architectural style of religious buildings by the Catholic Church, which ended abruptly at the Dissolution of the Monasteries from c.1536, and the advent of a court culture of pan-European artistic ambition under James I (1603–25). Stylistically, Elizabethan architecture is notably pluralistic. It came at the end of insular traditions in design and construction called the Perpendicular style in the church building, the fenestration, vaulting techniques, and open truss designs of which often affected the detail of larger domestic buildings. However, English design had become open to the influence of early printed architectural texts (namely Vitruvius and Alberti) imported to England by members of the church as early as the 1480s. Into the 16th century, ill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Country House
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country. However, the term also encompasses houses that were, and often still are, the full-time residence for the landed gentry who ruled rural Britain until the Reform Act 1832. Frequently, the formal business of the counties was transacted in these country houses, having functional antecedents in manor houses. With large numbers of indoor and outdoor staff, country houses were important as places of employment for many rural communities. In turn, until the agricultural depressions of the 1870s, the estates, of which country houses were the hub, provided their owners with incomes. However, the late 19th and early 20th centuries were the swansong of the traditional English country house lifes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.jpg "Click for more on -> Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother")
_cropped_2.jpg "Click for more on -> Elizabethan Architecture")
.jpg "Click for more on -> Country House")