Burnham is a large village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

that lies north of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, between the towns of Maidenhead and

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

, about 24 miles west of

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It is probably best known for the nearby Burnham Beeches woodland. The village is served by Burnham railway station on the main line between and . The M4 motorway passes through the south of the parish.

History

The

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

is derived from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

for "homestead on a stream". It was first recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as ''Burneham'', when the manor was held by

Walter FitzOther Walter FitzOther ( fl. 1086; died ''after'' 1099) was a feudal baron of Eton in Buckinghamshire (now in Berkshire) and was Constable of Windsor Castle in Berkshire (directly across the River Thames from Eton), a principal royal residence of Ki ...

. Burnham was once a very important village. The Great West Road from London to Bath passed through the extensive parish of Burnham and as a result, in 1271, a

Royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

was granted to hold a market and an annual fair. However, when the first

Maidenhead Bridge Maidenhead Bridge is a Grade I listed bridge carrying the A4 road over the River Thames between Maidenhead, Berkshire and Taplow, Buckinghamshire, England. It crosses the Thames on the reach above Bray Lock, about half a mile below Boulter's ...

crossing the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

opened c.1280, the road was diverted to the south of Burnham (the route of the modern A4), and Burnham fell into relative decline. The market was then transferred to Maidenhead. Today the village is nearly contiguous with west Slough, though green-buffered by parkland. At the 2011 census the

had a population of 11,630 and Burnham is the traditional village

nucleus Nucleus ( : nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom * Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucl ...

Parish Church

The Church of England parish church of

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

dates in part from the 12th century but has been substantially expanded, refurbished and altered, with major restorations in 1863–64 and 1891 and the construction of the Cornerstone Centre in 1986.

Burnham Abbey

In 1265 a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

women's

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

was founded near the village by

Richard, Earl of Cornwall Richard (5 January 1209 – 2 April 1272) was an English prince who was King of the Romans from 1257 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of John, King of England, and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême. Richard was nominal Count of ...

. The community was dispersed under King Henry VIII in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Since 1916, a contemplative order of

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Augustinian nuns has been based in the restored remains of the original abbey.

Hamlets

The parish of Burnham included a number of communities: in the 18th century the liberties assessed for the poor rate were Burnham Town, East Burnham, Boveney, Britwell,

Cippenham Cippenham is a suburb of Slough. Close by are the neighbouring towns and villages of Beaconsfield, Farnham Common, Burnham, Gerrards Cross, Stoke Poges, Windsor and Taplow. Originally part of the parish of Burnham in the county of Buckin ...

and Wood. Boveney became a separate civil parish in 1866 Cippenham was transferred to Slough in 1930, and therefore became part of Berkshire in 1974. Britwell was transferred to the borough of

and to Berkshire in 1974. The current civil parish now includes Lent Rise, Rose Hill, East Burnham, Hitcham, Littleworth and Littleworth Common.

Schools

The selective Burnham Grammar School provides

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final pha ...

Amenities

The village has a traditional

High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...

, with many buildings dating from the 18th and 19th century. There are two small supermarkets and five

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

s on or near the High Street, and many small independent cafes and shops. At the south end of the High Street is a large park, which contains the community centre of Burnham Park Hall and a small public library. Burnham Football Club is a non-League football team that plays at the 1878 Stadium. Burnham has a Local nature reserve on the eastern border of the village called Haymill Valley. Burnham Beeches National Nature Reserve, an area of of protected ancient woodland, lies just north of the village. Owing to its proximity to Pinewood Film & TV Studios, Burnham and its surrounding areas (in particular Burnham Beeches) feature in films, notably main scenes in ''Carry On'' films and for the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The major

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

estate of

Cliveden Cliveden (pronounced ) is an English country house and estate in the care of the National Trust in Buckinghamshire, on the border with Berkshire. The Italianate mansion, also known as Cliveden House, crowns an outlying ridge of the Chiltern ...

is about three miles northwest, in the neighbouring parish of

Taplow Taplow is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England. It sits on the left bank of the River Thames, facing Maidenhead in the neighbouring county of Berkshire, with Cippenham and Burnham to the east. It is the ...

Dorneywood Dorneywood is an 18th-century house near Burnham in southern Buckinghamshire, England. Originally a Georgian farmhouse, it has Victorian and later additions, and following a fire in 1910, was remodelled in 1919 by Sir Robert Lorimer. It was giv ...

, currently the country home of the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, is in Burnham parish. The

is about two miles south and west of the village centre. The major rowing venue of

Dorney Lake Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Wi ...

is nearby. There are three golf courses (Huntswood,

Lambourne Lambourne is a civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is located approximately 4.5 miles (7 km) South of Epping and 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Romford. It covers an area of , and in 2001 its population was 1, ...

, Burnham Beeches) to the north and west of the village.

Transport links

In addition to Burnham railway station (future Crossrail) and the nearby M4, the

Chiltern Main Line The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham ( Moor Street and Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull. It is one of t ...

and the M40 are accessible about 5 miles north at

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

while Heathrow Airport is about 12 miles east.

Demography

Notable people

* Richard Davies vicar 1550-54 and 1559-1561, Bishop of St Asaph 1560-61 then

Bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the St Davids, city of ...

1561-1581 *

Lord Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of ...

(Prime Minister 1806–07) built Dropmore House to the north of the village. * Mike Ashley – billionaire businessman *

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

– comedian attended Burnham Grammar School *

Susan Cooper Susan Mary Cooper (born 23 May 1935) is an English author of children's books. She is best known for '' The Dark Is Rising'', a contemporary fantasy series set in England and Wales, which incorporates British mythology such as the Arthurian le ...

– author *

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of ...

– writer *

Ulrika Jonsson Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born 16 August 1967) is a Swedish-British television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, moved on to present the ITV show ''Gladiators'', and as a team captain of the BBC Two show '' Shooting ...

– TV presenter *

Will Mellor William Mellor (born 3 April 1976) is an English actor, singer and model. He is known for his roles as Jambo Bolton in ''Hollyoaks'', Gaz Wilkinson in '' Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps'', Warren Stamp in EastEnders, DC Spike Tanne ...

– Actor *

Tracey Ullman Tracey Ullman (born Trace Ullman, 30 December 1959) is a British-American actress, comedian, singer, writer, producer, and director. Her earliest mainstream appearances were on British television sketch comedy shows '' A Kick Up the Eighties'' ( ...

– comedianTracey Ullman biography on album webpage – 'The Best of Tracey Ullman'

References

External links

Burnham Bucks community websiteBurnham Football Club website
{{authority control Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire Suburbs of Slough Villages in Buckinghamshire