Sunninghill and Ascot is a

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 authority ...

in the

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a Royal Borough of Berkshire, in South East England. It is named after both the towns of Maidenhead and Windsor, the borough also covers the nearby towns of Ascot and Eton. It is home to Windsor Ca ...

and takes up most of the south-east corner of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. It covers the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Ascot, and the village of Sunninghill including the neighbourhoods

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...

and

South Ascot South Ascot is a village just south of and down the hill from the small town of Ascot in the English county of Berkshire. It is bounded on the west by the Kingsride area of Swinley Woods, on the north by the Reading to Waterloo railway line an ...

. As well as part of the village of

North Ascot North Ascot is an area of Bracknell Forest in the county of Berkshire in England, with a few acres straddling the town of Ascot in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It lies north of the A329 and west of the A332, adjoining the Ascot Ra ...

History

Before 12 August 2004, the

was Sunninghill, a church on its small hilltop has existed verifiably since 1120 and possibly more than a century before, that is, in

Anglo Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom of ...

. Ascot was a purely forested rural part of

Winkfield Winkfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest unitary authority of Berkshire, England. Geography According to the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 14,998. The parish includes the hamlets of Winkfield, Maidens Green ...

until its

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

was upgraded to a church in the late 19th century. Its succession of churches reflects the wealth and breadth of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

of the combined as much as its population expansion: #

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

's foundation stone was laid in 1862. #All Saints’ Church (C of E) in Ascot near the Heatherwood Roundabout was consecrated in 1864. Further building work took place in 1870 and 1890, while

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s and paintings were added at various times. #The first sod was cut for St. Saviour’s (C of E) in

in 1884 with the first service being held in the following year. The building was relatively small and was mostly constructed of tin. #The building of All Souls (C of E) in

was largely paid for by the 1st Baron Stanmore. It was consecrated in 1897, and unsurprisingly it soon attracted the congregation from St. Saviour’ which was eventually demolished. #The Stoner family and other wealthy

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

neighbours originally travelled to

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 ...

Park to hear Mass and take the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...

s. It was the Stoner family who contributed a significant sum towards the building of

St. Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

Church in

. The foundation stone was laid in 1888 and the consecration took place in the following year. #A second

appeared in 1881 in the Mission Hall at the Terrace, Sunninghill.

Transport and character

It has since 1857 one railway station, Ascot, on the

Waterloo to Reading Line Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (S ...

. A former part of

Windsor Forest Windsor may refer to: Places Australia *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area *Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wind ...

it does not have dual carriageways; part of the high street of Ascot is briefly dualled to one side. Less than east and south is the A30 which further beyond feeds into the motorway network, the M3 to the south and the M25 to the north.

References

External links

Potted History of Sunninghill and Ascot
{{Windsor and Maidenhead Civil parishes in Berkshire Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead