Sandhurst is a town 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 ...
in the
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 bor ...
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
in
Berkshire,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is in the south eastern corner of Berkshire, and is situated west-southwest of
central London, north west of
Camberley and south of
Bracknell. Sandhurst is known worldwide as the location of the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (often referred to simply as "Sandhurst", "The Academy" or "The RMA"). Despite its close proximity to Camberley, Sandhurst is also home to a large and well-known out-of-town mercantile development. The site is named "The Meadows" and has a
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
Extra
hypermarket
A hypermarket (sometimes called a hyperstore, supercentre or superstore) is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including ...
and a
Marks & Spencer
Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...
, two of the largest in the country. A large
Next
Next may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare
* ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage
* '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film
Lit ...
clothing and homeware store is open on the site of the old
Homebase
Homebase is a British home improvement retailer and garden centre with stores across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Founded by Sainsbury's and GB-Inno-BM in 1979, the company was owned by Home Retail Group from October 2006, un ...
.
Geography
Sandhurst is in
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...
near the junction of
Berkshire,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
and
Surrey. The town has four main districts, from west to east:
Little Sandhurst, Sandhurst (central) and
College Town, with
Owlsmoor to the northeast. North of the town are
Edgbarrow Woods and a
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) called
Sandhurst to Owlsmoor Bogs and Heaths which includes the
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
of Wildmoor Heath. To the east is
Broadmoor Bottom, an expanse of heathland together with
fir tree plantations. This backs onto the high-security
Broadmoor Hospital.
Sandhurst is bordered, on the south, by the
River Blackwater, and several of the
Yateley Lakes along its course are within the
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
, notably Trilakes with its
country park. This is also the county boundary with
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
at
Blackwater. The town of
Crowthorne
Crowthorne is a large village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 6,711 at the 2001 census, which rose to 6,902 at the 2011 census. A 2020 estimate put it at 7,808. Cr ...
is to the north, the village of
Finchampstead
Finchampstead is a village and civil parish in the Wokingham Borough in the shire of Berkshire, England. Its northern extremity is south of Wokingham, west of Bracknell, south-east of Reading, and west of Central London. It is an affluent a ...
to the west, and
Camberley, across the
Surrey county boundary, is on its southeastern side. This is the closest sizeable town, though Sandhurst is also only south of the
new town of
Bracknell. The soil is
sand
Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class o ...
y, with a
subsoil of sand and
gravel.
Communications
Sandhurst lies just off the
A30, which is close to junction 4 of the
M3 motorway (3.4 miles) and within easy reach of the
M4 (10.3 miles) via the
Crowthorne
Crowthorne is a large village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 6,711 at the 2001 census, which rose to 6,902 at the 2011 census. A 2020 estimate put it at 7,808. Cr ...
bypass (A3095) to
Bracknell and the
A329(M) towards
Reading.
Sandhurst railway station is served by
Great Western Railway, on the line between
Gatwick
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...
,
Guildford and
Reading.
Local government
Sandhurst has representation through several tiers of government –
town council
A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.
Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions.
Republic of Ireland
Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second t ...
,
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
, and parliamentary (
UK). Its Town Council is divided into four wards, Central Sandhurst,
Little Sandhurst,
College Town and
Owlsmoor, all represented by twenty-four
councillors. It is also part of the
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 bor ...
District. The ancient
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
of Sandhurst also covered
Crowthorne
Crowthorne is a large village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 6,711 at the 2001 census, which rose to 6,902 at the 2011 census. A 2020 estimate put it at 7,808. Cr ...
, until this became an ecclesiastical parish in its own right in 1874 and 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 authorit ...
in 1894. The current
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of Sandhurst is Councillor Sheila Davenport.
History
Saxon and Medieval periods
The name of the village is
Anglo-Saxon and originates from the sandy soils and the hurst (a wooded eminence) of the area.
In the early 14th century records, Sandhurst appears as part of the township of
Sonning, a large
minster parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
spreading over much of eastern
Berkshire,
which later became a
hundred
100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101.
In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...
when its villages obtained their own churches.
These lands belonged to the
Bishops of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
. There were two
manors in Sandhurst: ‘Hall’ in the grounds of what is now the
Royal Military Academy and ‘Sandhurst’ on the site of Sandhurst Lodge.
Nothing remains of the original buildings. The first mention of the village of Sandhurst is to be found in the Exchequer Rolls of
Henry II in 1175 where the receipt of one mark for the ''Villata de Sandhurst'' is recorded.
Tudor to Georgian periods
In the early modern era, Sandhurst
parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...
was a small farming community on the very edge 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 Wi ...
, Sandhurst Walke being an important forest division subject to forest laws.
[ Locals had the right to cut turf, bracken, heather and wood that was primarily cultivated to feed the forest ]deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...
. These were hunted by Royal parties from a hunting lodge in the vicinity of Hart's Leap Road.[ A number of disputes are on record, showing how Sandhurst people sometimes took more resources than was allowed. Farming has always remained a major part of village life here and some defunct farms are still remembered in the names of housing estates, roads and even a restaurant: Sandhurst Farm, Snaprails, Caves Farm, Ambarrow Farm, College Farm, Rectory Farm, Beech Farm and Rackstraws Farm. In the mid-16th century, William, Lord Sandys, the ]Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
to King Henry VIII, owned a supposed manor called 'Buckhurst' in the area between College Town and Central Sandhurst.
Victorian and Modern periods
Life changed very little in Sandhurst until the 19th century when large sections of land were sold for the building of the Royal Military College, which moved from Marlow in 1813. The railway arrived in 1849 and a number of large country residences were subsequently erected in the area: amongst them, Harts Leap, Forest End, St Helens Upland, The Warren, Longdown Lodge, Ryefield, Snaprails, and Ambarrow Court. Sandhurst Lodge was erected in about 1858 by Robert W. Gibson and leased to John Walter, of the Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
Newspaper, and then Sir William Farrer, solicitor to Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
and The Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...
. Perry Hill and The Ceders came later. Only a few remain today. The others have been demolished and land developed.
Such large houses and institutions, including the Broadmoor Hospital and Wellington College in nearby Crowthorne
Crowthorne is a large village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 6,711 at the 2001 census, which rose to 6,902 at the 2011 census. A 2020 estimate put it at 7,808. Cr ...
, led to a great expansion of the local population as people moved into the area looking for work. Further residential housing was erected for these workers, as well as more schools for their children, more places of worship and other community resources. Until Sandhurst Comprehensive – now Sandhurst School – was built in 1969 in Owlsmoor, Secondary-age pupils were sent to Edgbarrow School
Edgbarrow School is a secondary Academy (English school), Academy School in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. The school is the main state secondary school in the area, and includes Edgbarrow Sixth Form College. It previously held the title of a ...
in Crowthorne, Forest Grammar School for boys in Winnersh or Holt School for girls in Wokingham
Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell.
History
Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may ...
. From the late 1950s to the 80s, large housing estates have been built creating the conglomerate town of today from the original four villages of College Town, Central Sandhurst, Little Sandhurst and Owlsmoor.
* St Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
's Parish Church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
, Little Sandhurst, dates from the 13th century, but was largely rebuilt in 1853.
* The Baptist Church, Central Sandhurst, was built in 1884.
* The Wesleyan Methodist 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 ...
, Central Sandhurst, followed in 1906.
* The 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 Britai ...
parish church of St George'
Owlsmoor, was built as an iron church in 1880 and was rebuilt in 1993.
* The Roman Catholic Church
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 ...
of the Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception.
It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...
, Yorktown Road, was built in 1959.
St Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
's 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 Britai ...
School, Little Sandhurst, was opened in 1862 and other schools followed in quick succession:
* Old Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
Hill, Little Sandhurst, in 1871,
* The 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 ...
, Central Sandhurst, in 1906,
* College Town in 1907,
* Uplands, Central Sandhurst, in 1962 and
* Owlsmoor Primary was added in 1974.
Recreation and sport
*The Tug of War Association National Outdoor Tug of War Championships were held in Sandhurst in the year 2000 and 2013.
*The Sandhurst tug of war
Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...
team have been three times World champions, as seen on sign posts entering the town.
*Sandhurst's football team, Sandhurst Town F.C., has its home ground at Bottom Meadow. It currently plays in the Combined County League Division 1.
*The boys and girls football club, offers football to all children aged 6 to 21 in the area and has over 750 registered players. The kit consists of the badge, the number in grey at the back and vertical red and white stripes which fade into white at the bottom. The shorts are black.
*Sandhurst Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...
Club field two teams in the Berkshire League with the 1st XI in the premier division. They also have a Sunday side and a Midweek XI, plus a growing junior section (U11s & U9s).
*Sandhurst Joggers has more than 400 members ranging from novices to athletes competing in a variety of local races, regional and National Championships and organises runs on 6 days of the week. It was founded in 1987.
*Sandhurst Memorial Park contains tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
and basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
courts, cricket and football pitches, a playground (with a large sand-play area) and a small skatepark
A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairse ...
. Pistachios in the Park is in the vicinity. The park has a large water area (called a balancing pond) where a firework show is held once a year, usually on the closest Saturday to Guy Fawkes Night and the Sandhurst Donkey Derby is also an annual event. The Memorial Park is home to Sandhurst Memorial parkrun
Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...
, a weekly 5k run held in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. It is held every Saturday at 9.00am and takes in a route that includes the River Blackwater and Shepherd Meadows.
*Sandhurst Leisure Centre is in the Owlsmoor area. It is facilitated by Sandhurst School and has various facilities for sporting and recreational activities.
*Sandhurst has an active Historical Society.
*Sandhurst Silver Band Organisation rehearse in their own facility in the town and maintain two separate bands - The Sandhurst Community Band and the Sandhurst Silver Band. In March 2018, Sandhurst Silver Band became London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
and Southern Counties First Section Champions, earning an invitation to the National Finals in September 2018.
Notable people
* The Duke of Cambridge (then Prince William of Wales) resided at the Royal Military Academy between January and December 2006.
*Greg Davies
Gregory Daniel Davies ( ; born 14 May 1968) is a Welsh comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known for his roles as Greg in ''We Are Klang'', Mr Gilbert in ''The Inbetweeners'', Ken Thompson in ''Cuckoo'', the Taskmaster in '' Tas ...
, the actor and comedian, was an English & Drama teacher at Sandhurst School in the 1990s.
* Max and Harvey, British twin singing duo
References
Sources
*PH Ditchfield (1923), The Victoria County History of Berkshire.
External links
Sandhurst Town Council Website: History Page
Sandhurst Town Council
Sandhurst Weather Station
{{authority control
Towns in Berkshire
Bracknell Forest
Civil parishes in Berkshire