Wokefield is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

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

West Berkshire West Berkshire is a local government district in Berkshire, England, administered from Newbury by West Berkshire Council. History The district of Newbury was formed on 1 April 1974, as a merger of the borough of Newbury, Bradfield Rural Dist ...

district of Berkshire, England, south of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

. 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 ...

includes the hamlets of Goddard's Green and

Bloomfield Hatch Bloomfield Hatch is a hamlet in Berkshire, England, and part of the civil parish of Wokefield . The settlement lies near to the villages of Stratfield Mortimer and Beech Hill, and is located approximately south-east of Reading. It is located i ...

. It also includes part of the former parish of

Sulhamstead Sulhamstead is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. It occupies an approximate rectangle of land south of the (Old) Bath Road ( A4) between Reading, its nearest town and Thatcham. It has several small clusters of homes and wo ...

and

Grazeley Grazeley is an area covering the small villages of Grazeley in the civil parish of Shinfield and Grazeley Green in the civil parish of Wokefield, south of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. To the east is the village of Spencers Wood, ...

Geography

To the north of the parish are

Burghfield Burghfield is a village and large civil parish in West Berkshire, England, with a boundary with Reading. Burghfield can trace its history back to before the Domesday book, and was once home to three manors: Burghfield Regis, Burghfield Abbas a ...

and Burghfield Common, to the east is Shinfield, and to the south are

Stratfield Mortimer Stratfield Mortimer is a village and civil parish, just south of Reading, in the English ceremonial county of Berkshire and unitary authority area of West Berkshire. Parish geography The south and south-east half of the parish consists of farms ...

and

Mortimer Common Mortimer Common, generally referred to as Mortimer, is a village in the civil parish of Stratfield Mortimer in Berkshire. Mortimer is in the local government district of West Berkshire and is seven miles south-west of Reading. Geography Morti ...

. It lies between and above sea level.

Wokefield Common

Wokefield Common is an area of mixed woodland on the northern border of the parish. It has been declared a Wildlife Heritage Site by

West Berkshire Council West Berkshire Council is the local authority of West Berkshire in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. West Berkshire is divided into 30 wards, electing 52 c ...

's Countryside Service, and is described as a quiet site with a network of paths leading through tall pine and broadleaf woodland, ponds, small areas of heather and rich wet gullies. Of particular significance are the

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

areas which support rare species including

slowworm The slow worm (''Anguis fragilis'') is a reptile native to western Eurasia. It is also called a deaf adder, a slowworm, a blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple and hazelworm. These legless lizards are also sometimes called common slowworms. T ...

grass snake The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian non-venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecies are recognized ...

s and adders. The site is jointly managed by the Countryside Service, the landowner and Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. The main entrance is on Goring Lane on the outskirts of

. Several public

bridleways A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider r ...

and public footpaths cross the common. There are several smaller woods and coppices, including Pitchkettle Wood, Rookery Wood, Bell Copse and Pond Wood. Much of the rest of the parish is agricultural and there are several farms in the parish.

Watercourses

Burghfield Brook Burghfield Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises in Wokefield Common between the Berkshire villages of Mortimer and Burghfield Common. It is a tributary of Foudry Brook, which it joins near Hartley Court Farm, just to the south ...

lies at the northern border of Wokefield Common. A feature of this watercourse is Pullens Pond, formed where the brook is dammed by a forest access road within the common. To the east of this area the brook continues into a small valley, Burghfield Slade, which contains a larger reservoir. It then continues to the northeast, leaving the parish, and feeds into

Foudry Brook Foudry Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises from a number of springs near the Hampshire village of Baughurst, and flows to the east and then the north, to join the River Kennet to the south of Reading. The upper section is call ...

Lockram Brook Lockram Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises near the Berkshire village of Mortimer, and is a tributary of Burghfield Brook. Route Lockram Brook rises in various areas of woodland and farmland near Mortimer. These include dra ...

runs northeast through the parish via Millbarn Pond, joining Burghfield Brook near

Grazeley Green Grazeley is an area covering the small villages of Grazeley in the civil parish of Shinfield and Grazeley Green in the civil parish of Wokefield, south of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. To the east is the village of Spencers Woo ...

Wokefield Park

The 18th-century mansion of

Wokefield Park Wokefield Park is an 18th-century country house, situated in the parish of Wokefield, near Mortimer, in the English county of Berkshire. It is currently run as an events venue. History Wokefield park was first mentioned in 1319 as a deer p ...

was the home of Alfred Palmer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It later served as St Benedict's School before becoming a community home. It is now a hotel and conference centre with its own golf course. The building is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

References

External links

{{authority control Hamlets in Berkshire West Berkshire District Civil parishes in Berkshire