Winnersh

The parish is situated between Wokingham and Reading and is broadly triangular in shape. The northern boundary is the A329 M and the River Loddon forms the western one. The southern-eastern boundary is formed by Simons Lane and Forest Road.

This ancient parish was once part of the Windsor Great Forest. Even today substantial trees can be seen in the rural parts of the parish. The central part of the parish is residential and the northern part includes a high-tech business park.

How Winnersh got its name

The name Winnersh is thought to be derived from the words 'wyn' meaning meadow and 'hurse' meaning ploughed field or stubble field. The old name suggests a parish of very little arable land, as approximately half of the land of the parish was flat and lying in the bend of the River Loddon.

History

The liberty of Winnersh was originally part of the Bishop of Salisbury's Manor of Sonning and was under the juristriction of the Bishop. As an estate, it was probably broken up at an early date and by the 16th century had become attached to Hurst.

Population growth

In 1841 the population of Winnersh was only 673. From the 1920s onwards Winnersh began to expand rapidly. Much of the initial growth took the form of ribbon development along the A329 and the axis of the crossroads leading to Hurst and Arborfield. Expansion in the last three decades has been in the areas between the 'arms' of development. The result is that the 'village' of Winnersh is comprised of relatively modern development which extends along the main Reading Road to the bridge over the River Loddon, which forms the north-easterly extent of the parish.

There are still a number of well-marked footpaths and bridleways in the parish. A rhododendron drive of almost a mile leads out of that part of Winnersh know as Sindlesham past St Catherine's church and St Catherine's Lodge. The Lodge is a recently-completed national switching centre for The National Grid Co. plc. The Walter family - founders of The Times Newspaper - built the model village of Sindlesham, planted the rhododendron drive and built the splendid church. In the churchyard, which is surrounded by splendid cedars and Scots pines, are the Walter family graves.

Churches and recreation

Winnersh has two other churches, St Mary's and the Sindlesham Baptist Church. Near St Catherine's Church is the triangular Bearwood Recreation Ground which is used regularly for football and an all-weather basketball and volleyball court. There are also concrete-based cricket nets. At the side of the ground is the Allnatt Sports Pavilion, the Community Hall and the Parish Council Offices. The parish has a large and successful comprehensive school and two primary schools. There is a post office and a joint library for school and public.

The parish has a successful comprehensive school (The Forest - a specialist Business and Enterprise College) and two primary schools (Bearwood in the south and Winnersh in the north).  A library has been built in the grounds of the Forest School for shared use by the public and the school. There are three churches serving Winnersh: St Catherine's, St Mary’s and Sindlesham Baptist Church.

Winnersh has a supermarket, large DIY and auto product stores, a post office and a range of small shops and other commercial outlets.  The Winnersh Triangle business park has been selected by several international companies for their European headquarters, and it will be extensively redeveloped over the next few years to keep up with changing commercial needs.

The parish has excellent road and rail communications with easy access to the M4 motorway via the A329(M) and two stations (Winnersh and Winnersh Triangle) on the Reading to Waterloo line.

Winnersh Triangle business park

Within the parish is the high-tech business park known as the Winnersh Triangle. It is bound by the A329(M), the railway and Winnersh village. It has been the major non-residential development in the Borough in recent years and will, when completed, include 160,000 square meters of industrial and warehousing floorspace on a site of about 50 hectares. The site is one of the largest of such developments in the south of England and has the employment potential of some 5,700 jobs.

Several major international companies such as Mars Electronic and Harris have selected the Winnersh Triangle as their European location. The site has direct access to the A329(M) and is served by the Winnersh Triangle railway station on the Reading-Waterloo Line. It is separated from Winnersh village by a buffer of 12 hectares of public open space.

View an interactive map of Winnersh for more details.