Population 294 (2011 census) Civil parish Beech Hill Region South East Area 4.7 km² Dialling code 0118 | OS grid reference SU696644 Ceremonial county Berkshire Country England Local time Wednesday 7:09 PM | |
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Weather 7°C, Wind SW at 14 km/h, 93% Humidity | ||
Beech Hill is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It is in the south east of the West Berkshire district (a unitary authority) and bounds Hampshire and Wokingham district. The Foudry Brook, a tributary of the Kennet, and the Reading to Basingstoke Line, run through the north of the parish.
Contents
Map of Beech Hill, UK
Local government
Beech Hill was originally part of the parish of Stratfield Saye, a cross-county-border parish, most of which was in Hampshire. The Berkshire part became a civil parish in its own right in 1894. In the 16th century, it was part of the hundred of Theale, but was later transferred to the hundred of Reading which effectively ceased to function after 1886. By 1875, Beech Hill had become part of the Bradfield rural sanitary district which, in 1894, became the Bradfield Rural District. Since 1974, it has been part of the district of Newbury, now called West Berkshire.
History
The Camlet Way - the Roman Road which runs south-west from Verulamium (St. Albans) - joins the Devil's Highway at Fair Cross on Beech Hill's southern border and continues on westward to Calleva Atrebatum (Silchester). Beech Hill is a Norman name derived from the family of De La Beche, usually resident at Aldworth, but who also had a home at Beaumys Castle, just over the parish boundary in Swallowfield. On the Beech Hill side is 'The Priory', a 17th-century house on the site of Stratfield Saye Priory founded on the site of an old hermitage in 1170. It only lasted 200 years. Beech Hill House, of 1720, stands on the eastern side of the village and Trunkwell House on the west. Originally the Tudor home of the Noyes family, the current country house at Trunkwell was built in 1878 for a successful local business family and is now a well-known restaurant and conference venue. It is associated with the local pub, The Elm Tree Inn. The parish church (CofE) was built in 1867.