the official guide to sunningdale

THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO SUNNINGDALE

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SUNNINGDALE

THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO SUNNINGDALEXX

Looking at Sunningdale’s thriving community, it’s hard to imagine that, around 2,000 years ago, the village consisted of a few huts clustered around one of the most important paved roads in Roman Britain – The Devil’s Highway – which linked the capital Londinium and the new city of Calleva, near Reading.

When the Romans left in the fifth century, settlements began to spring up in the area, with the name Sunningdale coming from the local Saxon Chief Sunna.

In the 12th century Broomhall Priory nunnery was established at Sunningdale but, in 1521 after a number of financial difficulties, its estates were seized by the Crown and subsequently granted to St John’s College, Cambridge, who still own some local land.

Growing populationThe core of the Old Village was established in the late 18th century with a scattering of cottages for agricultural and domestic workers on the big estates around the southern end of Windsor Forest.

As the population in what was Old Windsor Common grew to around 700 in the late 1830s, it was decided to build a church (rebuilt in 1887 in its present Grade II listed form) and give the village – then known as SunninghillDale – its own ecclesiastical parish. Both Queen Victoria and King Edward VII were among Royal worshippers. The primary school was established in 1840.

In 1856, the railway arrived to connect the village to London and Reading. This sparked a flurry of house building, both around the Old Village and the A30/

Chobham Road area. There were even plans to build across Broomhall Farm, the recreation ground and the woods and fields beyond it. These never materialised and today much of the land is protected Green Belt.

At the same time the big estates, including Sunningdale Park, Coworth Park, Tittenhurst Park, Charters (the only other Grade II listed building in the parish) and Broomfield Hall, flourished and expanded providing much work for local people.

Broomhall Buildings under construction, 1931

Church Road, Holly Cottage

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Ellis Blacksmith next to Royal Oak, 1911 Station Level Crossing, 1903

Giggs Shop, Coworth Road, C1905

The latter was demolished in the 1930s to make way for the Broomfield Park estate and the others have been converted into hotels or luxury accommodation.

The 1894 local government re–organisation gave Sunningdale its own parish council. Many local organisations and facilities, including the Scouts, the bowling club, the gardening association, the allotments, the village hall, the (former) Coronation Memorial Institute, date back to the decades around then.

Rapid developmentThe 20th century saw the birth of Sunningdale Golf Club as part of the development of the Ridgemount Road area. Building continued apace elsewhere, with artisan cottages for workers on the big estates and many larger villas for wealthy industrialists andfamous figures like Agatha Christie. Later, celebrity

residents included Diana Dors, Cliff Richard and Gary Lineker, as well as Beatles John Lennon and Ringo Starr.

Until 20 years ago, the A30 roughly marked the county boundary, so Broomfield Park and other southern parts came within Surrey. They were then brought together with the rest of Sunningdale into Berkshire under the unitary authority of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. At the same time the largely Victorian heart of the Old Village area around Holy Trinity Church became a Conservation Area.

Today, Sunningdale is home to around 6,000 residents – and growing

©Peter O’Kill 2016. Pictures courtesy of John End.

LOCAL SCHOOL INFORMATION


Charters School has been an integral part of the Sunningdale community since 1958 and is today one of the most sought–after comprehensive schools in the area. In 2015, 81% of Year 11 students gained 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE, including English and Mathematics, and 54% of our A-Level students’ grades were A*-B. Fifteen students gained places at Oxford and Cambridge in the last three years – a superb outcome.

The wide range of subjects available and superb facilities, recently enriched by the extensive improvements to the Charters Leisure Centre, make our Sixth Form particularly attractive to students from schools in the surrounding counties.

Core values of unity, respect and excellence have been consistently providing a secure and warm environment for students, helping to foster supportive relationships between all members of the school. Students enjoy a huge range of enriching activities, including visits to the jointly–owned Tirabad outdoor education centre in the Brecon Beacons, designed to develop confidence and self–awareness through learning experiences in new and challenging environments.

The school is also proud to be pioneering new approaches to the development of key life and employability attributes which will assist all students in fulfilling their future ambitions.

Charters School

Contact:Martyn Parker and Richard Pilgrim, Co-Headteachers

T: 01344 624826 E: [email protected]

Charters Connect Alumni Association: E: [email protected]

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Childcare was born in January 2011 and is thriving in the local community at the CMI Building. Dreamcatcher cares for children and families. It takes partnership working very seriously and works closely with parents and extended family and local primary schools, as well as enjoying a special relationship with Lynwood Nursing

Home, where there are shared visits, craft activities, songs, story-telling and even a Christmas nativity play.

Dreamcatcher is lucky to have a wonderful team of staff and is now at full occupancy with a waiting list. Visits are welcome from any family interested in their child joining Dreamcatcher.

Dreamcatcher

Contact:Lynne Turner

T: 01344 624799E: [email protected]


Heathermount is located in a beautiful 14 acre site in Sunningdale. It is a non-maintained special day school providing a broad and balanced education for approximately 54 children and young people with autistic spectrum conditions, including Asperger syndrome.

The school is part of Autism Spectrum Partners, a division of The Disabilities Trust, a national charity which provides a range of specialist services for people with autism, acquired brain injury or physical disabilities.

Holy Trinity CofE Primary School is a school community where each child is valued, nurtured and guided in preparation to face the many challenges of modern life ahead of them.

The dedicated staff and supportive Governing Body are committed to the educational, physical, social, moral and spiritual development and well-being of every child. Children are encouraged to be independent, take risks and take responsibility for their learning and behaviour, enabling them to reach their full potential.

The school has extensive well-maintained grounds and is very much a part of the small village

Recognising that they are unique individuals, every student must be supported in a way that promotes independence and strives to assist them in being active contributors to the life of the school and the wider community. The school works in partnership with Sunningdale Parish Council who supports students with regular work experience for their horticultural qualifications.

of Sunningdale. As a Church of England School, it is proud to have close links with Holy Trinity Church. The Christian ethos supports an atmosphere of mutual respect, where differences are celebrated and opinions, customs and beliefs of others are always valued.

A strong belief that the children’s education is a shared responsibility between home and school creates a close working partnership with parents to ensure that the children have a positive and rewarding journey throughout their time at Holy Trinity. Parental and community involvement is actively encouraged in the school.

Heathermount

Holy Trinity CofE Primary School

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Contact:Mrs Pamela O’Brian, Headteacher

T: 01344 620716www.holytrinityschsunningdale.co.uk

Contact:T: 01344 875101 E: [email protected]


Sunningdale Pre-School has been at the heart of the community for 46 years. Situated in the small village hall, it is open to all families in and around Sunningdale for children from the age of 2 years 8 months until the school age of 5.

It provides a stimulating environment where both play and learning are part of each child’s everyday experience and enjoyment.

It offers activities enabling children to learn and develop skills in a

creative and exciting atmosphere. It has a wonderful outdoor space, including an undercover area, so that children are able to be outdoors whatever the weather. It has a forest school, situated close by in the grounds of Holy Trinity School, which the children visit on a weekly basis.

The Pre-School also runs an Afterschool Club, supporting those working families with wrap-around care for their children who attend Holy Trinity School from the age of 4-11 years.

Hurst Lodge School is an independent day and boarding school for girls and boys aged three to eighteen. It offers wrap-around care beginning with breakfast club at 7.45am through to 6pm. It believes that, if children feel happy and confident, they will become successful learners.

The school provides a full academic curriculum, enhanced by an aesthetic and creative programme of study, and aims to educate students to become responsible citizens, respect their surroundings and tread lightly on the earth. There are regular open days but guests are always welcome to visit outside these dates.

Sunningdale Pre-School

Hurst Lodge School

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Contact:Sharon Thompson, Manager


Contact:Angela McCulloch, Registrar

T: 01344 622154www.hurstlodge.co.uk

1/4 Page Landscape

180 x 64.243mm


Sunningdale School is a small family-owned country boarding prep school which offers an outstanding all-round education. The school only has 110 boys. Its small size means that the staff get to know the boys very well and can support and encourage them and make sure that they fulfil their potential. All the boys take part in the school play and everyone gets to play for a team. These things matter because it makes them all feel valued.

The boys are taught in small forms and each subject is taught by a degree-level subject specialist. The teachers have superb subject knowledge and are also passionate

about the subjects they teach. This enthusiasm filters through to the boys. Boys from Sunningdale go on to the best schools in the country including Eton, Harrow, Stowe, Radley, Winchester and Sherborne, among others.

A number of updates over the last few years ensure the school is at the cutting edge of new technology, while retaining all those things that have made prep schools great.

Sunningdale is a very happy school where all boys become part of the family and where they all have the chance to shine.

Sunningdale School

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Contact:Tom Dawson


OPEN SPACES


Windsor Great Park & The Savill Garden

Windsor Great Park sits on Sunningdale’s north-eastern border. Popular with Norman kings as a hunting forest, its present area of 2,020 hectares of parkland was defined in the 1360s.

The only Royal Park managed by The Crown Estate, the Park today houses a mix of formal avenues, gardens (such as Savill Garden and Valley Garden), woodland, open grassland and a deer park. It is the perfect place for family walks, picnics, walking and running, cycling, horse riding* and seasonal activities for everyone.

In an average year, the Park welcomes more than 5 million visitors and hosts a wide range of sporting and cultural events throughout the year, ranging from small charity walks to international polo days, open-air theatre, and sculptures in the Park.

The Windsor Half Marathon alone sees 6,000 athletes of all abilities test themselves against a scenic half marathon course, run entirely on private roads within the Great Park.

The history and beauty of the parkland and gardens of the Great Park make it a popular filming location*. In recent years, the Park has provided the backdrop to three Harry Potter films, Robin Hood, Midsommer Murders, Knights of the Roundtable, The Huntsman, Into the Woods and Bridget Jones’s Baby.

The 35 acres of The Savill Garden are world renowned as one of the finest woodland gardens anywhere. Planted for all year display, they are one of horticultures best kept secrets!

Regular visitors can purchase an annual card for parking at the Park’s five main car parks, or an annual Savill Garden pass. For more information, visit www.windsorgreatpark.co.uk *Permits required

Chobham Common

Chobham Common is the south east of England’s largest national nature reserve.

Situated on Sunningdale’s southern border, Chobham Common is an exceptionally rich and diverse site, with a wealth of rare and endangered species of plants, birds and outstanding numbers of insects.

Thousands of visits to the site are made each year by Sunningdale residents and visitors who value the expansive scenery and miles of foot and bridle paths, particularly for dog walking.

The vegetation consists of lowland heath, with valley mires, wet heathland and ponds where almost 400 species of higher plants have been recorded, including a number of nationally or locally scarce species, especially those associated with wet heaths or bogs.

Birdlife is of particular importance here; 117 species of bird have been recorded on the Common and it supports substantial and nationally significant populations of the Dartford Warbler, woodlark and nightjar.

Largely owned by Surrey County Council, the Common is leased to Surrey Wildlife Trust which manages the site in line with an agreed management plan.

A programme of volunteer events runs throughout the winter. More information on these are on the Trust’s website or contact the rangers at our Chobham office for more details.

Contact: Steve Fry, Senior RangerT: 01276 858013 M: 07968 832502E: [email protected] Wildlife Trust, Gorse Lane, Chobham, GU24 8RB

Photograph ©Steve Duffy

OPEN SPACES


Windsor Great Park & The Savill Garden

Windsor Great Park sits on Sunningdale’s north-eastern border. Popular with Norman kings as a hunting forest, its present area of 2,020 hectares of parkland was defined in the 1360s.

The only Royal Park managed by The Crown Estate, the Park today houses a mix of formal avenues, gardens (such as Savill Garden and Valley Garden), woodland, open grassland and a deer park. It is the perfect place for family walks, picnics, walking and running, cycling, horse riding* and seasonal activities for everyone.

In an average year, the Park welcomes more than 5 million visitors and hosts a wide range of sporting and cultural events throughout the year, ranging from small charity walks to international polo days, open-air theatre, and sculptures in the Park.

The Windsor Half Marathon alone sees 6,000 athletes of all abilities test themselves against a scenic half marathon course, run entirely on private roads within the Great Park.

The history and beauty of the parkland and gardens of the Great Park make it a popular filming location*. In recent years, the Park has provided the backdrop to three Harry Potter films, Robin Hood, Midsommer Murders, Knights of the Roundtable, The Huntsman, Into the Woods and Bridget Jones’s Baby.

The 35 acres of The Savill Garden are world renowned as one of the finest woodland gardens anywhere. Planted for all year display, they are one of horticultures best kept secrets!

Regular visitors can purchase an annual card for parking at the Park’s five main car parks, or an annual Savill Garden pass. For more information, visit www.windsorgreatpark.co.uk *Permits required

The Long Walk, Windsor The Savill Garden, Surrey


Chobham Common

Chobham Common is the south east of England’s largest national nature reserve.

Situated on Sunningdale’s southern border, Chobham Common is an exceptionally rich and diverse site, with a wealth of rare and endangered species of plants, birds and outstanding numbers of insects.

Thousands of visits to the site are made each year by Sunningdale residents and visitors who value the expansive scenery and miles of foot and bridle paths, particularly for dog walking.

The vegetation consists of lowland heath, with valley mires, wet heathland and ponds where almost 400 species of higher plants have been recorded, including a number of nationally or locally scarce species, especially those associated with wet heaths or bogs.

Birdlife is of particular importance here; 117 species of bird have been recorded on the Common and it supports substantial and nationally significant populations of the Dartford Warbler, woodlark and nightjar.

Largely owned by Surrey County Council, the Common is leased to Surrey Wildlife Trust which manages the site in line with an agreed management plan.

A programme of volunteer events runs throughout the winter. More information on these are on the Trust’s website or contact the rangers at our Chobham office for more details.

Photography © Steve Duffy

Contact:Steve Fry, Senior Ranger

T: 01344 623331 M: 07968 832502E: [email protected]

Surrey Wildlife TrustGorse Lane, Chobham, GU24 8RBwww.surreywildlifetrust.org


COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS

Ascot Volunteer Bureau is a small local charity that provides transport to medical appointments for the elderly residents of Sunningdale, Sunninghill and Ascot.

Charters Youth Centre (situated on Charters School site) offers a range of activities and opportunities. Last year, the Youth Service team worked with 350 young people. There are currently two evening youth clubs for Year 12/13 and Year 11, two after-school clubs for Year 7 and Year 8 plus a variety of other programmes. In addition to sports, games, arts and crafts, and cooking, the youth team engage on a number of issues affecting young people.

It is much more than just a youth club. It supports young people by building their self-esteem, dealing with anger management, helping with life choices. It offers the Duke of Edinburgh award and trips out, holiday activities and an off-site activity programme through the Youth Service programme of RBWM.

Partners include: Thames Valley Police Community Support Officers, 8-13 YOUTH, Charters School, RBWM Wardens and both Sunningdale and Sunninghill & Ascot Parish Councils.

Neighbourhood Watch schemes throughout the village encourage residents to take crime prevention measures and watch out for suspicious activity. Police warnings are passed on to members by email.

Ascot Volunteer Bureau

Charters Youth Centre

Neighbourhood Watch

T: 01344 625520www.ascotvolunteerbureau.org.uk

Contact:Tracey Ranson, Senior Youth Worker

M: 07788 926896www.wamster.org.uk(RBWM website for young people)

Contact:Jeffrey Pick



1st Sunningdale Scouts is an active group for boys and girls, comprising three sections: Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. They meet weekly during term time.

The sections undertake a wide range of activities to help them find out about the world in which they live, encouraging them to discover their own abilities, develop their creative talents and keep fit in outdoor pursuits. The group is always on the look out for suitable adult leaders to join in the fun.

Sunningdale and District Gardening Association (SAGDA) promotes the science and practice of horticulture and is open to anyone interested in flowers, plants, fruit, vegetables, trees, wildlif, and gardens, however large or small.

Monthly meetings (Feb to Nov on the first Thursday; 7.30pm to 9.45pm) are held at The Village Hall in Church Road, providing opportunities to hear talks from experts in many fields. With two plant sales a year, competitions, an annual outing, annual quiz with Ascot Horticultural Society, members’ evening with buffet supper and some special events, it’s a great place to meet friends. Visitors are always welcome.

Sunningdale Area Carnival is an annual community event held at the recreation ground, organised by the Carnival Organising Committee. It provides a platform for local organisations and charitable concerns to raise funds and offers residents a fun and interesting day out, with music and entertainment. In 2015, the carnival was a medieval country fair, celebrating Magna Carta.

The Women’s Institute was formed in 1915 to revitalise rural communities and encourage women to become more involved in food production. Since then, its aims have broadened and the WI is now the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK. 2015 saw many events celebrating its centenary.

Sunningdale WI was formed in 1920 and is proud to be 95 years old. There is a lively agenda with excellent speakers and regular outings. Meetings take place on the second Wednesday of each month at 10.30am in the WI Hall at Broomhall Recreation ground. New members are most welcome.

1st Sunningdale Scouts

Sunningdale and District Gardening Association (SAGDA)

Sunningdale Area Carnival

The Women’s Institute

Contact:Doug Home, Group Scout Leader

T: 01344 626707www.sunningdalescouts.org.uk

Contact:Linda Foord, Secretary or Pat Bond, Programme Secretary

T: 01344 623825 / 623891E: [email protected]

www.sunningdaleareacarnival.co.uk

Contact:Liz Morgan, Secretary

T: 01344 620236

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