Englefield, Berkshire

Englefield is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The village is mostly within the bounds of the private walled estate of Englefield House. The village is in the district of West Berkshire, close to Reading.

Englefield
Village and civil parish
St Mark's Church
Englefield Location within Berkshire
Area	9.25 km2 (3.57 sq mi)
Population	286 (2011 census)[1]
• Density	31/km2 (80/sq mi)
OS grid reference	SU6272
Civil parish	Englefield
Unitary authority	West Berkshire
Ceremonial county	Berkshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	READING
Postcode district	RG7
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Royal Berkshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Reading West and Mid Berkshire[2]
List of places UK England Berkshire 51.443°N 1.1°W / 51.443; -1.1

Toponymy

The place-name 'Englefield' is first attested in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle for 871, where it appears as Engla feld. It appears as Englefel in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as Englefeld in the Feet of Fines for 1196. The name indicates settlement by the Angles in Saxon territory.^[3]

Battle of Englefield

Main article: Battle of Englefield

In 870, the village was the site of the Battle of Englefield. This was fought between the Anglo-Saxons, under Æthelwulf, Ealdorman of Berkshire, and the Danes, and resulted in a resounding victory for the Saxons. The battle was the first of a series in the winter of 870–1. The village may have been named after the battle, Englefield meaning "English field".

Englefield House

Main article: Englefield House

Englefield House was the home of the Englefield family, supposedly from the time of King Edgar and certainly until the Elizabethan era when the present building was erected. The house eventually passed to the Benyon family, as part of the largest privately owned estate in West Berkshire.^[4]

Village

In the late 19th century, Richard Fellowes Benyon rebuilt the villagers' houses as a model estate village and provided them with such amenities as a swimming pool, soup kitchen and a new school. Today the estate, owned by a family company, the Englefield Estate, covers some 14,000 acres (5,700 ha).^[5] The village relies on and contributes to the amenities and organisations in Theale and Tilehurst, which bound it to the south and east, as well as Reading.

Demography

2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005^[1]

Output area	Homes owned outright	Owned with a loan	Socially rented	Privately rented	Other	km2 roads	km2 water	km2 domestic gardens	Usual residents	km2
Civil parish	14	8	9	65	28	0.147	0.109	0.124	286	9.25