BINFIELD, Description and History from 1868 Gazetteer

BINFIELD, a parish in the hundred of Cookham, in the county of Berks, 4 miles to the N.E. of Wokingham, and 2 from Bracknell, its post town. It is situated in Windsor Forest. The Wokingham and Staines branch of the South-Western railway crosses the parish, and the Great Western railway passes near it. The village is scattered, but there are several very handsome mansions in the neighbourhood. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford, of the value of £628, including 15 acres of glebe, in the patronage of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is a neat structure, in the pointed style of the latter part of Edward III's reign; in 1848 a new north aisle was added, and the church entirely restored; in 1859 a further addition was made to the chancel. It contains monuments to Admiral Vernon and Mrs. Macaulay, the historian. There is a National school, partly supported by endowment. The parochial charities amount altogether to £82 per annum.

On the summit of a hill visible from the village are the remains of the extensive entrenchment called "Caesar's Camp," defended by a double fosse. To the south of this camp, in the adjoining parish of Easthampstead, is the ancient road, 90 feet wide, called the "Devil's Highway." Binfield was the scene of Pope's early years, and the place where several of his poems were written, including the "Pastorals," "Windsor Forest," and part of his translation of Homer. His father's house, now the residence of Gerald Fitzgerald, Esq., is known as "The Firs;" but the beech tree beneath which he used to sit, bearing the inscription, in capital letters, annually retraced, "Here Pope sung," has been blown down these many years. The inscription was originally cut by Lord Lyttleton. The principal seats are Binfield Park, Binfield Lodge, Allanbay Park, The Grove, The Firs, Forest Lodge, and Binfield Manor-house.

 

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]