A Brief History of Bracknell Town

Bracknell started life as a rural settlement within Windsor Forest and remained very small until the coming of the railway in 1856.   Today very little of the old Bracknell remains as most of it was demolished in the 1960s to create Bracknell New Town.

2009 saw the 60th anniversary of Bracknell's designation as a New Town on 17 June 1949.  Bracknell is one of a number of new towns which were developed after the Second World War to house people who were made homeless by the bombing in London.  The Greater London Plan of 1944 created the Metropolitan Green Belt designed to preserve an area of London’s surrounding countryside from development so that it would be accessible to those still living in London, however new housing was also needed for the many city dwellers who had been bombed out.  The quality of the housing needed was also important in order to improve on the many unsatisfactory features of pre-war housing with its overcrowding, poor sanitation and lack of leisure facilities and open space.

The earlier creation of garden cities at Letchworth and Welwyn had shown a different way to do things and these ideas were taken further in the New Towns Act of 1946.  Ten towns further out from London than the green belt were designated for expansion.

Bracknell was chosen as the development would avoid encroaching on good quality farm land and the existence of a railway station was seen as an advantage.  Initial plans were made for a town of 60,000 but this was eventually scaled back to 25,000.  The work was overseen by the Bracknell Development Corporation who were given wide-ranging powers, including that of compulsory purchase.  Attention was paid to housing densities, design and the provision of open space.

The first new town area of Bracknell was Priestwood, where the first occupants moved in on Christmas Eve 1951.  A further area, Easthampstead, is characterised by the only high-rise residential block in Bracknell the 17-storey Point Royal, built by Arup Associates and now considered an icon of New Town architecture with Grade II listed status.  This block together with the surrounding housing and shops was designated a conservation area in 1996.  In the late 1950s the eponymous Bull Brook was pushed into a culvert as the Bullbrook area of the new town was built.  Each new area was designed to have a strong neighbourhood character, with local shops to cater for everyday needs.  By 1960 work was underway on building Harmans Water the final one of these new neighbourhoods.  So the vision for a country town with green open spaces and local neighbourhood areas served by shops, schools, and community facilities was achieved, epitomising the New Town ideal.

However the Bracknell Development Corporation went on to build more including Great Hollands around 1967, Wildridings around 1970, and Crown Wood in the late 1970s.  The Corporation was eventually wound up in 1982, being subsumed by the Commission for the New Towns, which in turn became English Partnerships and is now a part of the Homes and Communities Agency.

Much of the new town has worked well, and people have settled happily.  Employment was also a part of the new town plan, originally this was industrial but service and IT industries have come to predominate.
Unfortunately Ministry diktat that 21 garages per 100 houses would be sufficient caused a particular problem from an early stage, that of parking.  The ‘new’ town centre is very dated, but there are plans for rebuilding.  On the plus side, there are many cycleways and trees and many people cite the greenery and amount of open space as the things they like most about Bracknell.  The majority of these areas are managed by Bracknell Town Council.

Today Bracknell remains as the New Town concept envisaged, a series of neighbourhood communities bounded by open countryside whilst a burgeoning skyline demonstrates its success in attracting many, mostly high-tech, businesses to the town.  Overall, thanks to its good position close to London, motorways and other transport links, Bracknell has flourished, and is probably the most successful of the new towns.