Sandhurst, Berkshire
Historical Description
Sandhurst, a village and a parish in Berks. The village stands on the river Blackwater, 1½ mile NW of Wellington College station on the Reading and Reigate branch of the S.E.R., and 4½ miles S by E of Wokingham, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Wokingham. The parish comprises 4536 acres; population of the civil parish, 4148; of the ecclesiastical, 1894. Sandhurst Lodge is the property of the Walter family, who are lords of the manor and chief landowners. Amburrow and Longdoun House are chief residences. There are two large barrows in the parish and the remains of a Roman camp. Extensive improvements have been made and numerous houses erected in recent years. The Royal Military College stands in beautiful park-like grounds about 2 miles from the church, was temporarily founded at High Wycombe in 1799, removed to Great Marlow in 1802, and brought hither in 1812, is a plain edifice of centre and two wings with a handsome Doric portico, includes a riding-school, an observatory, a well-furnished library, and a chapel, and contains accommodation for masters, officers, and 300 gentlemen cadets. Wellington College and Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, which are in this parish, are noticed under CROWTHORNE. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £47. Patron, the Bishop of Oxford. The church was restored in 1864, and is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, N porch, and a western tower with spire. It has a brass of 1608 and a finely carved font. A mission church was built at Little Sandhurst in 1889, and there are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Berkshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Sandhurst St. Michael | |
| Hundred | Sonning | |
| Poor Law union | Easthampstead |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1603.
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary's Mission church
The Mission church of St. Mary, at Sandhurst, built in 1889, by the rector, at a cost of £800, is an edifice of red brick consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and bell cote containing one bell: there are 150 sittings.
St. Michael (parish church)
The church of St. Michael is a building of stone in fhe Early English style, rebuilt in 1864 at an expense of £1,300, and consists of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, north porch and a western tower with spire containing 6 bells and a clock: the finely-carved font was executed by one of the daughters of the Rev. Henry Parsons, late rector: there is a brass to Richard Geale, ob. 1608, his wife Elizabeth, four sons and five daughters, with effigies of all: there are 250 sittings.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel
There is a Baptist chapel, erected in 1880, and seating 130.
Methodist
Wesleyan Chapel
There is a Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1867, and rebuilt 1905 at a cost of £1,800, with sittings for 250.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Sandhurst was in Easthampstead Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Windsor Registration District from 1937 to 1967
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Sandhurst from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Sandhurst (St. Michael))
- Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1915
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Berkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Sandhurst are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Berkshire papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitations of Berkshire 1532, 1566, and 1665-6 is available online.