Warfield, Berkshire
Historical Description
Warfield, a large parish in Berks, 2½ miles NNE of Bracknell station on the L. & S.W.R., 5 ENE of Wokingham, and 9 SW from Windsor. It includes part of Bracknell, which has a head post office. Acreage, 3435; population, 2273. For parish council purposes it is divided into two wards, Warfield and Bracknell, the former returning five and the latter six members to the council. The manor belongs to Lord Braybrooke. Warfield Hall is a pleasant country mansion standing in a park of about 160 acres. The liviny is a vicarage in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £126. The church is an ancient edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, N aisle, S porch, and an embattled western tower. It was most successfully restored in 1874 from designs by the late Mr Street. The vicarage of Bracknell is a separate benefice.
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 | Warfield St. Michael | |
| Hundred | Wargrave | |
| Poor Law union | Easthampstead |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Of the earlier register, dating from 1666, only copies now exist, the originals having been destroyed by fire in 1833.
Churches
Church of England
St. Michael the Archangel (parish church)
The church of St. Michael the Archangel is an ancient building of stone in the Early English style, of which it is considered a fine specimen; it consists of chancel, nave of four bays, north aisle, south porch, and an embattled western tower containing 8 bells: the tower was restored in 1913 by Field-Marshal Sir Charles Henry Brownlow G.C.B. the old bells being recast and 3 new ones added: the church was thoroughly restored in 1876 under the direction of the late G. E. Street esq. R.A. at a cost of about £3,000, raised by subscription; the interior is relieved by a very handsome carved oak screen with delicate tracery; it contains also a monument to Sir John Benn Walsh bart. of Ormathwaite, Cumberland, who died June 7, 1825, and several other fine monuments of some antiquity: there are 270 sittings. The churchyard was wholly closed against interments January 1, 1867; a new portion was added to the burial ground in 1887.
Civil Registration
Warfield 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 Warfield from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Warfield (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 Warfield 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.