Ploughlands, Priestwood, Bracknell History.

I have been doing some research into the history of Ploughlands and Priestwood.

History

Priestwood Common was originally an area of common grazing land adjoining Ascot Heath. In times past, it was frequented by many a highwayman. The area appears to have been named after the monks of Hurley Priory who, as Lords of the Manor of Warfield, made the parish church their home in the 1320s when floods drove them from Hurley. Since the housing estate was built, there have been various reports of ghostly monks in the area.

Bracknell was oringal part of Windsor forest but as it delevoped, the forest diminished and new roads were built linking the villages and ultimately London. By 1847 Bracknell had become a small village, which was situated on the main road to the west of England. The railway came to the town in 1856.
Bracknell was declared a New Town on 17 June 1949, new towns were built to house the increasing population from London and rehome people whose houses had been bombed. Bracknell Development Corporation were given wide-ranging powers, including that of compulsory purchase and set about rebuilding Bracknell in to the town it is today.

Priestwood was the first area of development and the first occupants moved in on Christmas Eve 1951. Ploughlands was not built till much later, after 1967 I will try to find the exact date. Before Ploughlands was built it looks like there was two houses on the site and this probably explains the glass I keep finding in the garden.

In this first map below from 1872 it shows Pollardrow Copse where Ploughlands is built on now. I have also looked at the 1912 map and there is no change to the copse on that map.

The next map below is from 1932 and in the middle of this map there are two houses where Ploughlands now is. These houses are conected to the road going though the middle of Pollardrow copse, this road is called Pollardrow Avenue. The houses shown on this map must of been built between 1912 and 1932 according to the maps.

The next map below is from 1967, in this we can see that Priestwood is very delveloped, but the two houses are still in the middle where Ploughlands now is. This map tells us that Ploughlands must of been built after 1967.

I have found this youtube video which shows old pictures of Bracknell from the 1950s

I found this picture for 1954, sorry amount size/quailty. This show the area around Ploughlands being built. The area in the red oval is where Ploughlands is now.