Sandhurst Stadium

Sandhurst is a town and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest borough in Berkshire, England. It is in the south eastern corner of Berkshire, and is situated 32 miles (51 km) west-southwest of central London, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north west of Camberley and 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Bracknell.

Sandhurst is known worldwide as the location of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (often referred to simply as "Sandhurst", "The Academy" or "The RMA"). Despite its close proximity to Camberley, Sandhurst is also home to a large and well-known out-of-town mercantile development. The site is named "The Meadows" and has a Tesco Extra hypermarket and a Marks & Spencer, two of the largest in the country. A large Next plc clothing and homeware store is open on the site of the old Homebase.

History

Saxon and Medieval periods

The name of the village is Anglo-Saxon and originates from the sandy soils and the hurst (a wooded eminence) of the area. In early 14th century records, Sandhurst appears as part of township of Sonning, a large minster parish spreading over much of eastern Berkshire, which later became a hundred when its villages obtained their own churches. These lands belonged to the Bishops of Salisbury. There were two manors in Sandhurst: ‘Hall’ in the grounds of what is now the Royal Military Academy and ‘Sandhurst’ on the site of Sandhurst Lodge. Nothing remains of the original buildings. The first mention of the village of Sandhurst is to be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Henry II in 1175 where the receipt of one mark for the Villata de Sandhurst is recorded.

Tudor to Georgian periods

In the early modern era, Sandhurst parish was a small farming community on the very edge of Windsor Forest, Sandhurst Walke being an important forest division subject to forest laws. Locals had the right to cut turf, bracken, heather and wood that was primarily cultivated to feed the forest deer. These were hunted by Royal parties from a hunting lodge in