Facts & Figures

Shinfield is a civil parish in the county of Berkshire, just south of Reading. It contains 4,313 acres in the unitary authority of Wokingham Borough Council. The northern part of the parish is separated by the M4 motorway which was constructed in 1971. The parish includes the communities (prev. referred to as hamlets) of Ryeish Green, Spencers Wood, Three Mile Cross, Shinfield Village, Grazeley and Shinfield Rise/North. Shinfield Village is pre-Norman and thus has 1000 years or more of history.

Geography

The parish consists of a central ridge of high land sloping down to Kennet Valley in the west and the Loddon River in the east which forms its eastern and southern boundary. The soil is mostly London Clay, with patchy spreads of valley and plateau gravel.

The M4 motorway runs west–east through the northern portion of the parish. The main road through the village, running north–south, is the former A327, running between Reading and Aldershot, with the A327 now bypassing the village centre.

Shinfield Village is centred on the village green (School Green), surrounded by a pub, a shop, Shinfield Infants School and, nearby, St. Mary’s Junior School and a recreation ground.

Population

The estimated population in 2020 was 15000. A census is due in 2021

Residential house building has in Shinfield Parish has increased considerably since 2010.

Churches

• The Church of England parish church of St. Mary, Church Lane, Shinfield. (A Norman church dating from 1050 AD.)
• Michael and All Angels (C of E). Basingstoke Road, Spencers Wood
• Shinfield Community Church, Hollow Lane, Shinfield
• South of Reading Christian Fellowship, Three Mile Cross Church Centre, Basingstoke Road, Three Mile Cross
• Brethren’s Meeting Room, Hollow Lane, Shinfield

Schools

• Alder Grove C of E Primary School
• Shinfield Infants & Nursery School – (built in 1707 and believed to have been in continuous use as a school for longer than any other village school in England)
• Shinfield St Mary’s C o E Junior School
• Whiteknights Primary School
• Crosfields Independent Day School – (centred on the early 17th century Goodrest House, so named because Oliver Cromwell is said to have had a good rest there in 1642 during the English civil war
• Oakbank Co-educational Secondary School
• Lambs Lane Primary School
• Grazeley Parochial Primary School

Car and Van Ownership

• England and Wales National average cars or vans per 1000 head of population = 488*
• Wokingham Borough (Including Shinfield) average cars or vans per 1000 head of population = 642*