Harmans Water
St Paul's Church
Harmans Water is located in Berkshire
Harmans Water
Harmans Water
Location within Berkshire
OS grid referenceSU877681
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBRACKNELL
Postcode districtRG12
Dialling code01344
PoliceThames Valley
FireRoyal Berkshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Berkshire
51°24′13″N 0°44′20″W / 51.403473°N 0.738849°W / 51.403473; -0.738849

Harmans Water is a suburb of Bracknell, in the English county of Berkshire, formerly part of the parish of Winkfield. It takes its name from Harman's Water Lake, long gone.[1] Building of the estate began around 1960 and was the fourth and last estate to be built as part of the original plan for the new town.

The estate lies approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of the town centre, to the east of the A322 road and south of the A329 road. It is in Harmans Water ward, which following boundary changes now includes parts of Bullbrook, Martins Heron and The Parks.[2]

Facilities include a shopping centre, a library, several public houses and Harmans Water Primary School [1]. St. Pauls Church has shared Church of England and United Reformed Church services and is situated adjacent to the shopping centre. There are a few office buildings in Broad Lane but otherwise the estate is largely residential.

The Parks

The Parks is a recent development and is on the site of the former country estate and hamlet of Ramslade, which included the RAF Staff College which closed in 1997. The first phase of the development, of 220 homes was developed by English Partnerships after permission was granted in 2003,[3] and completed in 2008.[4] Further development continued with a community centre finished in 2015 and 530 more homes completed by 2017.

Ramslade House, the former headquarters building of the RAF staff college, was originally planned to become a community centre but was demolished in 2016 to make way for a development of 12 townhouses being built by Taylor Wimpey.[5] In order to honour the house, a memorial was built on the site.[6]

In 2018, following the demolition of pub The Blue Lion after its closure in 2014, construction began for a block of apartments known as Harmans House which is located next to the Ramslade Cottages. Construction finished in 2019. In early 2021, Taylor Wimpey transferred ownership of The Parks to Bracknell Forest Council,[7] with their plans to bring the green spaces into use. In 2023, a calisthenics park was installed in one of the open space areas, with ten workout stations for residents to use.[8]

References

  1. ^ "History of the Hamlets of Winkfield, Berkshire". David Nash Ford. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Ward Map for Harmans Water" (PDF). Bracknell Forest Council. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Housing plans could see Bracknell's Ramslade House demolished". HUGH FORT. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  4. ^ "The Parks, Bracknell". English Heritage. Archived from the original on 4 August 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  5. ^ "Uncertain future for Historic Ramslade House". Bracknell Forest Standard. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  6. ^ "Commemorative Garden marks the end of 10 years at The Parks, Bracknell". CSA environmental. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  7. ^ "The Parks land taken over by Bracknell Forest Council". Bracknell News. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Calisthenics comes to The Parks". Bracknell Forest Council. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
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