Secret Bracknell

Bracknell was developed as a ‘new town’ in 1949, but the area had been evolving since Saxon times. A royal charter from AD 942 mentions ‘Bracken Head’ and a local comprehensive school still bears the name ‘Brackenhale’. It was a popular hunting ground for kings and queens and it was here that the widowed Catherine of Aragon became friendly with the newly crowned Henry VIII and secretly married him...