Billingbear

Metropolitan countyRegionCountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townREADINGPostcode districtRG40Dialling code01344PoliceThames ValleyFireRoyal BerkshireAmbulanceSouth Central UK Parliament 51°26′15″N 0°48′28″W / 51.437605°N 0.807905°W / 51.437605; -0.807905

Billingbear is a hamlet in the civil parish of Binfield and a former country estate in the civil parish of Waltham St Lawrence, near Bracknell, in the English county of Berkshire.^[1]

Geography

The settlement lies between the M4 motorway and the village of Binfield, just north-west of Binfield Parish Church, along Carters Hill and Billingbear Lane. The country estate is immediately to the west.

Billingbear Park

Billingbear Park is now the site of a large late 20th century country house and a golf course. It was previously a large area of parkland surrounding Billingbear House, a huge Elizabethan mansion erected in 1567 by Henry Neville (d. 1593).^[1] It burnt down in 1924.^[1]

Allanbay Park

Just north-east of the hamlet is Allanbay Park, a grade II listed country house set in parkland.^[2] It was the home of John Lycett Wills (1910–1999) and his wife Jean Elphinstone. Wills served as High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1958. Jean was a niece of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and lady-in-waiting to her cousin, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. In 1955, Group Captain Peter Townsend stayed at Allanbay to avoid the press furore surrounding his relationship with the Princess.^[1]

References