125 

 NATURAL HISTORY OF SUNNINGHILL. 



BY 0. S. ROUND, ESQ. 



Chapter II. 



There is not, perhaps, in the whole extent of England to be 

 village more widely scattered, or more rich in variety of soil, undulation 

 of surface, or natural beauty, than that which I am about to describe. 

 It lies in the extreme south-eastern corner of the county of Berks, some 

 portions of it being scarcely one mile distant from the great western road, 

 leading from London to Southampton, which divides the counties of Berks 

 and Surrey. It is in longitude 40° west, and in latitude 25°. The junc- 

 tion of Surrey and Buckinghamshire is some seven miles distant, between 

 the towns of Windsor and Staines, which lie to the north-east and east, 

 and to which latter place a corner of the county of Middlesex reaches. 

 The parish of Sunninghili is twenty-four miles west of London, and is 

 bounded on the south and south-east by the parish of Old Windsor, to 

 the west and south-west by Windlesham, and to the north and north-west 

 and east by the parish of Winkfield. A branch road leading to the town 

 of Wokingham or Oakingham, which is nine miles distant, and to Reading, 

 the county town, which is sixteen to the west north-west, runs through the 

 village, and is as good as a main highway, in fact it is such to a certain 

 extent; although now that coaching days and all their glories are departed, 

 it is no longer in the spick-and-span condition which whilom distinguished 

 it. This district originally formed a part of the kingdom of Wessex, and 

 is now in the deanery of Reading. That part which is now the inhabited 

 portion, and where the houses chiefly cluster, may be arranged into three 

 divisions; one of these comprehends an extent of three square miles, lying 

 on the north-western side of the boundary line; another, which is about the 

 centre, is not so extensive; and the last occupies the south-eastern side, 

 very near the' corner. 



The first of these portions is, properly, the village, the oldest house at 

 present standing being there. This group is irregularly built along the ridge 

 or on the sides of a steep descent, running east and west, and facing to 

 the north, and commanding a very extensive and romantic view of a moor- 

 land valley, called Sunninghili bog, from a line of marshes which occupy 

 its base; a steep line of hill arises on the opposite side, on the summit of 

 which the above-mentioned branch road runs; on the further side of which, 

 again, is Ascot Heath, so well known for its sporting celebrity. On the 

 extreme south-west there are extensive plantations of the Scotch pine, and 

 the prospect in that direction is entirely of a heathy character; and here 

 the hand of modern improvement has not been idle, and the once lonely 

 "moor and moss," whose echoes were awoke only by the pee-pee of the 



VOL. VIII. s 



