The town of Bracknell is at the east of the county but also on the western edge of the Greater London Urban Area.
Bracknell has Saxon origins, being first recorded in 942CE. The name back then was Braccan Heal, which may have meant Bracca's Land. By the Middle Ages there were two Bracknells, or Bracknoll at the time. Old and new market villages. Dick Turpin is said to have frequented one of the village pubs. The two villages were combined into a single town in the 19th century. The town saw rapid growth with the manufacture of bricks a major industry.
After the Second World War, Bracknell was designated a New Town, thousands of new houses were built to rehouse people who had lost their homes during the war and German bombing. Bracknell has expanded beyond the original plans and now has a population of well over 100,000.
The town is host to the headquarters of a number of large companies including 3M, Fujitsu and Waitrose.
