Secret Bracknell Paperback / softback

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.

Bull-baiting and cock fighting were popular until 1835, when both were banned.

Subsequently a pub in the high street bears the name `The Bull'.

In the eighteenth century, highwaymen and street gangs flourished and stories of their exploits abound.

Secret Bracknell will incorporate many of the little-known stories of royal visitors, highwaymen, murders, ghosts and other incidents hidden beneath the `new town'.