Cox Green History Group

A Twenty Year Explosion.

Doreen Wright

Following the end of the Second World War Cox Green started its transformation from small rural village. The Larchfield estate to the north east of the village was started then in the summer of 1948 farm land was cleared for the beginnings of the new council estate to the north of the village. Its main road laid and named after the Brill families famous herd of Wessex Sadleback pigs, The Wessex Way estate was born. In September the council gave permission for archaeological excavations to be carried out on land between Wessex Way and the proposed motorway and the dig to uncover Cox Greens Roman Farm took place. The first phase of the new building development took place in 1959 and the borough surveyor request that a suitable plaque be erected to indicate the site of the Roman Farm. The plaque can still be seen on the side of a block of flats in Northumbria Road today.

The start of the M4 motorway from London to South Wales played a big part in shaping Cox Green at this time with the stretch between junction 8 for Maidenhead and junction 9 the end of the motorway at Maidenhead Thicket cutting the village in half. In February of 1960 the western half of Kimbers Lane was renamed Ockwells Road and later that year the first street lighting was installed in the village. In 1961 the first of the new private houses were built in Wessex Way and a new school was built and opened. Cox Green Primary School catered for children between the ages of 5 and 11. Between 1961 and 1962 Brill Close took shape with Winchester Drive and Warwick Close following in ’63. The growing population now needed more shops and the Wessex Way shopping parade was opened later that year. Comprising a fish & chip shop, haberdashery, chemist, bakers, supermarket, greengrocers, butchers, hardware store, newsagents, off licence and hairdressers everything the growing community needed was in place including a car park that was nearly always empty.

In 1965 the Vanes family, the owners of Ellay Enfield Tubes and Mrs Fletcher, who owned Cox Green House, sold land to allow the building of Sherbourne and Ashbourne Drives. While in ’65 14 houses were built on the site of the large house called The Points. Between 1965 &’66 Sunley Homes built Westfield Park, with the roads named after apples Lamborne Drive took shape. Cox Green's increasing population meant more school age children so in September 1967 the first phase of the Cox Green Secondary Modern School opened. Designed by the architect Mr Hutton, the school boasted 100 pupils split into 4 forms. A lack of prepared playing fields meant a coach trip to Oaken Grove for PE lessons Cox Green's first Head Mr Lacy stayed in his post until his retirement in 1992. In ’68 another school, Cox Green Infants, opened with the former primary school changing to a junior school.

Between ’68 & ’71 three new private developments appeared in Cox Green, Ockwells Park took shape to the south east on the site of the former withy beds while to the north west Barn Drive and Farmers Way sprang up. Farmers Way contained another small shopping parade including a newsagent, a small convenience store, and an off licence. 1970 saw the addition of a technical block and hall with its famous Roman Eagle weather vane added to the secondary modern school, which a year later became a comprehensive school. In 1973 another addition was made to the school as Lower school was added. More housing was started in ’73 as farmland sold by the Brill family provided for the newer part of Mercia Road, the land was sold on condition that sheltered housing for the older members of the community were included in the plans. Brill House and Brill Green thus came into existence.

1975-1976 saw the final phase of the plans for the senior school completed with the additions of the then-textiles, now-music block and sports hall. The sports hall was built at the same time as the new Community Centre, the new Centre combined and replaced the Church of the Good Shepherd and the Victory Hall which had stood opposite each other in Cox Green Lane. The Centre was officially opened in January 1977 but the first church service was held on Advent Sunday 1976. By this time the senior school had grown to around 1,350 pupils.

More Brill land was built on between ’75 & ’77 to form Seymour Close and an extension to Warwick Close as well as extra houses built at the junction between Highfield Lane and Cox Green Lane. Three more developments started in ’76 Bovis Homes started Friarswood (Treesmill Drive) Meadowood (Lowbrook) and Waltham Park Estate (Bissley Drive). The new area covered by Meadowood and Waltham Park was so large another primary school was needed and in September 1978 Lowbrook School opened. In order to avoid confusion with three schools caring for primary children in the village Cox Green Junior and Infant schools changed their names to Wessex Junior and Wessex Infant schools. During the second phase of the Bovis development in 1980 Shopenhangers Road was extended to join up with the points junction where Highfield Lane, Woodlands Park Road and Cox Green Lane met. In 1980 Lord Milverton’s former home The Lodge in Woodlands Park Road was demolished to make way for 11 new homes named Milverton Close.

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