Burnham is an ancient hamlet on the road to Bath which may have seen occupation since before Roman times. Today it has been engulfed by the suburbs of Slough but it is still a self-contained village.

It is possible that the name derives from the Old English words burna and ham which mean ‘a homestead or village on a stream’. Problem is that there isn’t really a stream in Burnham so it is more likely that the first part of the name is from an Old English personal name Bruna thus meaning ‘Bruna's homestead’. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Burneham. In mediaeval times it was large enough to have a market and a fair. Today the high street is lined with sixteenth and seventeenth century buildings.