It’s all in the name – local group names Shinfield’s newest care home

Home news

Aug 19, 2019

A local history group has won a competition to name a brand new care home in Shinfield.    

The Shinfield and District Local History Society took part in a competition to name the new Care UK home on Westall Street, which opens in June next year.  

The competition called for the people who know the village best, its residents, to share suggestions which had cultural or historical reference to the local area. 

The name chosen for the care home is Parsons Grange, based on a suggestion of Louisa Parsons House by Christopher Paul Young, a member of the Shinfield and District Local History Society. Louisa Parsons was a nurse trained by Florence Nightingale and decorated for her service in the British Army in the 1880s, before moving to the United States, where she founded the University of Maryland School of Nursing. 

She also served in the US Army, before moving back to England and spending the latter part of her life in Shinfield with her sister.She died in 1916 and was buried by the Bishop of Reading, with full military honours, in the detached cemetery in Deardon Way, Shinfield, close to St. Mary’s Church, where her grave can still be seen. 

Peter Griffiths, Development Project Manager at Care UK, said: “The home naming process is one of the key milestones for the new home, so it was important to involve the community in the decision. All of the names put forward were of a very high quality, but we felt Parsons Grange was original and really rooted the home in the local area. 

“We’re so grateful to everyone that made a name suggestion and the Shinfield and District Local History Society for coming up with the winning name.” 

Christopher said: “I have lived in Shinfield for a long time and it is appropriate that the new home should preserve the historic link with Louisa, who was a leading influence in nursing both in this country and in the United States.”