Theale, Berkshire
Encyclopedia
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. The village has many of the attributes of a small town, with a high street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
lined with shops, pubs and restaurants.
Location
Theale is located 5 miles (8 km) west of the centre of the large town of ReadingReading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
and is separated from the suburbs of that town by the M4 motorway
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
. The town of Thatcham
Thatcham
Thatcham is a town in Berkshire, England 3 miles east of Newbury and 15 miles west of Reading. It covers about and has a population of 23,000 people . This number has grown rapidly over the last few decades from 5,000 in 1951 and 7,500 in 1961.It lies on the River Kennet, the Kennet and Avon...
is 9.5 miles (15 km) to the west. Theale is located on the old Bath Road, which crosses the motorway here at junction 12 (Reading West). Theale railway station
Theale railway station
Theale railway station is a railway station in the village of Theale, Berkshire England. The station is served First Great Western local services between and , a semi-fast service between and and a limited semi-fast FGW service between London Paddington and , , and .The railway station was...
is near the centre of the village and is served by local services from Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
to Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
, Great Bedwyn
Great Bedwyn
Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in the east of the English county of Wiltshire.-Location:Great Bedwyn is on the River Dun about south-west of Hungerford and south-east of Marlborough, Wiltshire. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the West of England Main Line railway follow the Dun and pass...
and two weekday long distance services to Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
and Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
.
Development
Theale owes much of its past and present prosperity to its good road communications links. In the pre-railway era, the village was an important staging post on the old Bath Road, as witnessed by the number of old pubsPublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
to be found on its High Street, and the former brewery that served them. One local legend claims that Theale got its name, "The Ale" from when it was the first staging post out of London along the Bath Road. Another claims that the village once held the record for having the most Public Houses in the smallest area - and indeed at one time the village was home to at least nine (The Bull (formerly The Wheel of Fortune), The Falcon, The Angel (now gone, once on the site of the old United Reform Church chapel, now itself replaced by flats), The Crown, The Red Lion, The Lamb, The Volunteer, The Railway Arms (now gone, once opposite the station car park) and The Thatcher's Arms). Most likely neither story is true. The name possibly derives from an original meaning of "crossing over water".
Today the proximity of Reading and the motorway junction has attracted a number of distribution companies and offices; to the east of the village centre is the Arlington Business Park - home to businesses including Pepsi and Abbey business centres
Abbey business centres
Abbey Business Centres is a UK based corporation that provides serviced office space, meeting room facilities and virtual office packages in 13 business centres across Great Britain....
. The same advantages have brought significant amounts of new housing to the village.
The motorway has had another influence on Theale, in that the land it sterilises provides an effective and obvious psychological boundary between the village and the suburbs of Reading.
Government
Theale is a civil parish with an elected parish council. The civil parish formerly stretched further to the east, but in 2000 that part that was to the east of the M4 motorwayM4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
was split off to become Holybrook
Holybrook
Holybrook is a civil parish on the outskirts of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The parish takes its name from the Holy Brook, a watercourse which forms its southern boundary....
parish. Following this change, the parish is bordered by the parishes of Tidmarsh with Sulham
Tidmarsh with Sulham
Tidmarsh with Sulham is a combined parish council area in the English county of Berkshire. It covers the villages of Tidmarsh and Sulham, together with the hamlets of Maidenhatch and Nunhide....
, Tilehurst
Tilehurst
Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is also, with different boundaries as described below, a civil parish in West Berkshire district.-History:...
, Holybrook
Holybrook
Holybrook is a civil parish on the outskirts of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The parish takes its name from the Holy Brook, a watercourse which forms its southern boundary....
, Burghfield
Burghfield
Burghfield is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, close to the boundary with Reading.-Location:Burghfield is about southwest of Reading...
, Sulhamstead
Sulhamstead
Sulhamstead is a village, electoral district and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies off the A4 national route between Reading and Thatcham, some west of central London.-Location:thumb|left|250px|1888 Ordnance Survey Parish Boundary Map...
and Englefield
Englefield, Berkshire
Englefield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The village is mostly within the bounds of the private walled estate of Englefield House....
.
Theale parish falls within the area of the unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of West Berkshire
West Berkshire
West Berkshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England, governed by a unitary authority . Its administrative capital is Newbury, located almost equidistantly between Bristol and London.-Geography:...
and both the parish council and the unitary authority are responsible for different aspects of local government. Theale forms part of the Reading West parliamentary constituency.
Historically, Theale was part of the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Tilehurst
Tilehurst
Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is also, with different boundaries as described below, a civil parish in West Berkshire district.-History:...
.
Culture
- Theale featured in the film The BorrowersThe BorrowersThe Borrowers, published in 1952, is the first in a series of children's fantasy novels by English author Mary Norton. The novel and its sequels are about tiny people who live in people's homes and "borrow" things to survive while keeping their existence unknown...
. The Old Brewery was used during the scenes when the two borrower children escape from their home.
- Singer Lyn Paul's family lived in the house overlooking the canal bridge. Lyn Paul represented Great Britain with the group The New SeekersThe New SeekersThe New Seekers are a British-based pop group, formed in 1969 by Keith Potger after the break-up of his group, The Seekers. The idea was that the New Seekers would appeal to the same market as the original Seekers, but their music had rock as well as folk influences...
in the 1972 Eurovision Song ContestEurovision Song ContestThe Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
where they came 2nd.
- The village High Street was also used to film sequences for the 2004 film The Lazarus ChildThe Lazarus ChildThe Lazarus Child is a 2004 American drama film directed by Graham Theakston. It was filmed in Canada and the United Kingdom. Entitled The Last Door in Canada.-Plot:...
.
- Singer-songwriterSinger-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
John Martyn's highly influential 19771977 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....
album One WorldOne World (John Martyn album)One World is a 1977 album by John Martyn. One of his more experimental works, it features atmospheric, reggae influenced rhythms and free-flowing, jazzy arrangements. Acclaimed for its collaborative spirit, the album includes contributions from Lee Perry on "Big Muff", and Steve Winwood...
was recorded across a lake of a house in Theale.
Sport
Today, Theale's main sporting successes come from local side Theale Tigers who run, among others, football and basketball teams for boys and girls aged 5 to 18. The Theale teams are generally very successful in their relative age groups, and have thereby become renowned throughout the area, particularly their football sides.Theale FC won the FA Sunday Cup in 1992. They enjoyed great support throughout the tournament and the final was held at Elm Park.
During the 1990s Theale Green Sports Centre played host to the Theale Triathlons, Bananathon Duathlons and the Tuesday Trot 10k Running Series organised by Banana Leisure. This included Britain's first-ever "Novices Only" Triathlon. Over 38,000 competitors took part in more than 150 events with many of the world's top triathletes and duathletes competing, these included Spencer Smith
Spencer Smith (triathlete)
Spencer Smith is a British triathlete. During his career in the early 1990s, his main rival was Simon Lessing-Short course titles:His short course titles include:* ITU World Triathlon Champion**1993**1994* ITU World Triathlon Junior Champion**1992...
, Scott Ballance, Stuart Hayes, Julian Goater
Julian Goater
Julian Norris Goater is a British long distance runner.He began his running career while attending Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Elstree, where his father Barry was a master. In 1979 he was a member of the team that took the gold medal at IAAF World Cross Country Championships...
, Ali Taylor, Jessica Harrison and others.
Theale golf club which is situated on the outskirts of the village and is a 18 hole par 72 course measuring 6395 yards (5,847.6 m). It is the home of the "Annual Handicapped Golf Classic". This competition is played on or around the shortest day of the year (usually 20 or 21 December) and the current title holder is Tim Foote of Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
.
In 1997 Theale cricket club merged with Tilehurst cricket club to form Theale and Tilehurst Cricket Club which is situated on the Englefield Road. Theale and Tilehurst Cricket Club runs 5 senior and 4 youth cricket teams with the aim to provide cricket for all standards in a friendly and safe environment. League cricket is played in the Thames Valley Cricket League
Thames Valley Cricket League
The Thames Valley Cricket League is a mostly amateur cricket league, catering to clubs geographically to the west of London, with clubs coming from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Oxfordshire and Surrey, though most are from Berkshire and Buckinghamshire...
and social highlights include the annual T&T Kwik Cricket competition with participation from many local schools.
Food and drink
Theale has a number of pubs and restaurants, including a number of free houses as well as pubs tiedTied house
In the UK a tied house is a public house that is required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery. This is in contrast to a free house, which is able to choose the beers it stocks freely.- Definition of "tied" :...
to Fuller's and Wadworth Brewery
Wadworth Brewery
Wadworth is a regional brewery founded in 1875 in Devizes, Wiltshire, England. They are particularly famous for their 6X beer, but also are a major brewery in the South of England.-History:...
. The village has Chinese
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
, Thai, and French cuisine
French cuisine
French cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from France that has developed from centuries of social change. In the Middle Ages, Guillaume Tirel , a court chef, authored Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of Medieval France...
restaurants.
North of the village, in North Street, was the Thatcher's Arms. The pub closed in mid-2009, and was sold for conversion into a private house. In September 2010, West Berkshire Council refused permission to convert the building into a private dwelling.