Theale, Berkshire
Historical Description
Theale-with-North Street, a village and a parish in Berks. The village, which forms one street along the road from Reading to Newbury, is 5 miles W from Reading. It has a station on the G.W.R., and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Reading. The parish obtained ecclesiastical independence in 1854, and is bounded on the S by the river Kennet. Population, 909. It was made a separate civil parish in 1895, and has a parish council consisting of seven members. The manor, with most of the land, belongs to the Blagrave family. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £512 with residence, in the gift of Magdalen College, Oxford. The church, erected in 1832, is a building of freestone in the Early English style. There are Congregational and Primitive Methodist chapels.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Berkshire | |
| Hundred | Reading | |
| Poor Law union | Bradfield |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1832.
Churches
Church of England
The Holy Trinity (parish church)
The church of the Holy Trinity, erected in 1832, at the sole expense of the late Mrs. Sheppard, of Amport, Hants, under the direction of her brother, Dr. Routh, the late venerable president of Magdalen College, Oxford, is a building of freestone in the Early English style, from the designs of the late Mr. E. W. Garbett, and consists of apsidal chancel, nave and a fine south-eastern tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock and 6 bells: the chancel was added in 1892 at a cost of nearly £2,000, by Mrs. Butler, in memory of her husband, the Rev. Thomas Butler B.D. rector 1845-87: the west front is a much reduced copy of that of Salisbury cathedral, and the tower is to some extent reproduced from the old bell tower formerly on Salisbury close: the interior is lofty, the roof being groined, and delicately coloured: an ancient chantry of Perpendicular date, removed from Magdalen College Chapel, Oxford, bas been re-erected on the north side of the chancel, and two doorways from the same building have also been inserted in the walls: on the south side of the chancel is a low canopied tomb, in memory of Dr. Martin Joseph Routh, a modern copy of an abbot's tomb of the 13th century in Tewkesbury Abbey: many of the windows in the nave are stained: those in the apse are good examples of the work of the late Mr. J. E. Kempe: there are 300 sittings.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel
There is a new Congregational chapel, erected in 1913, seating 100 persons.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist Chapel
There is a Primitive Methodist chapel.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Theale was in Bradfield Registration District from 1894 to 1937 and Wokingham Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Theale from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Theale)
- Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1915
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Berkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Theale are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Berkshire papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitations of Berkshire 1532, 1566, and 1665-6 is available online.