Reading is a town in Berkshire, England. Most of its built-up area lies within the Borough of Reading, although some outer suburbs are parts of neighbouring unitary authority areas. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers Thames and Kennet, Reading is 40 miles (64 km) east of Swindon, 25 miles (40 km) south of Oxford, 40 miles (64 km) west of London and 16 miles (26 km) north of Basingstoke.
The Royal County of Berkshire, commonly known as simply Berkshire, is a ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London to the east, Surrey to the south-east, Hampshire to the south, and Wiltshire to the west. Reading is the largest settlement and the county town.
Caversham is a suburb of Reading, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England, located directly north of the town centre across the River Thames. Caversham rises from the River Thames, lying on flood plain and the lowest reaches of the Chiltern Hills. Two road bridges, including Caversham Bridge, and two footbridges join Caversham to the rest of Reading. Named areas within the suburb include Emmer Green, Lower Caversham, Caversham Heights and Caversham Park Village. Notable landmarks include Caversham Court, a public park and former country house; Caversham Lakes; and part of the Thames Path national trail.
Reading East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Matt Rodda, of the Labour Party. The seat is one of two Labour seats from a total of eight seats in Berkshire.
Henley is a constituency in Oxfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2008 by John Howell, a Member of Parliament from the Conservative Party.
Emmer Green is the northernmost suburb of Reading in Berkshire, England, centred around 2 miles (3.2 km) north of the town centre. Having most of its own commerce, sport and other amenities, Emmer Green has an arbitrary divide with larger Caversham and a border with Oxfordshire, the county in which both places formerly stood.
Reading Borough Council, formerly known as Reading Corporation, is the local authority for Reading in the county of Berkshire, England. Reading is a unitary authority with borough status. As a unitary authority the council has the powers of a county council and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonial county, with no administrative responsibilities.
Rotherfield Peppard is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire. It is centred 3 miles (5 km) west of Henley-on-Thames, 4+1⁄2 miles (7 km) north of Reading, Berkshire and 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Rotherfield Greys. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 1,649. The area includes Peppard Hill, which is 1⁄2 mile (800 m) west of the centre of the village and adjoins Sonning Common. Peppard Common is public woodland and meadow in between in a ravine. The far east of the parish is a golf course and the far west is Kingwood Common which is also wooded common land. In 1951, Elizabeth Goudge (1900-1984), novelist and winner of the Newberry Award for Best Children's Book, moved to Rotherfield Peppard, where she lived until her death. A blue plaque, unveiled in 2008, identifies her home.
Mapledurham is a small village, civil parish and country estate beside the River Thames in southern Oxfordshire, England. The large parish borders Caversham, the most affluent major district of Reading, Berkshire. Historic buildings in the area include the Church of England parish church of St. Margaret, Mapledurham Watermill and Mapledurham House.
Sonning Common is a village and civil parish in a relatively flat, former common land part of the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, centred 3.5 miles (6 km) west south-west of Henley-on-Thames and 2.5 miles (4 km) north of Reading.
Caversham Park is a Victorian-era stately home with parkland in the suburb of Caversham on the outskirts of Reading, England. Historically located in Oxfordshire, it became part of Berkshire with boundary changes in 1911. Caversham Park was home to BBC Monitoring and BBC Radio Berkshire. The park is listed as Grade II in the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Lower Caversham is an area of the former town of Caversham, in the English county of Berkshire. Today this is itself a suburb of the larger town of Reading. Lower Caversham has no formal boundaries, but the name usually refers to that part of Caversham situated on lower ground to the east of central Caversham, close to the River Thames.
Caversham Heights is a residential area within Caversham, a suburb of the larger town of Reading in Berkshire, England, located to the east of the centre of Caversham. Until 1911, Caversham was part of Oxfordshire, and it remains a part of the historic county. The name Caversham Heights traditionally refers to that part of Caversham situated on higher ground to the west of central Caversham, straddling the Woodcote Road (A4074). Since 2022, Caversham Heights has also been the name of a local government ward that extends to the Thames in the south, and across Hemdean Bottom to St. Barnabas Road in the east.
Caversham Lakes is a set of lakes created through gravel extraction between the suburb of Caversham in Reading, Berkshire and the hamlet of Sonning Eye in Oxfordshire, just north of the River Thames and also refers to the sports buildings and facilities alongside those lakes.
Chazey Heath is a hamlet in Oxfordshire, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Reading, Berkshire. It is situated on the A4074 road, between Caversham and Oxford, at its junction with the rural road to Goring Heath and Goring-on-Thames. For local government purposes Chazey Heath is in Mapledurham civil parish, which forms part of the district of South Oxfordshire within the county of Oxfordshire. It is within the Henley constituency of the United Kingdom Parliament. Prior to Brexit in 2020, it was represented by the South East England constituency for the European Parliament.
Caversham Court is a public garden and was a mansion located on the north bank of the River Thames in Caversham, a suburb of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. The park lies within the St Peter's conservation area. The park is listed as Grade II in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
The Emmer Green (Hanover) Chalk Mine is an extensive abandoned subterranean chalk mine at Emmer Green, north of Reading in Berkshire, located just north of the junction of Peppard Road and Kiln Road. The mine is so named because the land is now owned by the Hanover Housing Association who have a development adjacent at Wordsworth Court. The mine is one of a number of known mines in the Emmer Green and Reading area where chalk mining was often done in conjunction with brick making as chalk and clay are found together in the area and chalk was use in the making of bricks. It is likely other abandoned mines remain undiscovered. The area was once known as Rose Hill and contained brickfield and chalk mining works.
Emmer Green is an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. Until the 2022 Reading Borough Council election, it was known as Peppard ward and had slightly different boundaries.
Caversham Heights is an electoral ward of the Borough of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. The ward was created by a boundary reorganisation prior to the 2022 Reading Borough Council election, and has replaced the Mapledurham ward, with the addition of parts of the old Thames and Peppard wards. During the reorganisation process, the ward was known as The Heights, but the name was subsequent changed as a result of public consultation.
