Streatley | |
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Village and civil parish | |
![]() Streatley nucleus and riverside beyond. | |
Location within Berkshire | |
Area | 13.14 km2 (5.07 sq mi) |
Population | 1,060 (2011 census) [1] |
• Density | 81/km2 (210/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | SU5980 |
Civil parish |
|
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Reading |
Postcode district | RG8 |
Dialling code | 01491 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Royal Berkshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Website | Streatley Parish Council |
Streatley is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in Berkshire, England. The village faces Goring-on-Thames. The two places share in their shops, services, leisure, sports and much of their transport. Across the river is Goring & Streatley railway station and the village cluster adjoins a lock and weir. The west of the village is a mixture of agriculture and woodland plus a golf course. The village has a riverside hotel. Much of Streatley is at steeply varying elevations, ranging from 51m AOD to 185m at Streatley Warren, a hilltop point on its western border forming the eastern end of the Berkshire Downs. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is topped by the 87-mile The Ridgeway path, which crosses the Thames at Goring and Streatley Bridge.
Streatley is centred 9 miles (14 km) north-west of Reading and 17 miles (27 km) south of Oxford. Its developed area occupies half of the narrow Goring Gap on the River Thames and is directly across the river from the Oxfordshire village of Goring-on-Thames. The two villages are connected by Goring and Streatley Bridge, with its adjacent lock and weir, and are often considered as a single settlement. Goring & Streatley railway station on the Great Western Main Line is in Goring and serves both villages. [A ] [B ]
The village is mostly surrounded by National Trust land: Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down. Nearby villages include Aldworth, Goring-on-Thames, Lower Basildon, Moulsford and Pangbourne The Ridgeway long-distance path passes through the village, which is the finishing line for the annual "Ridgeway 40" walk and trail run. [2] The Thames Path, Icknield Way and the Ridgeway cross the Thames at Streatley.
Being in such a vital crossing point on the Thames, a settlement at Streatley has existed for a long time. The village is mentioned in the Domesday book. Neolithic tools have been found at the base of Lough Down and Bronze Age artefacts in the village. A sarsen stone, traditionally thought to be the remains of a Roman milestone, is still present at the Bull crossroads. [3] Long before the bridge was built a ferry used to operate between the two villages. Sixty people were drowned at Streatley in 1674 when a ferry capsized in the flash lock. [4] The iron wheel pump, on the forecourt of The Bull, was the only reliable water source in the great freeze of 1895, and water was sold from this point for sixpence a bucket.
Two-thirds of Streatley used to be owned by the Morrell family of brewers from Oxford, whose resistance to change enabled the village to withstand the railway line and extra houses that went to Goring-on-Thames. The watermill was originally owned by the nuns of Goring. In later years it was used to drive a generator to provide electricity for the estate. However, it burned down in 1926 and was not rebuilt. [5] On the death of Emily Morrell, in 1938, the estate was sold, and the manor house and some other houses in the village became part of the Royal Veterinary College, which had moved out of London during the Blitz. The college left in 1958. [6] A bomb exploded in a postman's bag on a bicycle in the village in 1979. It was targeted at a retired judge in the village, but went off early, when the postman's bicycle fell over. [7] [8] The incident appeared to be the work of the IRA.
Streatley is a civil parish with an elected parish council. Besides the riverside village of Streatley, the parish covers an area of the Berkshire Downs to the west, and includes the small cluster of dwellings named Stichens Green. [9] The parish is bordered to the north and east by the Oxfordshire parishes of Moulsford, South Stoke and Goring. To the west and south, it is bordered by the Berkshire parishes of Basildon, Ashampstead and Aldworth. [9] The parish falls within the area of the unitary authority of West Berkshire. Both the parish council and the unitary authority have responsibilities for various aspects of local government. The parish used to form part of the Newbury parliamentary constituency, but moved to the new constituency of Reading West and Mid Berks in 2024. [9]
Streatley has one public house, The Bull at Streatley on the Reading Road. Its garden is the unusual burial site for a monk and a nun executed in 1440 for "misconduct" and contains an ancient yew tree. [10] Near the Bull is a youth hostel.
There is a four-star hotel and restaurant in the village – the Swan at Streatley. During the 1970s, it was owned by the drag artist Danny La Rue. The hotel was then purchased by Diplomat Hotels of Sweden, before being sold in 2001 to Nike Group Hotels, part of the Bracknell-based Nike Group of Companies, whose Chairman is John Nike. Since 2012, the hotel has been owned by Rare Bird Hotels, backed by Punch Taverns and Pizza Express entrepreneur Hugh Osmond. The restaurant area is now branded as Coppa Club. During the summer small electric boats can be rented from here to explore the Thames.
Goring and Streatley Golf Club is in the village, founded in 1895. It has a 6,355-yard, par 72 golf course, designed in part by Harry Colt, and has views of the Thames and Ridgeway. Streatley Hill is a destination for cycling hill climbs – the annual Didcot Phoenix Cycle Club and Reading Cycle Club Hill Climb competitions take place every September. The hill featured in the Tour of Britain in 2008 as a designated King of the Mountains climb.
The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary in Streatley used to be part of the Reading Episcopal Area of the Diocese of Oxford, but has now moved to the Dorchester Episcopal Area, crossing the old Wessex-Mercia boundary for the first time in 1400 years. In the churchyard is the grave of an Anglo-Saxon warrior, whose body was discovered under the old bowling green in 1932 and reburied in the cemetery. [11] The village has a Church of England primary school with a feeder pre-school attached to it. The church is a Grade II listed building. [12]
The annual Goring and Streatley Regatta was held each July on the Streatley side of the river. In the 19th century, it was a serious regatta to rival Henley or Marlow, but changed to a local regatta for amateur teams of inhabitants of the two villages. It came to a halt after COVID. [13]
A torchlight procession of villagers and visitors merges with another stream from Goring each Christmas Eve, in a night-time spectacle that continues onto Streatley Recreation Ground for a carol service.
There is a biannual Arts Festival called the Goring Gap Festival. [14]
The village is the subject of the poem "A Streatley Sonata" by Joseph Ashby-Sterry [15] composed in the late 19th century:
And when you're here, I’m told that you
Should mount the hill and see the view;
And gaze and wonder, if you'd do
Its merits most completely;The air is clear, the day is fine,
The prospect is, I know, divine –
But most distinctly I decline
To climb the hill at StreatleyBut from the Hill, I understand
You gaze across rich pasture-land;
And fancy you see Oxford and
P'r'aps Wallingford and Wheatley:Upon the winding Thames you gaze,
And, though the view’s beyond all praise,
I'd rather much sit here and lazeThan scale the Hill at Streatley!
The village is mentioned in Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat :
We had intended to push on to Wallingford that day, but the sweet smiling face of the river here lured us to linger for a while; and so we left our boat at the bridge, and went up into Streatley, and lunched at the Bull, much to Montmorency's satisfaction....
It is an ancient place, Streatley, dating back, like most river-side towns and villages, to British and Saxon times. Goring is not nearly so pretty a little spot to stop at as Streatley, if you have your choice; but it is passing fair enough in its way, and is nearer the railway in case you want to slip off without paying your hotel bill.
The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs to the River Thames at the Goring Gap, part of the Icknield Way which ran, not always on the ridge, from Salisbury Plain to East Anglia. The route was adapted and extended as a National Trail, created in 1972. The Ridgeway National Trail follows the ancient Ridgeway from Overton Hill, near Avebury, to Streatley, then follows footpaths and parts of the ancient Icknield Way through the Chiltern Hills to Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire. The National Trail is 87 miles (140 km) long.
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to the west. The city of Oxford is the largest settlement and county town.
Goring-on-Thames is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England. Situated on the county border with Berkshire, it is 6 mi (10 km) south of Wallingford and 8 mi (13 km) north-west of Reading. It had a population of 3,187 in the 2011 census and was estimated to have increased to 3,335 by 2019.
The Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in southern England, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Berkshire Downs are wholly within the traditional county of Berkshire, although split between the current ceremonial counties of Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The western parts of the downs are also known as the Lambourn Downs.
Aldworth is a village and mainly farmland civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, near the boundary with Oxfordshire.
The North Wessex Downs are an area of chalk downland landscapes located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The North Wessex Downs has been designated as a National Landscape since 1972.
Whitchurch Lock is a lock and weir on the River Thames in England. It is a pound lock, built by the Thames Navigation Commissioners in 1787. It is on an island near the Oxfordshire village of Whitchurch-on-Thames and is accessible only by boat.
Goring Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames in England at the Goring Gap in the Chiltern Hills. The lock is located on the Oxfordshire bank at Goring-On-Thames, with Streatley, Berkshire on the opposite side of the river. It is just upstream of Goring and Streatley Bridge. The lock was first built in 1787 by the Thames Navigation Commissioners
Goring and Streatley Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames in England. The bridge links the twin villages of Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, and Streatley, Berkshire, and is adjacent to Goring Lock.
Goring & Streatley railway station is on the Great Western Main Line, serving the twin villages of Goring-on-Thames in Oxfordshire and Streatley in Berkshire. The station is located in Goring-on-Thames, adjacent to the village centre, and is five minutes' walk from Goring and Streatley Bridge; this connects the village with Streatley, across the River Thames. It is 44 miles 60 chains (72.0 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Pangbourne to the east and Cholsey to the west. It is served by local services operated by Great Western Railway (GWR)
Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down is a National Trust countryside property in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated on the edge of the Berkshire Downs above the village of Streatley and overlooking the Goring Gap. The property comprises an outstanding area of 27 hectares of downland and woodland with many attractive walks and views. Lardon Chase, and a part of the Holies known as Holies Down, are also designated as Sites of Special Scientific Interest. The property lies within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and in an area known for the presence of several Neolithic and Iron Age forts.
Shiplake consists of three settlements: Shiplake, Shiplake Cross and Lower Shiplake. Together these villages form a civil parish situated beside the River Thames 2 miles (3 km) south of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The river forms the parish boundary to the east and south, and also the county boundary between Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The villages have two discrete centres separated by agricultural land. The 2011 Census records the parish population as 1,954 and containing 679 homes. The A4155 main road linking Henley with Reading, Berkshire passes through the parish.
Wargrave is a historic village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The village is primarily on the River Thames but also along the confluence of the River Loddon and lies on the border with southern Oxfordshire. The village has many old listed buildings, two marinas with chandlery services for boats, a boating club and rises steeply to the northeast in the direction of Bowsey Hill, with higher parts of the village generally known as Upper Wargrave. In Upper Wargrave is a Recreation Ground with a cricket club, bowls club, football pitches and tennis club.
South Stoke is a village and civil parish on an east bank of the Thames, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Goring-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire. It includes less than 1 mile (1.6 km) to its north the hamlet and manor house of Littlestoke.
Lardon Chase is a 14.9-hectare (37-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Streatley in Berkshire. Bordering Oxfordshire, It is in the North Wessex Downs, which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is part of the Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down National Trust property.
Moulsford is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire. Before 1974, it was in the county of Berkshire, in Wallingford Rural District, but following the Berkshire boundary changes of that year it became a part of Oxfordshire. Moulsford is on the A329, by the River Thames, just north of Streatley and south of Wallingford. The west of the parish is taken up by the foothills of the Berkshire Downs, including the Moulsford Downs. Moulsford Bottom and Kingstanding Hill are traditionally associated with King Alfred and the Battle of Ashdown.
North Stoke is a small village beside the River Thames in the civil parish of Crowmarsh, in the South Oxfordshire district, in the county of Oxfordshire, England, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the market town of Wallingford. Its 'Church of St Mary' is a Grade I listed building. In 1931 the parish had a population of 190. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished to form Crowmarsh.
Cleeve Lock is a lock on the River Thames, in Oxfordshire, England. It is located just upstream of Goring and Streatley villages, on the eastern side of the river within the village of Goring. There was a hamlet of Cleeve, after which the lock is named, but it dropped out of use, as always part of Goring.
Nuffield is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, England, just over 4 miles (6 km) east of Wallingford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 939.
Goring & Streatley Golf Club is a golf course in the village of Streatley, in the English county of Berkshire. It takes its name partly from that village, and partly from the adjoining village of Goring-on-Thames in the county of Oxfordshire. The course adjoins the National Trust properties of Lardon Chase, the Holies and Lough Down.