Purley-on-Thames
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the London location, see Purley, London
Purley on Thames, or simply Purley, is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It forms part of the Reading urban area, but remains outside of Reading borough, in the district of West Berkshire.
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[edit] Location
Purley is situated some 3 miles north west of Reading. Its original location was at the edge of the flood-plain of the River Thames, where the valley side starts to rise sharply. Both the Reading to Oxford road (A329) and the Great Western Main Line railway pass along this slope higher than the original village centre, which is linked to the A329 by two steep lanes crossing the railway.
Later developments have shaped the suburb in two different directions. The area of Purley Riverside has grown up on the flood-plain towards the river in a rather unplanned fashion, with many homes ranging from converted rail carriages to self-built modernistic houses; residents here have to contend with occasional flooding. Higher up the valley side, more recent developments have resulted in several large estates of houses, and this side of the suburb merges into Tilehurst without any clear boundary.
Position: grid reference SU663762
Nearby towns and cities: Reading
Nearby villages: Pangbourne, Sulham, Tidmarsh
Nearby suburbs: Tilehurst, West Reading
However Purley does form part the Reading West parliamentary constituency.
[edit] History
Purley has been settled since at least Saxon times. The original settlements were based on Purley Magna (near modern-day Purley Park), Purley Parva (about a mile west of Purley Magna) and Purley La Hyde. Purley's saxon church was demolished in the time of Stephen and Matilda, to be replaced by the current norman church, St Mary the Virgin.
