Coley Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coley Park is a suburb of the town of Reading and formerly a country house and associated estate in the English county of Berkshire.
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[edit] Location
Coley Park is an area of south-east Reading, bounded to the north by the Berkeley Avenue, to the east by the older suburb of Coley, to the south by the Holy Brook and the water meadows of the Kennet Valley, and to the west by the railway line from Reading to Basingstoke and the suburb of Southcote.
[edit] Historic house
The suburb of Coley Park was built largely on the lands of the Coley Park estate. The original manor house, known as Vachell House, was built c. 1555 by Thomas Vachell (1537-1610) on the banks of the Holy Brook rivulet (located where Coley Park Farm remains today). It was restored after the English Civil War c. 1651 by Tanfield Vachell (1602-1658). Eventually Vachell House once again fell into disrepair and a new mansion, Coley House, was built on higher ground by John McConnell in 1802. This building remains in good order today, located on Wensley Road, and is currently utilised as part of the adjacent private hospital.
[edit] Housing estate
In 1956 the then Reading Corporation, purchased the Coley Park estate for a future council housing estate. By 1958 new residents were arriving and by 1960 a set of three high-rise 15-storey flats were under construction. By the end of the 1960's a row of five shops, a pub, a church and a school had been built on the Coley Park estate. In 1993 Capio Reading Hospital was purpose built in Coley Park, located at Swallows Croft off Wensley Road.
[edit] Government
Coley Park is part of the Borough of Reading, which is responsible for all aspects of local government.
