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Village best known as a stopping point on the London to Bath road, but with a name documented in 1208, and also used for a Hundred
Theale is not recorded in the Domesday Book <1> but is first mentioned as Teile in 1208; Gelling suggests its name means 'plank' perhaps referring to a bridge across the Kennet, or a structure used for the meetings of the Hundred <2>. Theale was also the name of a separate hundred by 1241, although its parishes were formerly included in that of Reading in 1086 <3>, and maps show the village of Theale lying outside the hundred of the same name <3><10>. Theale did not exist as an ecclesiastical parish until 1832 and a civil parish until 1894 when the tithing of Theale and part of Calcot hamlet were divided off from the parish of Tilehurst <3>. It has changed its borders in the 20th century, losing land south of the Bath Road at Beansheaf and Calcot Grange to Holybrook parish after the construction of the M4.
Theale formerly lay on the main road from London to Bath, being the first village west of Reading, and it was described in 1949 as "a Bath Road village that retains the flavour of coaching and early motoring" <5>. Rocque's map <11> shows the settlement as a strip of plots either side of the road at the 44 mile point from London. The large number of hostelries and inns in Theale during the coaching era meant that the village earned the unfavourable nickname of 'Little Sodom' <12>.
An archaeological evaluation on a back plot to the south of the High Street indicated that this area may have been marshy and unsuitable for building <13>.
An aerial photograph from 1931 <19> shows the village from the north-east.
| <01> | Morgan, P (ed). 1979. Domesday Book - Berkshire. DB5. Not mentioned. [Monograph / SWB14587]
https://opendomesday.org/ (Accessed 11/01/2023) |
| <02> | Gelling, M. 1973. The Place Names of Berkshire - Part One. English Place-Name Society Vol XLIX. P221-3. [Monograph / SWB10003] |
| <03> | Page and Ditchfield (eds). 1923. Victoria County History (VCH) Berks III 1923. Vol 3. p329-30, 385. [Monograph / SWB10005]
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/berks/vol3 (Accessed 08/03/2022) |
| <04> | Landmark. 1872-85. Digital Ordnance Survey Mapping Epoch 1, 1:2500 (25 inch). Digital. 1:2500. [Map / SWB14341] |
| <05> | Betjeman, J and Piper, J (eds). 1949. Murray's Berkshire Architectural Guide. p146. [Monograph / SWB10404] |
| <06> | Goaman, J and Every, R S. 1974. Theale Social Survey 1894-1965. [Unpublished document / SWB13688] |
| <07> | Hadcock, R N. 1968. Rural District of Bradfield (Berkshire), Official Guide. [Monograph / SWB14015] |
| <08> | 1931. Photograph of Theale from the air, 1931. Aerial Photo. [Photograph / SWB13374] |
| <09> | Theale Local History Group. 2008 OR 2009. Theale in old photographs. [Monograph / SWB147836]
https://westberks.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=&BRN=1467727 (Accessed on 12/08/2022) |
| <09> | Theale Local History Group (ed). 2010. The Theale I Remember. [Monograph / SWB148579]
https://westberks.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=&BRN=2365429 (Accessed on 12/08/2022) |
| <09> | Kingsley Organisation Photography Group. 2012. The Changing Ways of Theale - From muddy track to motorway. [Unpublished document / SWB148580] |
| <10> | Morden, R. 1695?. Barkshire by Robert Morden. [Map / SWB147388] |
| <11> | Rocque, J. 1761. Rocque's Map of Berkshire. 1:35,000 (approx). Marked 'Theal'. [Map / SWB7242]
https://www.rct.uk/collection/700042/rocques-map-of-berkshire (Accessed 09/02/2021) |
| <12> | Berkshire Federation of Women's Institutes. 1979. The Old Berkshire Village Book. Theale p146-7. [Monograph / SWB147301] |
| <13> | Berkshire Archaeological Services. 2010. An Archaeological Evaluation in Land to the Rear of 22-26 High Street, Theale, West Berkshire. Site Code HST/10. 2016 WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB148011] |
| <14> | Robertson, A S. 1792. Topographical Survey of the Great West Road from London to Bath Vol I. I p127. [Unpublished document / SWB13306]
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UwkQAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0 (Accessed 25/09/2015) |
| <15> | Fletcher, W. c1840. Tour Round Reading. Google book. p95-. [Unpublished document / SWB148846]
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=EeQGAAAAQAAJ (Accessed 06/02/2019) |
| <16> | Various. 1738-1858. Berkshire Enclosure Maps - online as New Landscapes. http://www.berkshirenclosure.org.uk. Tilehurst 1817. [Map / SWB14663]
http://www.berkshirenclosure.org.uk (Accessed 08/02/2022) |
| <17> | Robertson, J G (ed). 1843. Environs of Reading. Google book. p95. [Unpublished document / SWB149097]
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7eYGAAAAQAAJ (Accessed 23/08/2016) |
| <18> | Thacker, F S. 1932. Kennet Country. p107-111. [Monograph / SWB149205] |
| <19> | Aerofilms. 08/1931. Britain from Above - EPW036211. Aerial Photo. [Photograph / SWB149510]
https://britainfromabove.org.uk/en/image/EPW036211 (Accessed 28/11/2018) |
| <20> | Archway Heritage. 2019. Heritage Statement: Theale Motorworks, Church Street, Theale. AH_Theale Motor Works Final. 2019 WBC Network. [Unpublished document / SWB149876] |
| MWB15815 | Holy Trinity Church, Theale (Building) |
| MWB22114 | Site of early 19th century chapel of ease, Theale - approximate location (Monument) |
| MWB22829 | Site of garage and petrol station, 22-28 High Street, Theale (Monument) |
| MWB6257 | Site of Sheffield Mill (Monument) |
| MWB15471 | Site of St John The Baptist Chapel, Theale - unknown exact location (Monument) |
| MWB15990 | Site of World War II munitions factory, Theale - approximate location (Monument) |
| MWB6051 | THEALE STATION (GWR) (Monument) |
| MWB15915 | World War II housing, Theale - Blossom Square area (Monument) |
| MWB5909 | A4 BATH ROAD - General Record (Monument) |