Whitley is a suburb of the town of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

, in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of Berkshire. It is also an electoral ward of the

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

of Reading.

Geography

Whitley, commonly known as one of the larger suburbs of

, is bounded to the north and east by a ridge of high ground carrying the road to Shinfield, to the west by the valleys of the

River Kennet The Kennet is a tributary of the River Thames in Southern England. Most of the river is straddled by the North Wessex Downs AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). The lower reaches have been made navigable as the Kennet Navigation, which � ...

and the

Foudry Brook Foudry Brook is a small stream in southern England. It rises from a number of springs near the Hampshire village of Baughurst, and flows to the east and then the north, to join the River Kennet to the south of Reading. The upper section is call ...

, and to the south by an ill-defined boundary with the suburb of

Whitley Wood Whitley Wood is a suburb to the south of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Geography Whitley Wood is bounded to the north by an ill-defined boundary with the suburb of Whitley, to the east by a ridge of high ground carrying the roa ...

. The former main road to Basingstoke passes just to the west of the centre of Whitley, dividing largely residential areas to its east from a largely industrial zone to its west. The current A33 relief road to Basingstoke passes to the west of the industrial area, as does the parallel railway line. Between the relief road and Bennet Road and railway can be found the recent

Green Park Green Park, officially The Green Park, is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the southern part – the core part – of the City of Westminster, Central London, but before that zone was extended to the north, to take in Marylebo ...

business park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typicall ...

and the

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a Association football, football stadium in Reading, Berkshire, Reading. It is the home of Reading F.C., Reading Football Club, who play in the E ...

History

Historically, Whitley was a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

outside the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

limits, but within the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of the church of St Giles in Reading.

Government

The

is responsible for all

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

. Whitley is currently covered by parts of the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

, Katesgrove and Redlands wards, within the Reading East

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

, and includes all of the Whitley electoral ward, within the Reading West parliamentary constituency. Whitley ward borders Coley, Katesgrove, Church and Southcote wards, together with parts of the

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

Wokingham Borough The Borough of Wokingham is a local government district in Berkshire, United Kingdom. It is named after its main town, Wokingham. Other places in the district include Arborfield, Barkham, Charvil, Earley, Finchampstead, Hurst, Sonning, Remenh ...

. As with all wards, apart from smaller

Mapledurham Mapledurham is a small village, civil parish and country estate beside the River Thames in southern Oxfordshire. The large parish borders Caversham, the most affluent major district of Reading, Berkshire. Historic buildings in the area include ...

, it elects three

councillors A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Reading Borough Council Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonia ...

. Elections since 2004 are held by thirds, with elections in three years out of four. In the 2016, 2018 and 2019 a Labour Party candidate won each election.

Notable people

* Ricky Gervais, comedian, actor, film director and producer, musician and writer. * Midge Ure, musician, whilst a member of

Slik Slik were a Scottish pop group of the mid-1970s, most notable for their UK number 1 hit " Forever and Ever" in 1976. Initially glam rock, the band later changed their style to soft rock/bubblegum. It was the first band with whom singer and g ...

in 1974 lived briefly on Hexham Road. * M. L. Emmett,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

, editor, and convenor of

Friendly Street Poets Friendly Street Poets, often referred to as just Friendly Street, is a poetry reading group and publisher in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1975. History Friendly Street Poets was inaugurated as a fortnightly poetry reading on 11 Nove ...

Inc. *

Liam Bridcutt Liam Robert Bridcutt (born 8 May 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Blackpool. Born in England, he represented the Scotland national team. Bridcutt started his career with Chelsea, but did not make a le ...

, footballer.

References

External links

* {{Reading, Berkshire Suburbs of Reading, Berkshire Wards of Reading