Purley on Thames

Purley on Thames is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. Purley is centred 3 miles north-west of Reading, 1 mile east of Pangbourne, and 22 miles south-east of Oxford. Consequently, the Reading urban area is the principal social, economic and cultural centre for the people of Purley. Historically, Purley comprised three separate manors and associated settlements, these being Purley Magna to the east, Purley Parva to the north-west, and La Hyde, to the west. In the centre there is an historic area named variously Lething or Burley which accommodated traders and craftsmen alongside the main Reading to Oxford Road.

Purley lost most of its old houses due to emparkment around 1800 and redevelopment in the 20th century. It is bounded to the north by a stretch of the River Thames, to the east by West Reading and part of Tilehurst in Reading Borough, to the west by Pangbourne and to the south by Tilehurst and Sulham. After the sale of the estate of Purley Magna in the 1920s most of the eastern part of the parish has been developed but there is easy access to rural areas to the west and south. The area encompassing the other manors has also retained a rural character.

Wikipedia