Whitley, Reading

This article is about the suburban neighbourhood of Whitley. For the electoral ward covering a rather different area, see Whitley (Reading ward).

Whitley
View down Hartland Road with Madejski Stadium in the background
Whitley Location within Berkshire
OS grid reference	SU723704
Unitary authority	Reading
Ceremonial county	Berkshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	READING
Postcode district	RG2
Dialling code	0118
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Royal Berkshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Earley and Woodley

Whitley is a suburban neighbourhood of the town of Reading, Berkshire, England.

Geography

Whitley, one of the larger suburbs of Reading, is bounded to the north and east by a ridge of high ground carrying the road to Shinfield, to the west by the A33 relief road, and to the south by an ill-defined boundary with the suburb of Whitley Wood.

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. However recent developments, most notably the building of the Kennet Island housing development on a former sewage works, have blurred this distinction.

History

Historically, Whitley was a hamlet outside the Reading borough limits, but within the parish of the church of St Giles in Reading.

Government

The Borough of Reading is responsible for all local government. The geographical centre of the neighbourhood of Whitley, as depicted on Ordnance Survey maps, lies in that borough's Church ward, with only a small part of the neighbourhood in Whitley ward, which largely covers areas to the west and south of Whitley itself. The more northerly parts of Whitley are in Katesgrove and Redlands wards.

Most of Whitley is within the parliamentary constituency of Earley and Woodley, although some of the more northerly areas are in Reading Central.

Notable people

• Ricky Gervais, comedian, actor, film director and producer, musician and writer.
• Midge Ure, musician, whilst a member of Slik in 1974 lived briefly on Hexham Road.
• M. L. Emmett, poet, editor, and convenor of Friendly Street Poets Inc.
• Liam Bridcutt, footballer.

External links

• Media related to Whitley, Berkshire at Wikimedia Commons