Caversham Heights
| Caversham Heights | |
|---|---|
 Harrogate Road | |
| OS grid reference | SU702757 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | READING |
| Postcode district | RG4 |
| Dialling code | 0118 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Royal Berkshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
Caversham Heights is a residential area within Caversham in the English county of Berkshire (until 1911, in Oxfordshire). Today Caversham is a northern suburb of the larger town of Reading. Caversham Heights has no formal boundaries, but the name usually refers to that part of Caversham situated on higher ground to the west of central Caversham, straddling the Woodcote Road (A4074).[1] House prices in Caversham Heights are among the highest in Reading.
History
Although finds on Chazey Road and Conisboro Avenue hint at human habitation dating back to pre-history, Caversham Heights expanded slowly and only really experienced significant growth beginning in the Victorian era, as such most of the homes are late nineteenth and twentieth-century. In the 1930s an apple orchard was felled and built upon to become the Woodcote Way, Geoffreyson Road and Shepherds Lane area and later still a nearby gravel mine was redeveloped to become what is now Silverthorne Drive, Queensborough Drive and Carlton Road.
Caversham Heights is home to St. Anne's Well, once a popular destination for pilgrims and sicklings since Anglo-Saxon times. First mentioned in the Cartulary of Nutley Abbey in 1106, it was lost during the Dissolution of the Monasteries or shortly thereafter until being rediscovered by workmen in 1906.
Amenities
There are two recreation grounds in Caversham Heights, and two golf courses and a health club with swimming pool just outside Caversham Heights in neighbouring South Oxfordshire.
The Albert Road recreation area provides public tennis courts, and is home to a bowling club and a croquet club. The other is the larger Mapledurham Playing Fields, which also offers tennis courts as well as several football pitches and a combined outdoor basketball/5 a-side football court.
Caversham Lawn Tennis Club, formed in the early 1900s, can be found on Queensborough Drive .
Caversham Heights only has one de facto Public House, the Grosvenor on Kidmore Road.
The area's retail sector is serviced by two convenience stores, Conisboro Stores and Woodcote Way News, both stores are named after the road upon which they are to be found.
Governance
Caversham Heights lies entirely within the Mapledurham and Thames wards of the borough of Reading. As a unitary authority, the borough is responsible for all aspects of local government within the area. The area is within the Reading East parliamentary constituency and the South East England European constituency.[2]
Fiction
A fictionalised Caversham Heights is the central theme of the book The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde.
Notable Residents
Rudolph Walker - Eastenders character Patrick Trueman.
Tracy Shaw - Coronation Street character Maxine Peacock.
In the first half of the 20th Century The Aga Khan owned a residence on Richmond Road. He also owned stables in nearby Oxfordshire.
Alma Cogan the "Girl with the Giggle in Her Voice" lived on Geoffreyson Road whilst attending St Joseph's Convent School in Reading .
References
- ^ Ordnance Survey (2006). OS Explorer Map 159 - Reading. ISBN 0-319-23730-3.
- ^ "RBC Wards 2004 A4" (PDF). Reading Borough Council. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
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