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Purley-On-Thames was originally a village, but is now more a suburb of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It is also a civil parish.
Location
Purley is situated some 3 miles north west of Reading. The original village of Purley was located at the edge of the flood-plain of the River Thames, where the valley side starts to rise sharply. Both the Reading to Oxford road (A329 road) and the Great Western Main Line railway pass along this slope higher than the original village centre, which is linked to the A329 by two steep lanes crossing the railway.
Later developments have shaped the suburb in two different directions. The area of Purley Riverside has grown up on the flood-plain towards the river in a rather unplanned fashion, with many homes ranging from converted rail carriages to self-built modernistic houses; residents here have to contend with occassional flooding. Higher up the valley side, more recent developments have resulted in several large estates of houses, and this side of the suburb merges into Tilehurst without any clear boundary.
Grid reference: SU663762 (http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz&gazName=g&gazString=SU663762)
Nearby towns and cities: Reading
Nearby villages: Pangbourne, Sulham, Tidmarsh
Nearby suburbs: Tilehurst, West Reading
Local Government
Although now rather more of a suburb of Reading than an independent village, Purley-On-Thames is not within the Borough of Reading. Instead is a civil parish with an elected parish council, and falls within the the area of the unitary authority of West Berkshire. Both the parish council and the unitary authority are responsible for different aspects of local government.
However Purley does form part the Reading West parliamentary constituency.
See also
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