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Thatcham
Market town in Berkshire, England

Thatcham

Thatcham is a market town and civil parish in West Berkshire, England.

Plan a trip to Thatcham→From London

It is situated in the valley of the River Kennet 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Newbury, 14 miles (23 km) west of Reading and 54 miles (87 km) west of London. The town has a long history dating back to prehistoric times, a claimant to the title of oldest continuously inhabited place in Great Britain. As of 2021, it had a population of 25,464, though it is part of a built-up area comprising itself and neighbouring Newbury of over 70,000 residents. It is on the route of the A4 Bath Road, the historic main road between London and Bristol.

Get in

Getting to Thatcham

Newbury and Thatcham have rail stations on the main line from London to Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance. Some through trains between those cities stop at Newbury Station, but these are relatively infrequent. Local trains stop at both stations and run from Reading approximately every half hour taking some 20 to 30 minutes for the journey; some local trains start their journeys in London.

  1. 01
    Newbury Railway Station

    Station Approach, Newbury RG14 5DG.

  2. 02
    Thatcham Railway Station
See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    West Berkshire Museum

    The Wharf, Newbury RG14 5AS, museum@westberks.gov.uk.

  2. 02
    Donnington Castle

    Donnington, RG14 2LE (1 mile north of Newbury off B4494; grid reference SU461691).

  3. 03
    Highclere Castle
  4. 04
    Sandham Memorial Chapel

    Harts Lane, Burghclere, near Newbury, RG20 9JT (5 miles south of Newbury on the A34; grid reference SU463608), sandham@nationaltrust.org.uk.

  5. 05
    Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre

    Muddy Lane, Lower Way, Thatcham, RG19 3FU, ndc@bbowt.org.uk.

  6. 06
    The Living Rainforest
Do

Things to do

Go to the races at

  1. 01
    Newbury Racecourse

    Racecourse Rd, Newbury RG14 7NZ (A mile east of town).

  2. 02
    Newbury & Crookham Golf Club

    Bury's Bank Rd, Newbury RG19 8BZ (2½ miles SE of Newbury),.

  3. 03
    Corn Exchange

    Market Place, Newbury RG14 5BD, premium).

  4. 04
    Watermill
Eat

Where to eat

A reasonable range of choices including pubs, the usual chain restaurants (pizza/pasta or French), Indian and a Thai. Local restaurants of note include

  1. 01
    Crab & Boar
  2. 02
    Yew Tree
  3. 03
    The Pot Kiln
  4. 04
    The Vineyard
  5. 05
    Gurkha Chef

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: The Basingstoker (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.