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Theale () is a large village in West Berkshire, England which forms a civil parish. It has a high street of small businesses, large business parks beside its railway station and its own schools. The village is bounded to the south and south-east by the leisure-use Kennet & Avon Canal, to the near north of which is the River Kennet which has within Theale large lakes following extraction of gravel - 11% of Theale's area is fresh water. Theale is centred southwest of Reading, its nearest major town, and 10 miles east of Thatcham. The north of Theale civil parish is a golf course and the eastern boundary is the M4 motorway where there is a dual carriageway and junction with the local roads. Theale lies in the far east of the West Berkshire authority. ==History== Until its 19th century independence Theale was part of Tilehurst and Burghfield ecclesiastical (and later also civil) parishes. In September 1643, soon after the First Battle of Newbury, Theale was the site of a skirmish between Prince Rupert's Royalist forces and the Earl of Essex's Parliamentarians. Rupert attacked the Earl's forces from the rear as they were returning to London; the Earl's forces – led by Colonel Middleton – held strong and up to 800 Royalist musketeers and 60 horses were killed, and at least 8 Parliamentarian units were killed and were buried in Dead Man's Lane. The Royalist forces retreated, and the Earl left Theale on the morning of 23 September, heading to Reading where his units recovered from fatigue.〔 Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron marched through Theale on 1 May 1645, ''en route'' from Windsor to Salisbury. In 1802, topographer James Baker chronicled the village en route from Reading to Newbury, and described it as "inconsiderable". As the Bath Road became an established trade route and turnpike from the east to west of England, Theale became known for its numerous coaching inns.〔 On many occasions throughout the 18th century, Dick Turpin is said to have hidden in a secret room in The Old Lamb on Theale's high street.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Theale」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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