Local area guides Berkshire - Strutt & Parker

Local area guides
Berkshire

Berkshire is a very well connected county, commutable to London from all its corners
and also has very easy access to the national motorway network.

This, combined with its beautiful landscape and excellent schools, makes it a natural
choice for many families wishing to enjoy the country life but remain close to the capital,
with a number of attractive market towns and lovely villages.

The Strutt & Parker offices in Newbury and Pangbourne cover the whole of West
Berkshire between them, with the support of the National Country House Department,
based in our head office. As well as unique and imposing country houses, Berkshire
has its fair share of manor houses, farms, detached family homes with land and quaint
cottages.

Key towns and villages in Berkshire

Bucklebury is an attractive village, made up of Bucklebury Common, Chapel Row and
Upper Bucklebury. Across the parish there are several useful amenities, including a
couple of pubs and shops, a GP and a large common which is privately owned but for
public use.

On the Westernmost side of the county, close to the Wiltshire border, is the small
market town of Hungerford. Well known for its antique shops that line the picturesque
high street, it also has a number of other independent and interesting shops, as well as
a supermarket. Located in the Kennet Valley, with the canal running across the bottom
of the town, and within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), there is
stunning countryside on the doorstep in every direction.

It also benefits from good connections; close to the M4 and with direct rail services into
London Paddington.
Just a few miles east of Hungerford sits Kintbury, boasting beautiful surroundings and
excellent communications, including the unusual benefit of its own station in the heart
of the village. The village has superb amenities, with an independent butcher, local
shop and three pubs, including the renowned Dundas Arms.

Lambourn is a large village at the heart of the valley of the racehorse, 13 miles north
west of Newbury and close to the Wiltshire and Oxfordshire borders. It sits within the
beautiful Lambourn Downs, part of the North Wessex AONB. With the landscape
lending itself perfectly to cycling, walking and riding, it is a major horse racing and
training centre, which has allowed it to thrive in recent decades. It has an active village
community with many clubs and amenities.

Well known for its racecourse, Newbury is a very popular commuter town; just an hour
from London by car and less by train. It is also home to some of the country’s best
private and state schools. Shopping opportunities on the pedestrianised high street
have greatly improved recently with the addition of the new Parkway Shopping Centre.
The town isn’t short of entertainment and culture either, with the Corn Exchange & New
Greenham Arts – as well as the unique Watermill Theatre – offering a wide variety of
theatre, music, dance, comedy and much more.

The town sits within an AONB, with the beautiful surrounding landscape being home to
Highclere Castle, of Downton Abbey fame, as well as many charming villages.

Pangbourne is a village five miles from Reading. It sits on the River Pang, which joins
the Thames just outside the village, in an area said to have inspired the illustrations for
the Wind in the Willows. The village has excellent amenities for its size, including a good
selection of independent shops. The Cross Keys Inn gets good reviews from hungry
walkers; a country pub with simple food and reasonable prices. Also located in
Pangbourne are The Elephant, a well renowned hotel, and The Swan, a fine
dining gastro pub.

Reading is the hub city and commercial centre for the region, serving a huge number
of picturesque villages and small towns across West Berkshire. It has a good university,
very extensive shopping, entertainment and leisure facilities, and has played host to the
famous Reading Festival for over 40 years. Among a huge choice of restaurants in the
city centre, the London Street Brasserie gets excellent reviews for both food and
atmosphere.

Reading boasts lots of good schools and is very well connected; just a 30 minute
journey, by either car or train, from London.

Goring & Streatley sit on the Thames opposite each other, about 8 miles from
Reading. They are two distinct – though equally picturesque – villages but share a
station and are often considered a single village. Streatley’s The Bull is a popular local
pub and welcomes the many keen cyclists passing through the area enjoying the hilly
landscape. In Goring, the delightful Pierreponts café offers a cosy atmosphere and
great food; and The Leatherne Bottel restaurant provides a gourmet alternative.

Wantage is a small market town in The Vale of the White Horse with half-timbered
buildings lining the streets. The birth place of King Alfred the Great, the well-respected
secondary school of the same name is at its heart. The traditional market square offers
an excellent selection of shops, pubs and restaurants; in particular, The Shoulder of
Mutton is a very popular ‘real’ pub with a well-reputed vegetarian restaurant attached.

Schools in Berkshire

Berkshire certainly has its fair share of well-renowned schools.

Near Reading, The Oratory School has great facilities and firmly recognises the
importance of extra-curricular activities and nearby Pangbourne College with its naval
history is proud to be different and excels in sport. The popular Bradfield College is
unique, making up virtually the entire village, and Wellington College takes a different
approach to education which seems to be working wonders. There are also
competitive grammar schools in Reading itself; Reading Boys & Kendrick Girls.

Near Newbury, Cheam boasts royal alumni and achieves a high number of scholarships
to local renowned senior schools, as does Thorngrove. Elstree achieves great results
and does particularly well in art and music. Small, individual and traditional prep schools
Horris Hill and Brockhurst & Marlston House remain very popular. At senior level,
Downe House girls’ school offers great accommodation and teaching as well as
producing county and national level sports players.

Elsewhere, Eton College needs no introduction, Wokingham’s Ludgrove prep is well
known for its intellectual and sporting achievements, as well as its content pupils; and
St John’s Beaumont prep, in Windsor, concentrates on hands-on learning, with
excellent results.

Dotted in delightful villages across the county are many great state primaries. These
include Brimpton, Hampstead Norreys, Compton, Englefield, St. Finian’s Catholic,
Welford and Wickham and Yattendon.

For a more comprehensive list of schools in the area we recommend the Good Schools
Guide.

Transport links

Berkshire has excellent rail connections, with Reading being a huge interchange; there
are direct services to, among many other places, Gatwick, Newcastle, South Wales,
the West Country, Manchester, Oxford, the Cotswolds and the South Coast. On top of
this, there is a fast service (just half an hour) to London Paddington approximately every
10 minutes, with additional stopping services and trains to Waterloo.

From Hungerford, there are hourly services to Paddington (an hour and a quarter) and
Reading (40 minutes). From Kintbury, it takes slightly less. From Newbury, there is one
direct train hourly to Paddington, taking less than an hour, and 2 or 3 to Reading,
which take around 20 minutes.

Both Pangbourne and Goring & Streatley take just under an hour to Paddington with a
change at Reading; a direct service takes longer. Twice hourly services to Reading take
10 and 15 minutes respectively.

Berkshire is also blessed with good road links, with the M4 passing east to west
through the county, connecting to Bristol, South Wales and London. From there, the
M5 and M25 connect to the broader national road network. Similarly the A34 runs
north to south, running via Newbury from Oxford to Winchester and, from there, the
M3, M40 and M27 are all easily accessible.

The closest major airports to Berkshire are Heathrow and Gatwick – both are easily
accessed from the majority of the county. The smaller airports of Stansted, Luton,
Bristol and Southampton are also convenient.

Leisure

There is no shortage of leisure activities in Berkshire; golf lovers will be happy with the
40-odd golf courses and horse racing fans are spoilt for choice with racecourses at
Newbury, Ascot and Windsor. The 24,200 capacity Madejski stadium is home to both
Reading Football Club and the rugby union club London Irish, with both teams
attracting huge crowds from throughout the surrounding area on match days.

The county’s interesting landscape – rolling hills and downland – make it an ideal spot
for all sorts of activities, including walking, cycling and horse-riding. The rivers and
canals zigzagging through the county also provide extensive opportunities for enjoying
the great outdoors, as well as being home to some interesting wildlife.

There are also plenty of exciting days out on your doorstep: Windsor Castle, the
National Trust’s beautiful Basildon Park, Legoland and Go Ape in Bracknell, to name
but a few.

Why we love Berkshire

Berkshire combines beautiful rolling countryside, dotted with thriving market towns and
lovely villages, with excellent communications; being under an hour from London and
extremely well connected to the national motorway network.

It also benefits from a wealth of good pubs, golf courses and amenities.

Our Strutt & Parker teams in Pangbourne and Newbury recommend the following:

Pubs & restaurants
Many of the picturesque villages of West Berkshire have a successful traditional pub at
their heart and, of these, The Harrow at Little Bedwyn, The Pheasant Inn in Shefford
Woodlands, The Dundas Arms in Kintbury, The Leatherne Bottel in Goring and The
Royal Oak in Yattendon also boast an excellent dining experience.
For something a little different, The Crab at Chieveley offers unforgettable seafood and
the Palm, near Froxfield, is well renowned locally for its superb Indian cuisine. The Strutt
& Parker Newbury office also recommends the The Vineyard at Stockcross, especially
for a hearty breakfast.

Annual events
The Hennesy Heritage Festival is hosted each year at the Newbury Racecourse,
culminating in the highly popular Hennesy Gold Cup. For the countryside lover, The
Royal County of Berkshire Show is a must-see and, of course, the Reading Festival
goes without saying!

Secret spots & country walks
Being full to the brim of beautiful countryside, there is no shortage of places to get out
and enjoy the great outdoors in West Berkshire. For fabulous and far reaching views,
try Coombe Gibbet or the top of Streatley Hill. The tow path between Newbury and
Kintbury, and then on to Hungerford, is a lovely gentle, picturesque walk and don’t
miss Welford Park, which, every February, becomes a blanket of snowdrops. The
Ridgeway also provides great scope for walkers; our Pangbourne office recommends
stopping for refreshments at the award-winning Bell public house at Aldworth!

Typical property prices

Our Newbury and Pangbourne offices sell all sorts of properties across West Berkshire.

Typical property prices for the area are:

3 bedroom cottage from £450,000
5 bedroom farmhouse from £1,500,000
Georgian manor house from £2,000,000
Arable land from £8,000 per acre
Pasture land from £6,000 per acre