History of ThatchamThe town of Thatcham has changed significantly over the years. From its early beginnings as a Roman town through to its prosperity in the textile and stagecoach businesses the town has had many industries and interesting buildings. During the 1960s and 1970s the town expanded greatly and more recent developments have increased the population to around 20,000 people. Thatcham is in the county of Berkshire and is positioned in the Kennet Valley, three miles east of Newbury.
Thatcham was originally a Roman town and Ermin Street went right through the heart of the present parish. There are occasional finds of Roman artifacts, although the exact route of the Roman road is not known. During Norman times the town was known as Taceham and by medieval times it was a borough larger than Newbury. One of the oldest remaining buildings in Thatcham is St. Mary's Church. This was originally built in Norman times, but was rebuilt extensively in the 13th, 15th and 19th centuries. Situated only a short distance from St. Mary's Church is Monks Chambers.
In about 1123 the manor of Thatcham was given to the monks of Reading Abbey by Henry I. Later a Borough Charter was confirmed by Henry II and Thatcham was granted a yearly fair. Sadly both fair and the Borough status have now gone. In 1539 the reformation being undertaken by Henry VIII closed Reading Abbey and the ownership of Thatcham was transferred to the crown. Thatcham declined from this point onwards and did not start to rejuvinate until the end of the 18th century. The building of the Kennet and Avon Canal in the late 1700s brought a new level of prosperity to Thatcham and the local textile industries helped the town to grow again. Also, the extensive coach travel between London and Bath made Thatcham an major coach town and the inns in the area prospered. Sadly, the coaching industry went into steep decline following the development of the railways towards the end of the 19th century. Thatcham continued to progress during the 19th and early 20th century, with a prosperous wood-turning industry among other things. The town was gradually developed and updated. However, even at this time the town was only made up of a small handful of streets plus outlying rural farms etc. The main areas of the town would have been, even at this time, THe Broadway, The High Street, Church Gate, Church Lane, Bath Road, Chapel Road and Park Lane. The photo below shows the extent of the centre of Thatcham in 1953. Monks Chambers and Church Lane are just out of the photo to the left hand side.
The major expansion of Thatcham happened during the 1960s and 1970s. During this time many new estates were developed in the areas around Park Lane, Northfield Road and Lower Way. This rapid development has continued and recently a new estate has been build at Dunston Park, which was formally the land occupied by Dunston Manor. In the future a new 550 home development is planned for the MOD depot near the station. In the year 2000, an arial photo of Thatcham was taken as part of the Millenium Mapping Project. This shows the centre of Thatcham as it was at that time.
Historic Thatcham BuildingsMonks Chambers is one of the major historic buildings in Thatcham. However, in a town with such a long history there are a number of other historic buildings. The sections below describe some of these buildings. Historic buildings in Church Lane are on the separate History of Church Lane page. Dunston ManorThe Dunston Manor house was originally build in about 1722. It only survived for a very short time and was demolished in about 1795. Most of the bricks were sold to the Tull family of Crookham and some found their way into the possesion of John Barfield who used them to build the United Reformed Church in Church Lane (as well as possibly using some in Monks Chambers).
Bluecoat SchoolAt the East end of the town is a small early 14th century chapel, although restored and changed in later years. Later it became the Bluecoat School which Lady Frances Winchcombe founded in 1707. It is now used as an antique shop, and is on the corner of a busy road. This building is now Grade I listed, and hence is Thatcham's most important historic building.
Thatcham HouseThatcham House was build in about 1870 for Reverend Hezekiah and Isabel Martin. It was later purchased by the Turner family (no relations) who lived in it until 1948. It eventually fell into the ownership of Bruno Zornow, a local builder, who lived in it for a while before moving into a new house that he built alongside. It fell into disrepair until in 1980 a preservation order was served on Mr Zornow in order to save the building. The cost of repair was extensive and by 1988 the building was convered into 25 separate offices.
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