Lower Earley: Reading's Largest Housing Development Built on Former Farmland in the 1970s
Lower Earley is a residential area in the Borough of Wokingham, about three miles southeast of Reading town centre. The population is around 33,000. It is one of the largest private housing estates built in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s, constructed on farmland between the existing villages of Earley and Shinfield. The development was planned to include schools, shops, community centres, and green spaces from the outset, which gives it a more structured layout than many comparable estates. The Showcase Cinema, one of the first multiplex cinemas built in the UK, opened here in 1989.
Retail is concentrated at the Chalfont Square and Rushey Way shopping parades. Laurel Park and the series of balancing ponds running through the estate provide green corridors. Lower Earley does not have its own railway station; Earley station, about a mile to the north, is on the Reading to Waterloo line with trains to London in about an hour. The A329(M) connects westward to the M4 at junction 11, and the A3290 links to Reading. The University of Reading's Whiteknights campus borders the area to the north. For those interested in adult companionship in the Reading area, Lower Earley's road network connects quickly to Reading, Wokingham, and the M4 corridor.
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Lower Earley is a residential area in the Borough of Wokingham, about three miles southeast of Reading town centre. The population is around 33,000. It is one of the largest private housing estates built in Europe during the 1970s and 1980s, constructed on farmland between the existing villages of Earley and Shinfield. The development was planned to include schools, shops, community centres, and green spaces from the outset, which gives it a more structured layout than many comparable estates. The Showcase Cinema, one of the first multiplex cinemas built in the UK, opened here in 1989.
Retail is concentrated at the Chalfont Square and Rushey Way shopping parades. Laurel Park and the series of balancing ponds running through the estate provide green corridors. Lower Earley does not have its own railway station; Earley station, about a mile to the north, is on the Reading to Waterloo line with trains to London in about an hour. The A329(M) connects westward to the M4 at junction 11, and the A3290 links to Reading. The University of Reading's Whiteknights campus borders the area to the north. For those interested in adult companionship in the Reading area, Lower Earley's road network connects quickly to Reading, Wokingham, and the M4 corridor.
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