Earley & Lower Earley

Earley & Lower Earley: Education & nature in the Reading Suburbs  

Stretching from the outskirts of the town to the southeast perimeter of Reading, neighbouring Woodley to its north, a 30-acre lake and nature reserve at its heart, this suburban enclave has been a magnet for discerning families for centuries. Once voted the 10^th Best Place to Live in the UK, one visit will tell you why.

What is in a name? The first mention of Earley was in the Domesday book as “Helrei” with two main manors, Erleigh St Bartholomews, later known as Erleigh Court, and Erleigh St Nicolas, later Erleigh White Knights. The Erleghs a family of Knightly rank, who took their name from and held the manors through the 12^th to 14^th centuries, John de Erlegh (or John of Earley) was known as The White Knight, hence the renaming of Erleigh St Nicolas to Whiteknights, now home of Reading University. The manor of Maiden Erleigh, was formed from the manor of Erlegh, gifted to Robert de Erlegh from John. Which in part, explains why you will see the names Earley, Erleigh, Erlegh Maidens, and of course Whiteknights.

Local Amenities and Attractions:  With a population of over 30,000, and being a town in its own rights,  Earley offers everything you’d expect, and with its own railway station on the Reading to Waterloo line, easy access to both junctions 10 and 11 of the M4, superb bus service, nothing is out of reach. Schooling & Education are well catered for St. Peters, Radstock, Hillside, Aldryngton, Loddon, Hawkedon Primary Schools, with Maiden Erlegh School as the foremost secondary, but also served by The Bulmershe School, Forest. Marks & Spencer, Asda supermarkets, Iceland & Co-Op, as well as numerous other convenience shops and post office. Take-aways and restaurants offer a variety of flavours, Costa, The Three Tuns, Seven Red Roses Public House, Toby Carvery, ensures all tastes catered for. With Maiden Erleigh Lake, a 30-acre nature reserve, Pearmans Copse, Chalfont Park, Laurel Park, Sol Joel Park, Meadow Park, Earley Event Field, Pool and Leisure facilities and a host of community centres and events, there is no shortage of activities. Thames Valley & Suttons Business Park are home to many service sector and leading High-tech companies including Microsoft and Oracle.

Property Market:  With Lower Earley, primarily built in the 1970s and ‘80s, and at the time the largest housing estate in Europe, offers a tremendous variety of property types and styles, from studio apartments to substantial family homes, but Earley is not just about modern housing. Attracting wealthy families in the 19^th and early 20^th Centuries, with homes built to accommodate, there are a variety of aesthetically pleasing, period property distributed across the postcode, Victorian terracing to the west, and pockets of 1930’s to 1970’s built semi and detached homes throughout.

School catchment areas play their part in pricing, with premiums being achieved within the immediate surrounds, such as Maiden Erliegh with the draw of both Aldryngton Primary School and Maiden Erlegh Secondary schools within walking distance. With such strong demand due to excellent schooling, transport links and amenities property prices remain strong, making Earley a firm favourite with families, to settle and grow.