I just came across this site which is quite interesting British History Online. It can be a little 'dry ' to read the old texts, but it is quite fascinating despite that. It has maps, history books, local records.. all sorts of things, and once I start to read it sets my imagination going.
I looked up Tilehurst in a 1923 publication Parishes - Tilehurst | British History Online and when you see the names of the people who owned the land and buildings you can see where a lot of Reading street names come from (Zinzan/Vachel/Blagrave/Liebenrood).
It talks about Frances Kendrick of Calcot Park and how she was the inspiration for a poem Anonymous's Poem: The Berkshire Lady's Garland ... well, I never knew that
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