Berkshire Rooms

Wokingham Town

by easyoar

Wokingham is quite a sleepy market town in Berkshire. It's reasonably large, but still retains its old charm and a lot of old buildings. Back in the days when it was customary to demolish old buildings and replace them, Wokingham was suffering at the expense of the rapidly growing Reading, so little change took place - which these days is definitely good news for Wokingham! Wokingham used to have the highest density of pubs per square mile anywhere in the country. There were over 50 just in the small town centre. These days many have closed down as I guess the town just couldn't support them all.

Probably the best known of Wokinghams landmarks is the Old Town Hall right in the middle of the twon centre. This is lovely redbrick building which is at its most ornate on special days for the town when it is decked out in yellow flags with the Wokingham acorn on (an early name for Wokingham was Oakingham).

In less politically correct days, Wokingham was famous for its cock-fighting and bull-baiting. It was also home to highwaymen and a band of local brigands called the 'Wokingham Blacks' whose crimes ranged from poaching to murder. These days Wokingham is a sleepy little town and has none of these 'exciting' activities going on.

See my Travel Tips on the Lucas Hospital (the only grade 1 listed building in Wokingham), The Old Town Hall, The Signal Box at the Railway Station and more.