Tidmarsh

infobox UK place
country = England
official_name = Tidmarsh
civil_parish = Tidmarsh with Sulham
unitary_england = West Berkshire
lieutenancy_england = Berkshire
region = South East England
constituency_westminster = Reading West
os_grid_reference = SU633746
latitude = 51.46682
longitude = -1.08726
post_town = READING
postcode_district = RG8
postcode_area = RG
dial_code = 0118

Tidmarsh is a village in the English county of Berkshire, on the A340 road between Pangbourne and Theale. It lies just north of the M4 motorway. It is convert|1|mi|km|lk=on south of Pangbourne, convert|5|mi|km west of Reading and convert|40|mi|km west of London.

The smaller village of Sulham is adjacent to Tidmarsh on the east side. The two villages form the civil parish of Tidmarsh with Sulham. Further east, Sulham Woods separate the villages from Tilehurst, the western suburb of Reading. Salt Home and Tide Marsh.

This section of the A340 is thought to follow the Roman road from Silchester, alias Calleva Atrebatum (about convert|7|mi|km|disp=/|abbr=on south), either to Dorchester-on-Thames (about convert|12|mi|km|disp=/|abbr=on north) or a river-crossing at Pangbourne. It has, however, been artificially straightened in more recent times.

Tidmarsh has two historic buildings. The most conspicuous is the 13th century Greyhound Pub, now reopened following a serious fire in 2005. The other is the 12th Century church of St Laurence, Tidmarsh. The Norman doorway of the church is its most notable feature.

The River Pang flows north through the village on its way to join the River Thames at Pangbourne. The river flows through the Moor Copse Nature Reserve, which has recently (December 2006) been doubled in size, to about convert|140|acre ["Natural World" Spring 2007 p10: "Ratty's Paradise joins eight new reserves"] .

The most famous people to live in Tidmarsh were the author Lytton Strachey (1880-1932) and the painter Dora Carrington (1893-1932). A recent housing development at the north end of the village has been named 'Strachey Close'.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.tidmarshwithsulham.co.uk/ Tidmarsh-with-Sulham Website]
* [http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/tidmarsh.html Berkshire History: Tidmarsh]
* [http://www.moorcopse.org.uk/ Moor Copse Website]