Whiteknights Park, or the Whiteknights Campus of the University of Reading

University of Reading

The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...

, is the principal campus of that university. The park covers the area of the manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

 of Earley Whiteknights, also known as Earley St Nicholas and Earley Regis.

Whiteknights Park is some two miles south of the centre of the town of Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

 in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

. The campus is 1.3 square kilometres (321 acre) in size and includes lakes, conservation meadows and woodlands as well as being home to most of the university's academic departments and several halls of residence.

History

The site was the home of John De Erleigh II, the famous foster-son of the Regent of England, William Marshal

William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke , also called William the Marshal , was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton...

, but takes its name from the nickname of his great grandson, the 13th century knight, John De Erleigh IV, the 'White Knight'. The De Erleigh (or D'Earley) family were owners of this manor for some two hundred years before 1365. St. Thomas Cantilupe

Thomas Cantilupe

Thomas de Cantilupe was an English saint and prelate.-Early years:...

, Bishop of Hereford

Bishop of Hereford

The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...

 and advisor to King Edward I

Edward I of England

Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...

, was allowed to live there briefly during the 1270s. In 1606 the estate was purchased by the nephew of Sir Francis Englefield

Francis Englefield

Sir Francis Englefield was an English Roman Catholic politician.Born probably about 1520, he was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Englefield of Englefield, Berkshire, justice of the common pleas. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Throckmorton, one of the well-known Catholic family of...

, following the confiscation of Englefield

Englefield

-Geography:In England:* Englefield, a village in the county of Berkshire, England.* Englefield Green, a village in the county of Surrey, England.In Wales:* Englefield, an alternative name for the Cantref of Tegeingl in north Wales.-People:...

 House and its estates in 1585. The Englefield family in turn sold the estate to George Spencer

George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough

George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough FSA , styled Marquess of Blandford until 1817, was a British peer and collector of antiquities and books.-Background and education:...

, the Marquis of Blandford, in 1798.

Between 1798 and 1819, the estate was the scene of vast extravagance and wild entertainments, all at the Marquis' expense. Splendid gardens were laid out, complete with the rarest of plants. In 1819, this man, by now the Duke of Marlborough, became bankrupt and moved to his family home at Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace  is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...

 at Woodstock

Woodstock, Oxfordshire

Woodstock is a small town northwest of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England. It is the location of Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Winston Churchill was born in Blenheim Palace in 1874 and is buried in the nearby village of Bladon....

 in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

. The estate was sold off and the house was demolished in 1840, supposedly by a mob of the Duke's angry creditors.

The land was broken up into six leasehold units in 1867 and a number of the new houses were designed by Alfred Waterhouse

Alfred Waterhouse

Alfred Waterhouse was a British architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture. He is perhaps best known for his design for the Natural History Museum in London, and Manchester Town Hall, although he also built a wide variety of other buildings throughout the...

, including his own residence at Foxhill House

Foxhill House

Foxhill House is a Gothic revival style building on what is now the Whiteknights campus of the University of Reading at Earley, adjoining the English town of Reading...

 and the smaller Whiteknights House (now called Old Whiteknights House) for his father.

During the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, part of the park closest to the Earley

Earley

Earley is a town and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The Office for National Statistics places Earley within the Reading/Wokingham Urban Area, for purposes of local government it falls within the Borough of Wokingham, outside of the jurisdiction of Reading Borough Council. The name...

 Gate entrance was used for 'temporary' government offices, and several ranges of these single story, brick built, corridor and spur buildings still stand. After the war, this area became home to the Region 6 War Room

Region 6 War Room

The Region 6 War Room is a nuclear bunker dating from the early days of the cold war, on the Whiteknights Park campus of the University of Reading in the English town of Reading...

 responsible for civil defence

Civil defense

Civil defense, civil defence or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state from military attack. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation, and recovery...

 in south-central England. The resulting nuclear bunker

Bunker

A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...

 constructed in the 1950s still stands in a little visited corner of the campus, although demolition has been proposed in the 2007 campus development plan.

Campus

The University of Reading was given Whiteknights Park in 1947, and today it is the home of the university's administration, most of the academic departments and four halls of residence. The halls of residence (MacKinder, Windsor, Stenton, and Wessex) are all along Whiteknights Road and Upper Redlands Road sides of the campus, with their own vehicular access off those roads and with only pedestrian access to the core of the campus. Two previous halls of residence (Childs and Bridges) have recently closed, and been replaced by two newly built halls (MacKinder and Stenton).

Along the Wilderness Road and Pepper Lane sides of the campus, the campus is screened from the outside by undeveloped woodland and by the Harris Garden

Harris Garden

The Harris Garden is a botanical garden on the Whiteknights Campus of the University of Reading, about from the centre of the English town of Reading. It was established in 1972 and expanded into its current form in 1988. It is named after Professor Tom Harris, a distinguished palaeobotanist and...

, the university's botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

. The campus core is therefore only easily visible from outside in the area around the main entrance on the Shinfield Road and the adjacent Elmhurst Road.

The centre of the campus is bisected into two unequal halves by a chain of lakes which are crossed by several pedestrian bridges but with no vehicular link. To the west of the lakes can be found most of the academic departments, catering services, the university administration and the students union. With the exception of a couple of surviving Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 residences, including Foxhill House, all of these are housed in purpose built buildings dating from the 1950s to the 2000s. The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology

Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology

The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology forms part of the Department of Classics at the University of Reading. It is situated on the university's Whiteknights Campus, about from the centre of the English town of Reading....

,
University of Reading Herbarium

University of Reading Herbarium

The University of Reading Herbarium, acronym RNG, is a herbarium on the University of Reading's Whiteknights Campus. Along with the Cole Museum it forms part of the University's School of Biological Sciences, and is principally used for teaching and research purposes...

 and the Cole Museum of Zoology

Cole Museum of Zoology

The Cole Museum of Zoology is a university museum, part of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading. It is located on the university's Whiteknights Campus in the town of Reading, Berkshire, England....

 are both found in this area.

To the east of the lakes and surrounding conservation meadowland is the Earley Gate area of the campus. The second-world war era buildings here house the Fine Art Department, the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication, and various service functions. More recent buildings, dating from the 1990s and 2000s, house the Department of Applied Statistics; the Department of Meteorology; the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development; and the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences. Also in this area can be found the Reading Enterprise Centre, the Science & Technology Centre, the University Atmospheric Observatory

University of Reading Atmospheric Observatory

The University of Reading Atmospheric Observatory is an atmospheric observatory and weather station located on the Whiteknights Campus of the University of Reading. It forms part of the university's Department of Meteorology....

, and an NHS

National Health Service (England)

The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...

 Speech and Language Therapy

Speech and language pathology

Speech-Language Pathology specializes in communication disorders.The main components of speech production include: phonation, the process of sound production; resonance, opening and closing of the vocal folds; intonation, the variation of pitch; and voice, including aeromechanical components of...

 clinic, used by the students and staff of the Department of Clinical Language Sciences.

Although the campus is much closer to the centre of Reading than it is to that of Wokingham

Wokingham

Wokingham is a market town and civil parish in Berkshire in South East England about west of central London. It is about east-southeast of Reading and west of Bracknell. It spans an area of and, according to the 2001 census, has a population of 30,403...

, the boundary between the unitary authorities

Unitary authority

A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...

 of Reading and Wokingham meanders across the campus in a rather unpredictable fashion. The campus is split about one third to Reading, two thirds to Wokingham.

External links

• Whiteknights page from the University web site.