Whitley

The hamlet of WHITLEY (Witeleia, xii cent.; Whytel, xiii cent.; Whyteleye, xiv, xv cent.) in the parish of St. Giles belonged to Reading Abbey until the Dissolution. The nucleus of this estate is found in the grant of Peter de Cosham to the monks in the 12th century of all his land of Whitley within and without the borough, but sundry other rights and parcels of land in the neighbourhood were subsequently acquired. In 1539 the site of the manor, with tithes, was worth £26 18s. 4d., customary rents amounted to £34 9s. 0½d. and assize rents to £1 16s. 1d. The herbage of the park was valued at £3 and pasture called Catelsgrove at £4 13s. 4d. The manor with the park was granted in 1548 to Edward Duke of Somerset, and, being forfeited to the Crown on his attainder in 1552, was leased in 1553 (without the park) to Sir Francis Englefield, and in 1564 the reversion was granted by Elizabeth to Sir Francis Knollys and his male heirs. Sir Francis died in 1596, being followed by his son William, afterwards Earl of Banbury, who received a renewed grant of the manor with the park in 1612. The earl sold Whitley in 1629 to Sir William Whitmore and George and Thomas Whitmore. It later passed to the Vachell family, and apparently descended with Coley till about the close of the 18th century. In 1816 it was the property of Miss Jennings. In 1843 Whitley Park was owned by Messrs. Allotson & Bros. of London. About 1876 a large part of the Whitley Park estate was bought by Mr. Richard Atten borough and afterwards purchased by Mr. William Palmer, whose nephew Mr. Howard Palmer now holds it.