So often we know not where we come from or what our places and communitoies mean in terms of their names. It can be useful to enhance out sense of origin and being.
This page will of course expand as more information comes to light.
Here is a brief etymology on the origin and history of some places names in Redlands area:
Katesgrove: derives from Cattle Grove
Addington Road: named after Henry Addington, 1st. Viscount Sidmouth (as is Sidmouth Street) British Prime Minister during the Napoleonic War period.
Talfourd Avenue: named after Sir Thomas Talfourd. MP, dramatist, writer, barrister, reformer.
The Mount: is actually named after the geophysical feature The Mount referring to the whole western section of Southern Hill where we live.
Whiteknights: Supposedly refers to Sir John D’Erleigh II, who was called ‘The White Knight’. He owned this part of the manor of Erleigh, which became known as Erleigh Whiteknights
Bulmershe: derives from Bull Marsh
Whitley: derives from White Ley (leah)
Kendrick Road : is named after John Kendrick the Tudor benefactor
Elmhurst House: (St.George’s Hall of Residence) was formerly called Darlinghurst
Elmhurst Road: was formerly called, variously, Alexandra Road, and Junction Road. Hurst is Anglo-Saxon for “wooded hill” or clearing on a wooded hill.
Belle Avenue: Is named after Bellevue House, a large mansion like establishment which once stood in its own grounds stretching from Green Road to Holmes Road, and bounded by Wokingham Road and Upper Redlands Road.
Wilderness Road: is named after the garden which the Marquess of Blandford created on the north eastern corner of Whiteknights Park, and which he named his Wilderness.
Shinfield Road: refers to Shinfield village of course, but the name Shinfield comes from the Anglo-Saxons and means Shining Field referring to the sparkling flood waters covering the meadows along side the Loddon.
St. Joseph's Convent School: The main old house building (still standing) was formerly called Broadoak House and sat in its own grounds which stretched from Alexandra Road to Eastern Avenue and north to Addington Road.
Redlands Road In the map of 1798, Redlands Road is called Red Lane, and at its north it meets not London Road but New Road as it was then called. Gardens and fields were to both the east and west of Redlands Road as far as the eye could see! By 1879 it was known as Redlands Road
Wokingham Road: Ham is a Saxon for settlement or village; ing in the middle of a word means belonging to. Wok refers to Woca, a Saxon chieftain. Thus: the the home of Wocca's people.
Basingstoke Road : 'Basing' comes from 'Basa' (a tribe leader) + 'ingas' (people). The tribe in the area was thus called the Basingas. The 'stoke' part means 'secondary farm'. The settlement started out as Embasinga stocae. This became Basingestoches, then Basingstoke.
Elm Road/Elm Lane There was said to have been a place of execution here. A great elm once stood at the junction and was known as The Hanging Tree. The area was known as Gallows Common.. After 1793 hangings were no longer public and were moved to within the ground of Reading Gaol.