Caversham | |
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Caversham Bridge |
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Caversham shown within Berkshire | |
Area | 6.64 km2 (2.56 sq mi) |
Population | 23,885 (2011 census) |
• Density | 3,597/km2 (9,320/sq mi) |
OS grid reference | SU7174 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Reading |
Postcode district | RG4 |
Dialling code | 0118 |
Police | Thames Valley |
Fire | Royal Berkshire |
Ambulance | South Central |
EU Parliament | South East England |
UK Parliament | |
Caversham is a suburb in the Borough of Reading, a unitary authority, in the royal, non-administrative county of Berkshire, England. Caversham occupies much of the land of a geographically large village of the same name founded in the Middle Ages. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, opposite the rest of Reading. Caversham Bridge, Reading Bridge and Caversham Lock (pedestrians only) provide crossing points, with Sonning Bridge also available a few miles east of Caversham.
Caversham has at Caversham Court foundations of a medieval house, a herb garden and tree-lined park open to the public at no charge, Caversham Lakes and marking its south and south-east border the Thames Path National Trail.
Caversham extends from the River Thames flood plain to just south of the Chilterns. Its named neighbourhoods are arbitrary divisions, as green space is scattered throughout and forms an outlying buffer zone. These are Emmer Green (on postal district and on historic boundaries), Lower Caversham or Caversham (town/proper), Caversham Heights and Caversham Park Village (which is closer to the centre of Emmer Green than the main amenities or high street of Caversham). With the exception of the centre of Caversham and Emmer Green, which were traditional villages, most of the development occurred during the 20th century.
At the 2011 census the proportion of homes that were rented as opposed to owned was close to 50% of the average for the borough. The area had 15.3% of Reading's population and 16.4% of the borough's area. In keeping with a suburb, in 2005 ONS land use statistics published with the census, Caversham had 4.3% of the non-domestic buildings. Almost wholly low rise where developed, its homes occupied 20.6% of the footprint of all homes in the borough.