Thatcham had riots, various owners and a reoccurance of the plague during this time period. Here is a timeline for that period.
1540 after Reading Abbey was disolved, King Henry sold the Borough and Manor of Thatcham to Sir John Winchcombe II – son of Jack O’Newbury
1603 Plague recurs in Thatcham
1703 as he had no male heirs, Thatcham was passed to Winchcombes daughter Elizabeth
1705 Elizabeth died and Thatcham was passed to Frances, wife of Henry St John (later he became Viscount Bolingbroke)
1707 Lady Frances Winchcombe’s School is established
1722 the manor was taken from Viscount Bolingbroke and sold to General Waring – who then built Dunstan House. He was the first Lord of Thatcham to reside within the boundaries
1720 (circa) the Theale to Speen Turnpike Road was opened
1723 the Kennet Navigation Canal was opened
1784 the first ever mail coach run took place – the horses were probably changed at the King’s Head in Thatcham
1794 Chapel re-opens as Bluecoat School
1798 Viscount Bolingbrokes’ desendants sold up and Dunstan House was demolished
1800 ‘Food Riots’ broke out, as 300 people marched to try and force a local increase in wages – the Thatcham Volunteer Cavalry Corps soon dispersed it
1802 William Mount becomes Lord of the Manor
1804 Independent Chapel in Church Lane is opened
1810 the Kennet Navigation Canal was linked to the Avon – becoming the Kennet & Avon Canal
1828 First National School (Broadway) is opened
1830 ‘Machine or Swing riots’ broke out, over mass unemployment due to increased mechanisation
1834 Weslyan Methodist Chapel is opened
1837 Thatcham had a population of of 2,500 – also the Workhouse in Broadway is closed
1840 Primitive Methodist Chapel is opened
1846 National School (Park Lane) opens
1847 British School (Church Lane) is opened, along with the Berkshire and Hampshire Railway
1857 Norman Church, St Marys’ was constructed on a possible site of a previous Saxon church (was previously known as St Lukes’)
1861 John Henry took over Colthrop Mills
1866 Thatcham gas works is established
1880 Thatcham sewage works is constructed
1887 churchyard is closed for burials and the Cemetery is opened
1888 the two day fairs were cancelled (they had previously replaced the one day fair for St Thomas)
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