Horncastle is an area 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...

. It is situated on the A4 Bath Road to the west of central Reading, at a point where the Reading suburbs of Southcote

Southcote, Berkshire

Southcote is a suburb and local government ward of Reading in the English county of Berkshire.The suburb of Southcote is bounded to the north by the Bath Road and Prospect Park, to the west by the more recently developed suburb of Fords Farm, to the south by the Holy Brook and the water meadows of...

, Calcot and Tilehurst

Tilehurst

Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is also, with different boundaries as described below, a civil parish in West Berkshire district.-History:...

 all meet, and is designated as a conservation area

Conservation Area (United Kingdom)

In the United Kingdom, the term Conservation Area nearly always applies to an area considered worthy of preservation or enhancement because of its special architectural or historic interest, "the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance," as required by the Planning ...

.

Today largely surrounded on all sides but the north-west by areas of 20th century housing, Horncastle was once an isolated hamlet in the rural area to the west of Reading. It was situated at the point at which a lane, known to this day as New Lane Hill, left the Bath Road and climbed the hill to Tilehurst.

The old hamlet of Horncastle lies just within the borough of Reading, in Southcote electoral ward

Wards of the United Kingdom

A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...

 and Reading West paliamentary consituency

Reading West (UK Parliament constituency)

Reading West is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like all such constituencies, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

. The name is sometimes used to include the eastern section of Calcot, which lies south-west of the old hamlet and outside the borough boundary in West Berkshire

West Berkshire

West Berkshire is a local government district in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England, governed by a unitary authority . Its administrative capital is Newbury, located almost equidistantly between Bristol and London.-Geography:...

.

Calcot Park

Calcot Park

Calcot Park is a country house, estate, and golf club in the English county of Berkshire. It is situated between Calcot and Tilehurst, suburbs of the town of Reading, and within the civil parish of Tilehurst...

, formerly a large country house and estate

Estate (house)

An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...

 and now a golf course

Golf course

A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

, is to the north west.