Emmbrook House which was situated on the Wokingham Road just past the Oxford Road turning was owned by Samual Norman in 1779, who gave the house to his daughter Elizabeth and William Gaisford Peach on their marriage. The property then had an orchard, bowling green and a “canal” which exists today as part of the Emm Brook near Morrison’s supermarket. A map of 1790 has the house as one of five only properties labelled by name in Wokingham.
William Peach died in 1785 and Emmbrook House was left to his brother Nathaniel Peach, who in turn died in 1778 leaving the property to his son, Nathaniel William Peach, in trust. During this period the property was rented to local tenants.
The property was sold to Major General John Leveson Gower of Bill Hill in 1808 who owned adjacent land. Emmbrook House was sold again a year later to Catherine and Elizabeth Wise of Chiswick for £ 2,461. Their father and grandfather both named Edward had both been town clerks of Wokingham.
In 1810 Elizabeth married Charles Henry White and the property was divided between the sisters with Catherine becoming the owner of Emmbrook House.
In 1836 Catherine sold the property to John Walter, owner of the Times newspaper who living at the Bearwood Estate. The house was rebuilt and rented to a James Langley. In 1911 the estate described as a “Homestead” with woods, arable land, meadow and pasture.
In 1938 the estate was bought by the Francis family who ran it as riding stables and around 1955 the Kirby family were residents. In the early 1960s the house was demolished and replaced by “Brookside”. The original carriage drive to the house is now the footpath from Reading Road into Brookside.
Wokingham Town Museum Unique Identifier: WTH0484